Wool rugs are made of a natural fiber, this fiber comes from sheep. There are many different types of wool, you can have 100% wool, wool blends, etc. and there are many different ways there rugs are made, some are hand-made, some are machine-made. Some are hand tied or knotted some are machine tied or knotted. Some are extremely delicate, some are more durable. Some are fairly inexpensive, some are extremely expensive.
What it all comes down to is how you care for your rug. You want to hire an expert in wool rugs, I consider myself to be and expert, but that is not to say I know everything, I am always learning. One thing I am an expert in, is the cleaning and care of oriental rugs.
The cleaning process:
It is very important that you never put an alkaline cleaner on a wool rug, if you do, it will immediately dull the colors, in essence, ruining your rug. These rugs can not take the same cleaning process as your regular nylon residential carpet. You also want to make sure you use a low pressure and low heat. Another crucial step in the process is the dry time, you want to dry them as quick as possible, we use big blowers, to dry them out in a matter of a few hours. You also want to have them properly wrapped, so no dirt or other foreign matter adhere to them while returning them to the customer.
Some wool rugs will bleed, we have a dye lock process we use to make sure this doesn’t happen. I would suggest putting Scotchgard on your wool rug, this acts like a raincoat for your rug. Scotchgard protects from the inside out. It makes it so that dirt, dust, stains, etc. cannot bond to the wool fibers. We use a Scotchgard specially designed for wool rugs. Using Scotchgard will make your rug last longer, more of the dirt, dust, etc, will be vacuumed up, therefore, it will not be able to bond to the fibers, making it last as long as possible.
If you spill something on your wool rug, try to get it up with a 100%, white, cotton, cloth. Put the cloth on the stain and put as much pressure as possible to try to lift the stain out. Also, don’t add water to the stain to try to remove it, this will only drive the stain deeper, also don’t use a store-bought product, such as, Spot Shot, Resolve, etc. these will usually set the stain in forever.
Industry standards suggest you should have your rug cleaned at least every year. Since this is a natural fiber it is more porous, which means, dirt, dust, etc. will bond to it much easier than a residential synthetic carpet. You also want to vacuum your rug weekly. We offer pick up and delivery of your rugs.