Carpet care instructions
A hand-knotted rug is made to be walked on, and with very little attention it will outlast the room it sits in. Vacuum it regularly, and turn it end to end once or twice a year so that footfall and daylight fall evenly across the pile rather than always in the same place.
A new wool rug sheds loose fibre for the first few months. That is normal, a by-product of hand-spun yarn rather than a fault, and it eases off with regular vacuuming, usually within three to six months. If a single knot works its way loose, never pull it. Trim it level with the pile using scissors.
Rug pads
An underlay is the cheapest thing you can do for a rug and the one that matters most. It stops the rug creeping, sliding and rucking up, which is a safety point in a hallway but a wear point everywhere: a rug that moves underfoot creases and thins unevenly. A pad also holds the rug slightly clear of the floor, so grit falls through the pile instead of grinding against the foundation, and it makes vacuuming easier. Felt-and-rubber pads suit hard floors; a thinner pad is enough over fitted carpet.
Rug Vacuuming
Once a week is plenty, and a little more often in the first month while a new rug settles. Use a low suction setting, and if your vacuum has a rotating beater bar, switch it off, because it tears at hand-spun wool. Work along the direction of the pile rather than against it, and keep the head away from the fringes altogether: they catch easily, and a fringe that has been pulled out cannot be put back. Two or three times a year, lift the rug and vacuum the floor underneath as well.
Rug Beating
Beating is the traditional way to clean a knotted rug, and for deep grit nothing domestic does it better. Hang the rug over a rail or a line with the back facing you and strike it with a flat beater or the palm of your hand. The amount of dust that comes out of a rug that looked perfectly clean is usually a surprise. Choose a dry day, and never beat a rug that is even slightly damp.
Odour
A new rug can arrive with a faint smell of wool, dye or the wrapping it travelled in. It is harmless and it fades. Open the windows or run a fan in the room and give it two or three days. Avoid sprays and deodorising powders, which settle into the pile and then attract dirt.
Rug Storage
Rugs keep best rolled rather than folded, and never sealed up against a bare floor. To put one away:
- Clean the rug thoroughly first. Dirt and loose fibre left in the pile are exactly what moths look for.
- Lay it flat, and if it is wider than roughly five or six feet, fold it once across the width.
- Roll it tightly, in the direction of the pile, around a tube if you have one.
- Tie it in two or three places with soft cotton tape rather than string, which bites into the pile.
- Wrap it in something breathable, an old cotton sheet is ideal, add a moth deterrent, and store it flat and raised off the floor somewhere dry.
Look in on a stored rug once a year rather than leaving it untouched for a decade.
Spills
Speed matters more than technique: most things lift out of wool if they are dealt with before they dry. Blot with a clean dry white cloth, working from the outside of the spill inwards, and lift any solids away first with a spoon or the back of a blunt knife. Do not rub or scrub, as that drives the stain down into the foundation and can felt the surface of the pile.
For whatever remains, a detergent made for wool, well diluted, is safer than a general carpet cleaner. Test it on a corner or on the back of the rug first, and never use bleach or anything strongly alkaline on wool. If the spill is large, oily, or already dry, stop and call a rug specialist rather than a carpet-cleaning service.