A Guide to Cleaning Cotton Rag Rugs

Posted on 12/10/2015

How to Clean a Cotton Rag Rug?

Cotton rag rugs are the best. They are durable and colourful and convenient, and can fit in many places. And their durability extends to the cleaning process as well. Most rugs can be cleaned only so many times before their colours start fading and their fibres start wearing away. But cotton rag rugs can withstand a plenitude of cleanings before a single fibre moves and before a single spot gets bleached. But how to achieve that perfect cleaning that your reliable cotton rag rug deserves after days and weeks of service without batting an eyelash at all the dirt and soot and dust thrown at it? Here is a step by step guide that might just help.

1. If you have a small rug, pick it up, go to your window and shake the dust and dirt off the rug. If you have a big rug, then do the same, but get some help. Alternatively, take the big rug yourself and place it over your window and then use a long and flat object to literally beat the dust and dirt out of it.

2. Put the rug back in its place, take out your vacuum cleaner and vacuum the rug. Daily vacuuming is a great method for maintenance and will have you clean the rug on much rarer occasions. The more maintenance provided, the less attention your rug will need in the long run.

3. If there are any hairs on the rug, remove them with a brush before the vacuuming – sometimes the hairs are too lodged into the tangle to be sucked away.

4. If there is a fresh liquid stain on the rug, take a piece of cloth and press it against the rug to drain as much of the liquid as possible. Don’t scrub it or you might spread the liquid and therefore spread the dye.

5. For smaller and simpler stains, merely use cold or warm water and soap. Make sure that the soap does not contain too many chemicals or they could react with the stain and discolour the cotton rag rug.

6. For bigger and more complex stains, you will need a cleaning agent. You will need a stain remover, a laundry spray cleaner or just use white vinegar. Apply, find something else to do for about 10-15 minutes and come back to the rug with a sponge. Soak in whatever is left from the detergent, apply and scrub with some warm water and the stain should be history.

7. Alternatively, you can wash smaller rugs in the washing machine. Just add detergent and set it on a lighter cycle as the stronger cycles can easily damage the rug and tear the fabric apart.

8. After washing, hang the rag rug somewhere to dry out. Once the cotton rag rug is dry, take it down and put it back in its place.

Your cotton rag rug is now fully cleaned and ready to be stepped on all over again. You can focus on maintaining its cleanliness so that it requires less rug cleaning. That does require some effort, but ultimately it saves you a lot of work and hassle over a single rag rug.

Of course, if you have more than one rug, there is also the option of seeking the services of a cleaning company that will know the exact method of carefully and safely dealing with a rag rug, but in most cases that sounds like a waste of money, especially since it is so easy to do it yourself. Cotton rag rugs only require your attention and not much of your effort, so do a weekly or bi-weekly maintenance and see how well that goes for your floors.