In this short video we'll answer the question,
how often should I clean my wool rugs?
To answer that, let's look at what abrasive dirt really is
and how it affects your rugs.
This is a magnified image of sandpaper.
You can easily see the sharp edges
that act as cutting tools.
Here's a picture of magnified common sand.
And again, you can see the sharp edges on each grain.
Sand is largely made of silica, and silica
is what they make glass out of.
You can think of sand as tiny little pieces of broken glass.
When you walk across your rugs, you
put your full body weight on these sharp edges,
and that results in damage and wear to your rugs.
The sharp edges literally dig into and cut the fibers.
Remember, wool is just hair, so it's soft and easy to cut.
Rugs can last hundreds of years, but not if they're
exposed to this kind of wear.
But there's something that actually
makes this problem even worse.
One of the really great things about wool
is that it hides dirt so well.
This is because of the way the fibers are made.
As you can see, the surface of the fiber
has these little ridges, almost like scales on a fish.
Each one of these scales provides a place for dirt
to hide.
Now in one way, that's good because even
if your rug has some dirt in it, it won't look like it.
Wool is excellent at hiding
dirt, and that's one of the reasons it's such
a perfect material for rugs.
The problem occurs when people that own rugs wait
until their rugs look dirty before they bring them
in for a good cleaning.
By the time a wool rug looks dirty,
it can have almost unbelievable amounts of abrasive dirt in it,
and that leads to damage to the fibers of the rug.
Once this damage occurs, it can't be undone.
As more and more dirt penetrates the fibers,
it leads to a loss of color and vibrancy,
making the rug look dull and lifeless.
This process happens gradually, so many times people
don't notice.
See this rug looks flat and dull with very little color prior
to the wash?
And look at how vibrant the colors are after washing.
Proper washing removes the abrasive dirt
and restores the shine the natural wool has.
That's why most rugs should be washed every one to three years
depending on how good the wool is, how much traffic the rug
gets, and whether or not the rug is properly vacuumed.
If it's been too long since your rugs last bath, give us a call
and let us restore the beauty your rug was meant to have.
If you have any questions, feel free to call
and we'll be happy to help you with no obligation.
And be sure to let us know if you like this video.