How to Keep your rug looking new longer

There are really easy to follow yet important steps that you can take to ensure your new rug looks new for a long time to come. Whether the rug you have selected is made of wool or synthetic fibers these rules apply to all rug types and are easy to remember as well.

Rotate Your Rugs Interior spaces typically have traffic patterns where an area rug will have greater foot traffic on it. With each season, you should rotate your area rug to the opposite direction to ensure that it wears evenly. You can even shift the rug a bit onto an angle to both even out wear and add an interesting fresh look to the room's layout.

Vacuum Correctly If the rug is very high pile, do not set the beater bar down to low. I know it seems that by setting the vacuum level to low you will get deep down into the rug for a better cleaning, but in reality you are likely doing more harm than good. If the rug is ultra long pile such as a shag, then using only the wand of the vacuum is a good bet, or remove the beater bar from the vacuum and use it that way. Periodically checking the vacuum underside to make sure that a little plastic toy or paperclip did not get caught up in the beater bar is wise. Otherwise you could be unintentionally damaging your rug.

Use Spot Cleaners Correctly Using a spot cleaner is great, but keep in mind that it is intended for spots only and should not be used en masse to address very large spills on your rugs. This is where a professional cleaning should be done. You can either have a company come into your home to do the cleaning, or take the rug to the cleaning business for them to care for. One really great spot cleaner is Rug Renew. Rug Renew is an all purpose spotter so you can easily use it on most of the rugs in your home. One rule of thumb is to always use a white terrycloth (washcloth) with your spotter so that dye from the cloth does not rub off onto the area rug. Going back to the previously spotted area and blotting it with water only to take up the cleaner left behind is wise also. Just do not ever rub the stain. This will cause the yarns to unravel and result in significant rug damage that cannot be repaired easily if at all.

Clean Professionally Having your rugs cleaned professionally annually or more often if you feel it is necessary is a good way to keep your rugs looking newer longer. Particles of dirt that get dropped onto the rug over time work their way down to the backing of the rug where they act as little pieces of sand that break up the yarn's structure. A professional cleaner will remove much of that grime before it causes permanent damage to your rug.

Caring for a new area rug is easy to do, especially now that you know the right steps to take.