Years ago, before I was a carpet / rug guru, I was given a white sheepskin carpet. My first thought was: how will I ever keep this rug clean? After a year of being careful not to get it dirty, taking it out every few days to shake, carefully vacuuming it, and painstakingly wiping any little spills that came near it, I gave up! It was beginning to look like a brown disheveled mess, despite all my care because a white rug can’t go a year without getting dirty. I took that large white wool rug and stretched it outside on the cement driveway, got out the garden hose, diluted some vinegar and a teeny bit of liquid detergent and went to work with a hair brush. It came clean, returned to it’s fluffy whiteness, even got its sheen back. I dried it in the sun, turning it over several times, then shook it and ran the vacuum over it. It looked like new. But that was a sheepskin, what about cleaning a delicate oriental wool rug?
Much later, after having traveled across India and the Middle East, collecting wool area rugs and carpets, I also acquired the knowledge of how to clean what I collected. It started with watching how wool rugs were hand dyed, how wet the wool gets, and how Persians, Iranians and Indians cleaned their own rugs: with water and brushes.
In the west, expert carpet cleaning companies, who pick up rugs for cleaning, use the same techniques. They have large flat areas to wash the rugs and gentle cleaning products that don’t damage the wool fibers. They squeeze the water out using presses, and then dry the carpet as fast as possible. That’s all. But many people are afraid to do it themselves.
DIY wool rug cleaning may be not be easy or large carpets, but little area rugs that are 100% wool can be washed very easily by hand. There’s no need to dry-clean if the rug is natural fiber and colorfast, or if you use vinegar, to keep the colors from running. Don’t use too much detergent, and don’t scrub it, just brush like hair. Rinse, squeeze, and air dry. Vacuum to fluff. Go ahead and wash your delicate wool rug. You’ll be glad you did.