Why DIY Rug Cleaning Can Be a Bad Idea

Why DIY Rug Cleaning Can Be a Bad Idea

Although we find a wide variety of area rugs in our clients homes, and some can be cleaned by you without much, if any, problems, as a general rule I advise against the do-it-yourself attempts. Unfortunately, we see this scenario play-out one to many times with results that often cannot be reversed;

You're at a family get together, and something gets spilled on that nice area rug in the living room. All of a sudden, everyone is an expert on cleaning up spills. Baking soda, vinegar, white wine, red wine, Folex, Resolve, you name it, it will be put on that spot. It will be sprayed, poured, and sprinkled on…and then the fun really starts.

Scrubbing, rubbing, stomping, and standing on the spot to really get the spill and cleaning liquids deep into the pile of that area rug. And more often than not, the outcome won't be pretty. Not only is there the possibility that the spill will "set" and become permanent, worse yet, your well intended cleaning attempt could ruin your rug.

Risks of Cleaning Rugs Without Professional Help

The risks include, but are not limited to:

• Color loss from highly alkaline cleaning products.
• Color bleeding from one color to the next.
• Delaminating of the rugs backing material.
• Shrinkage of the cotton foundation.
• Fiber distortion or "blooming" of the face fiber due to aggressive scrubbing.

And these are just a few of the issues that can surprise you as you are working on the spill on your area rug.

And even if your initial attempts to get the spill removed from your area rug were successful, now you have a spot that is full of sticky residue. Residue that, not only will attract dirt to it, but can also cause a weakening of the dyes and cause future color loss.

You see, the challenge with spot-cleaning of fabrics like carpet, upholstery, and even more so with area rugs, is that there are many different types of fabrics and construction styles. A wool fiber will respond differently to a cleaning product then an acrylic fiber will and a hand knotted rug will need different care than a handmade tufted rug.

The purpose of this blog is not so much to scare you, but to e on the potential pitfalls of cleaning that rug yourself. With that being said, there are multiple tips that can help reduce the risk of any adverse repercussions. To that end we've made a rug care tip sheet available to you. You can download it by following the link:

For more information about cleaning rugs, carpet and hard surface flooring such as tile, grout, stone and hardwood, please call the Zerorez office at 949-387-2222 or visit www.zerorezsocal.com. We have many specialized products and services designed to tackle any imaginable floor cleaning challenge using our natural and pure cleaning solutions.