Hardwood floors undoubtedly are one of the best options for floors. They cost more than the regular ceramic tiles, but provide the long-lasting results for decades. With proper care, a quality hardwood floor can last for a century.
Hardwood floors are often covered with area rugs on places like the entrance, couch, dining, bed, etc. And this combination, wood floor + rugs, indeed provides a marvelous appearance to the overall house. This is the primary reason why the area rugs catch more dust because they have an extra foot traffic than other areas of the house.
Plus, it’s a little complicated to clean an area rug as you’ve to take it out of the heavy furniture laying on it. This often results in a challenging task and a two-person job. Therefore, this article focuses solely on the tips related to cleaning an area rug on a hardwood floor.
1. Broom & Vacuuming
Broom is the most common method of cleaning a house. Whether it’s indoor or outdoor, it provides us the flexibility to clean even the smaller and complex areas of a house. Besides, you’ve a control over the pace and movement using a broom.
A normal dust on an area rug can be wiped away using a simple broom. It’s useful when the rug is underneath heavy furniture like a couch or sofa. Moreover, if the dust is stuck in the area rug piles, you can vacuum it. But how big the gap for vacuum machine is also an important factor.
Sometimes, half of the rug part is covered with the couch and rest is for table. The only space is left for the foot rest. Hence, it becomes a challenging task to clean properly with a vacuum cleaner.
In such case, to clean the area rug thoroughly, follow the steps below:
⚠️ A mask and gloves are important for this step as sweeping up a rug on the floor cause dust to scatter around.
Tools Required:
- Aside the furniture a little with the help of a family member
- Carefully take the rug out of the house, avoiding the dust fall
- Sweep it outside on the floor using both hands
- Use a broom to take out the dust left
- At last, vacuum the rug to clean it completely
2. Smudge Cleaning
Smudge cleaning is also known as spot cleaning process. In this process, you clean the grimy marks on the rugs by directly applying the suitable chemicals without damaging the rug.
Sometimes, family members, neighbors, or visitors accidentally step on the rug with dusty footwear while coming from the outside. This often results in the stubborn smudges on the area rugs. And this type of stains frequently take place on area rugs near the entrance.
Moreover, smudges are also caused by the accidental spills of beverages like coffee, tea, juice, etc. In such cause, one must immediately start the spot cleaning process to avoid long-term damage.
Prerequisites:
Safe Combination for Stain Removal:
The required material above is efficient enough to remove any persistent stains from the rug. However, mixing the wrong substances together would be a huge mistake. Hence, here are the good combinations that you must try.
Steps to Remove Smudges:
Step 1: Perform vacuuming on the rug to remove the hidden dust
Step 2: Mix any safe combination of the water, detergent, salt, vinegar, and baking soda (from the list above)
Step 3: Directly apply it on the stain area and scrub it gently with a spoon
Step 4: Let it dry for a while and then clean it with lukewarm water
Step 5: Blow dry it or you can use sunlight to dry
3. Deep Cleaning the Area Rug
Deep cleaning is the process that involves the practice of giving a refreshed look to an area rug. After a long-term foot traffic abuse, an area rug requires a deep clean.
House with lousy children and peeving pets habitually do damage to the area rugs. Besides, if you have visitors on your house more than usual, that also comes with more dust which later settles on the area rugs.
In such conditions, it becomes necessary to rigorously clean the rugs on a daily basis. However, all of this won’t work without the deep cleaning at least once in every two months. Therefore, here are the steps to deep clean an area rug.
Deep Cleaning Process:
- First, vacuum the rug to extract the dirt efficiently
- Then take the rug out in the backyard of the house
- Fling it on the floor and wall a few times, this process takes out the hidden dirt with force
- Vacuum it again to wipe the leftover dust
- Then take the rug back to laundry, add lukewarm water and detergent into the machine
- You can add salt and baking soda to make the process even more efficient
- Let the machine do its work and then dry the rug in sunlight
- Vacuum the rug once again before laying it on the floor
4. Using Specialized Rug Cleaner
Such cleaners are designed for only rug cleaning. They have a good pH level that is crucial to maintain the balance between chemicals to avoid any damage to the rugs.
You can spot clean the rugs using a specialized cleaner by applying it directly on the stains. Then leave it for a while and rinse the rug with lukewarm water for a seamless cleaning experience.
Moreover, if you want to clean the whole rug, you need take it to the backyard where you can clean it methodically. Apply a handful amount of specialized cleaner to the rug, mixing in lukewarm water and start rubbing the rug with hands delicately.
Specialized rug cleaners not only clean the spots but they also extend the life of a rug by enhancing the rug pile durability. Besides, a rug appears brand-new and shiny after using a cleaner.
What to do With Old Area Rugs?
Old area rugs can be used for various purposes. In a good scenario, you can decorate your house with them and in a better scenario, let someone else enjoy the perks of them. If you’re a true environmentalist, you know how to recycle them.
How Soon after Refinishing the Wood Floor Can You Put Rugs Down?
Refinishing the wood floor requires several days to weeks, depending upon the area. However, it’s also important to leave the floor unused for at least two weeks. It lets floor rest to stick to the floor for a long-term.
The ideal time to put rugs down on a refinished wood floor is 7-14 days. The same timing is for the overall furniture of your house.
