If you have looked into area rugs at all, you have likely noticed that they are available in an almost infinite variety of materials. If you have read our area rug buying guide, you will find a list of about 14 or so different materials that are commonly used to make area rugs – both natural and synthetic. Out of all of these materials, probably the most popular is wool.
If you were to go to a major rug retailer, you would likely find that more than half of the rugs they offer are made of wool. The rest of the inventory would be made up of all of the other fibers and blends, both natural and synthetic. There are some really good reasons for their popularity. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Advantages
Wool area rugs are extremely durable. A well taken care of wool rug can last for many years. Whereas there are many synthetic fibers that can be made to be just as strong and durable as wool, they are not nearly as soft. In fact, most of the synthetic materials must be blended with cotton or wool to make them soft enough to be viable as a rug. After all, who wants an un-soft area rug?
Wool also has great insulating properties. In the winter, they will keep your feet a lot warmer than walking on a bare hardwood floor. In fact, I cannot think of another material that can keep your floor as warm in the winter as wool. In the summer, they help trap the cool air in the house, rather than letting it seep into your basement/crawl space. They actually trap the cool, so that in the summer, often the coolest areas of your floor will be the wool rugs.
Another benefit is that they are easy to clean. Wool is resistant to water damage, and is usually more colorfast than cotton. Still, most of them come with cleaning instructions, and it is recommended that you follow those instructions so as to not damage your rug. The guide below should be used as a guideline, and not as replacement directions.
Rug Cleaning
The first thing that you want to do is vacuum the rug thoroughly. This is so that you do not trap dirt in the rug while you are washing it. Trapping dirt particles while washing the rug can be a cause of premature wear.
Once the rug is vacuumed, lay it out flat on a large, clean area of concrete. Rinse your rug off with a garden hose. I recommend using a wide spray, rather than a sharp stream, as it is gentler on the rug.
Next, take a mild cleaner (I recommend Woolite) and dissolve a couple of ounces in a gallon or two of water. Do NOT apply the detergent directly to the rug, or you will have spots that are very hard to rinse, and could create spot fading. You want to make sure that the detergent is mixed well with the water, and pour the solution evenly on the rug.
Photo courtesy of www.carpetstar.net
For this step, you should find something soft to gently “massage” the water/detergent mix into the rug. I personally use a soft brush meant for washing cars. A clean mop will also work, as will a sponge, if you don’t mind working on your hands and knees. With your “cleaning tool” gently work the detergent/water mix into the rug. I usually work the mixture lengthwise, then side to side, and finally at a 45 degree angle. Notice, that throughout this process, I say “massage” and not “scrub”.
Once you feel like the solution is worked well into the rug, rinse it well with your garden hose. You should continue to rinse it until the water is suds free. Doing a thorough job of rinsing is very important. Soap that is left in the rug can cause premature wear.
Now comes the difficult part. The rug will be sopping wet and very heavy. I will usually roll it up with towels inside of it to help absorb some of the moisture. I will then unroll it and remove the towels. The rug will still be heavy, so I recommend draping it over something that will allow it to drip dry for a little while. I personally use my back porch railing.
There are a couple of things you still need to be concerned about here. You do not want to leave it “draped” for too long, because if it dries that way, it will take on the shape of whatever it is draped over. That could leave you with a big hump in the middle of your area rug, although it will usually work its way out and flatted again.
The bigger concern is leaving it for a long time in direct sunlight. Although wool area rugs are more colorfast than most other natural fibers, it is still prone to sun fading. If you want to keep the colors vibrant, you will want to dry it outside of direct sunlight. It is usually best to dry your rug on a flat surface, out of direct sunlight.
Luckily, wool rugs are more resistant to staining than a lot of other materials. If you combine that with the durability, you will find that they are a lot easier to clean than rugs made from other materials. As far as frequency, I recommend vacuuming your rug once a week or so, depending on traffic. You can usually get away with a thorough cleaning once every six months to a year or so, again, depending upon how much traffic your rug gets.
Other Considerations
There are some other things to consider when thinking about getting a wool area rug for your home that I would like to touch on briefly. One of those is price. As far as pricing is concerned, they are somewhere on the lower end of middle, as far as organic materials go. This means that they will be less expensive than some of the more extravagant organic materials like silk and leather, but more expensive than cotton. They are more expensive than a lot of the synthetic rugs as well.
Be careful of wool blends. If you are getting a rug that is a “wool blend”, make sure you know what it is blended with. Often the properties of your rug, like durability, colorfastness, etc., will be impacted a great deal by the secondary fiber.
All in all, for most indoor applications, I prefer a 100% wool area rug. It is tough to find a material that has as many advantages for the price, and they are versatile enough to go just about anywhere. As with anything, do your research and know what you are buying and you will have an area rug that will adorn your home and keep your toes nice and toasty for years to come.
