How to Make a Shaggy Rug Fluffy Again - Care Tips

Use Steam

Maybe all you need is to get that flat line out where people keep walking to the sofa. The best way to do this is to take a towel out of the washing machine when it&#;s still damp. Lay it over the flattened area and then gently run a warm (not hot) iron over it. Repeat until the carpet fibers pop back up again. The heat and damp will help reset the fibers, and you&#;ll end up with a nice fluffy carpet again.

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This method works best for area rugs and smaller areas of large carpets. It can be very tedious to do an entire room this way, though it will work if you have the patience for it. Alternatively, you can steam clean your carpet, which will have the same effect without breaking your back. It simply requires that you have a steam cleaner at your disposal.

4) You can&#;t get odor out easily. The cotton foundations of many of these shag rugs absorbs urine easily from pet accidents, and you need A LOT of water to get those contaminants out. Surface cleaning is NOT going to solve this problem, in these cases the shag rugs must be fully and professionally washed. Even then, if the backing has latex adhesive in it, you may not ever get all of the odor out of the rug. That is why these are not the ideal rugs for homes with pets that are not trained.

5) There is no quicker, cheaper clean. Even synthetic shag rugs, which should be steam cleaned, can&#;t because of the construction. That means the only option is washing them, which is a labor intensive service. So if the cleaning price is more than the price of the rug, you might just plan to buy a new one every 2 or so years. (Rugs under regular use should be cleaned every 18-24 months. If you dust/vacuum them regularly, you can extend it to 30 months, and any longer than that the rug is truly not sanitary after all of the feet, shoes, and paws walking all over it. Just buy another new, clean rug.)

There used to be shag wall-to-wall carpet several decades ago until everyone realized what a nightmare it was to live with and keep clean. Sometimes kids even got lost in those fibers! =)

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The same fate will happen with today&#;s shag rugs&#; they will go out of style when it becomes apparent how tough, and how expensive, it is to keep these rugs looking good.

Happy Rug Cleaning!

&#; Lisa

P.S. If you are looking for rugs and do not know what to buy, here&#;s a past post on what to look for when buying rugs, and another on the pros/cons of synthetic rugs versus natural fiber rugs.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website fluffy carpets.