Stinky 80% wool rug

danih

I did something today that I'm not sure whether I'm proud of or ashamed of.

I went to the council dump to dispose of a pile of stuff i've cleared out of my house. Walked past a skip with 2 lovely rugs - one was 80% wool and looked v expensive. i think the other is a cheap and cheerful - its in the washing mashing now

Both rugs are in great condition, no damage, but both need a really good clean!!!!

How do I get an 80% wool rug clean???

GreyQueen

I like a bit of wombling initiative.

When you say rug, what size are we talking as in feet and inches long x width?

If it's not too huge, I've washed pure wool rugs in a bathtub. You will want to leave this for a very dry spell/ have use of a conservatory.

Firstly, vac the rug as thoroughly as you can to remove any grit and even beat it with a rug beater/ old tennis racket outside, if you can.

Next, with a pure soap powder/ flakes, marketed for washing woollens, run a bathtub about one-third full of warm but not hot water, dissolving soap flakes as you go.

Don't be too heavy handed with the soap flakes as you'll have to rinse it out again.

Submerge rug carefully, and step into the bath tub with your legs and feet bare and start carefully treadling, grape crushing style.

Expect some of the colours to come out, which may look a bit alarming at this stage, but won't make much difference to how it appears at the end. Treadle very thoroughly, let the water out, squeezing as much out of the rug with your feet as you can.

Depending on how dirty the rug and how it's coming up, you may want to repeat this stage once or twice more.

When you feel it's as clean as you can get it, run water into the bath and treadle-rinse it. Several times, until all traces of soap have gone. This is tedious and tiring, be warned.

When the rinse water is running clean, treadle as much water out as you can and take outside and hand over something NOT your washing line. This is far to heavy for a washing line.

Think along the lines of a fence or a wall. Water will drip out at lot. If you have a strong clothes airer, you may be able to get it slung across the top of it.

Attend it once in a while to squeeze water out of the ends. Even in ideal weather conditons this will take several days to dry and may well be dripping for 24 hours +. It will dry eventually, but don't lay it down until it does.

Needless to say, if this is a fancy oriental rug, you won't be doing this, you should get it to a specialist, and if its a large area rug, it'll be too big to handle in this way.

Alternatively, you could wait until winter and hope your area enjoys a good snowfall, whereupon you can employ traditonal nordic technique such as laying the rug in the snow. brushing snow into both sides. brushing and shaking off and leaving to dry. HTH.

meritaten

or just use the dry powder shampoo for carpets. may take a few goes but it doesn't wet the rug and will clean it eventually.

gardener_ruth

If it's not too big try washing machine on wool cycle. My sheepskin rug comes up great on this.

summerspring

I would be paranoid about it possibly having creepy-crawlies in it. You don't want an infestation :eek:

I wonder if it is possible to steam clean it, or would the heat damage the wool?

Callie22

Yes, do be careful about carpet moths. My grandparents got a terrible infestation in their wool carpets and ripped them out and put them in a skip. The carpets looked in really nice condition and the next morning they were gone ... Someone got more than they bargained for ...

booter

You lucky thing danih! Be proud The staff at our local tip (now known as "recycling centre" :cool:) throw a complete hissy fit if you even look sideways at something you might be able to womble Apparently, they consider it to be stealing :cool: Although I've noticed the staff themselves wombling on more than one occasion :cool:

As far as cleaning rugs, I've used GreyQueen's method on a very long piled rug - but she's right, you really need to wait for a good dry spell. It can take a few days to dry out properly (and I found that whilst drying, it can smell quite "wooly" iyswim )

I inherited a shorter pile cream wool rug from a neighbour last year, which although good quality, was quite grubby (and smelly). I used a capful of bio washing liquid in a bowlful of water, clean cloths and elbow grease Dip cloth in soapy water, wring out well, then wipe/scrub in circular motion on the rug, doing small areas at a time. I did this over the whole rug (6' x 8'!!) a couple of times, then repeated a couple of times with clean water only (changing the water frequently) until I was fairly sure that any soap was gone. When the surface was dry, I repeated the process on the rear (underside) of the rug. I used basic white soap on the cloth for any really stubborn bits. Although back breaking and tedious, it really came up well, and smelt lovely

And if you're worried about beasties, pop down to the pet shop and try one of the house treatment sprays before you get to cleaning. Give the rug a good spraying (outside!) and leave it for at least 24 hours, then vacuum well (remember to empty vac/clean filter if poss) and then try cleaning.

Gotta be worth a go for a freebie, I say! Good luck!

danih

I have no bath :mad:

I do however have a walk in shower - its a large bathroom with a completely flat, although slightly sloping, floor - no shower tray. I might attempt the bath method on bathroom floor.

I did attempt to get it into the washing machine for a wool cycle, it is just too big. Dunno exactly what size it it - 5 foot by 2 and a half, ish.

Rug is cream, so no need to stress too much about colour changes.

MMMM beasties - away to turn shower on, and add lots of soapy chemicals for beasties!


Booter - i can't believe your council tip won't let you take bits - its no cost to them! And it means slightly less landfill. Silly council!!!!! Can't see what possible harm its doing. I have lifted a few things over the years, if I go when the right guy is on, he lifts stuff in (and out) of the car for me

Honey_Bear

May I suggest a laundrette, duvet sized machine, cold wash with biological liquid, fabric conditioner and a slow spin? If the weather forecast is grim where you are, a cold tumble dry while you're at the laundrette might set you back an extra couple of quid, but if it gets most of the moisture out it would be money well spent.

Frugalsod

meritaten wrote: »

or just use the dry powder shampoo for carpets. may take a few goes but it doesn't wet the rug and will clean it eventually.

Bicarbonate of Soda is a cheap alternative to fancy cleaning products. Sprinkle liberally and leave for several hours and then vacuum the powder up.

thriftwizard

I clean wool rugs quite often, for sale afterwards. And whilst bicarb & dry carpet shampoo are good for general grubbiness & do improve smells a bit, and steaming also helps, you can't beat washing them for really getting grime & pongs out; even a wet-room-floor-job will do!

I'm not at all sure that you'd be allowed to do them at a laundrette; the wet weight smashing around lopsided wouldn't do their machines any good. I speak as one who runs a commercial-sized machine; single items with a dry-weight well inside my machine's theoretical capability often send it in into a tizzy of error messages & sulking, where multiple-item loads close to its limit wash & spin perfectly well, as it can redistribute the load until it's happy.