Shag pile rug cleaning: A guide to clean long pile rugs

How Pilgrim Payne offers total care for carpets

Shag pile, or long pile rugs are attractive additions to many contemporary spaces. They do, however, tend to be great collectors of soil and debris. Vacuum cleaners are of little use in trying to maintain and keep clean shag pile rugs because of the long pile which tends to block and clog the vacuum nozzle. This leads to the rugs becoming unhygienic, unsightly and in need of proper, thorough cleaning. They are almost impossible to clean on site and professional Plant cleaning is the only successful option.

When it comes to cleaning the rug the first, and essential, step in producing a successful outcome is to lay the rug across a beating grid. This means the loose soil can be dislodged and removed from the long pile. Once loose soil has been removed from the rug, it is then ready to be cleaned by either wet-side or dry-side cleaning systems. The cleaning should be carried out according to the manufacturer’s instructions by a knowledgeable, experienced rug cleaning company.

If the manufacturer recommends dry cleaning this can be achieved by machine cleaning in perchloroethylene. The use of on-floor dry compound cleaning is to be avoided. This is because much of the cleaning compound will remain in the long pile and can later become an air-borne health hazard.

Wet Cleaning Long Pile Rugs

A more thorough method of cleaning, if the item can be wet cleaned, is to actually wash it in a large commercial washing unit. This tends to yield a brighter, cleaner result. If the item may be prone to shrinkage wet cleaning should be avoided, so go to a company with lots of experience in rug cleaning and care.

Long pile rugs cannot be correctly cleaned by anyone who does not have a dedicated cleaning plant, so ensure that you choose from the limited number of companies who do have specialist cleaning facilities.

Once cleaned and thoroughly rinsed the rug should be left to air dry naturally.Tumble drying of items can lead to shrinkage and “felting” of the fibres.

Always ensure that you find a specialist rug cleaner so that you get a first class result and are able to enjoy the rug being returned to a high level of appearance.

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