The global community has decreased in size. The most popularrungs finding their way into people's homes are rugs from Peru, Navaho rugs, Indian rugs, and the ever-popular Persian rugs. Homeowners bring homeexotic rugs as mementoes of vacations, to remember a special time in theirlives, or to bring a touch of the exotic to their homes.
These rugs are often hand woven from natural fibers, dyedwith homemade dyes. These fabrics and colors are not made to handle the harshsolvents and chemicals used in our cleaning products. Raw wool, linens madefrom plant fibers and animal fibers react different than synthetic fibers.
Many home decorators bring home exotic rugs that are made tolast a generation or more. This gives them the false belief that the rug is durableand can handle the wear and tear of the daily suburban family home. This is amyth. These rugs last because they are not cleaned with harsh cleaners anddetergents that break the fibers.
Vacuuming exotic rugs can destroy them. The fibers are hand spun,and are looser than machine spun threads. Vacuum cleaners and rug shampooerscan easily remove thousands of fibers, destroying the rug's integrity within amatter of seconds. Hand tied rugs are notorious for their fragile state.Persian rugs cannot tolerate any vacuuming. They need to be carefully, andgently brushed. A soft bristled brush used in the direction of the fibers will protect the rug.
There are some basics that home decorators need tounderstand before buying an exotic rug. First, do not buy the rug from atourist trap, or at the vendors down the road from your hotel. These rugs will probably be factory made knock-offs.
Exotic rugs are expensive. It can take five to ten years,and $10 000 to export a room sized Persian rug. It is disheartening to finallyreceive your rug and find that your treasure is exactly like twenty others forsale at a local exotic rug store.
Placement is the most important considerations for protecting an exotic rug. Never place the rug in the sunlight. There is no Scotch Guard protection, IUV protection, and no mold coating on exotic rugs, things that are standard oncommercial rugs. Exotic rugs should not be placed on damp surfaces or in placeswhere mold grows, and never walk on exotic rugs with bare feet.
Exotic rugs should never be used under dining tables and inareas where people eat, smoke, or use air fresheners. These things will becomeimbedded into the fibers dulling the color and damaging the fibers. Some exoticrugs cannot be cleaned, even with water. The natural fibers and colors will nottolerate a cleaning.
Do not use baking soda or other coarse products to clean or prevent odors. These products will break fibers, especially if the rug ison the ground and the product is ground into the rug.
However, dirt will break the fibers and create a strong odorif it is not removed. There are some safe ways to clean an exotic rug. The mostcommon method of beating natural fiber rugs is to hang them outdoors and beatthem, gently, with a broom. A good airing in sunlight can kill bacteria,reducing odors, and killing dust mites.
About the Author:
Bob & Tammy Sedona advises home decorators on rugs andflooring care from their web site at http://www.carpethere.com
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