Cleaning a rug with snow

How the custom is usually done

1. Dry snow and frost The tradition calls for dry, loose snow that does not melt on the rug. Wet snow melts and soaks into the fibre and the backing.
2. A clean spot The rug is laid on clean snow in a yard or garden, away from the road and the pavement, where the snow has sand and de-icing salt.
3. Sprinkle and beat Snow is sprinkled on the rug, lightly beaten out and brushed off until no more dirt is left on the snow. The rug is not rubbed.
4. Brush the snow off Before bringing the rug in, the snow is brushed off completely so that it does not melt in the pile.
5. Dry completely Indoors the rug is left spread out until it is completely dry on the underside too, and only then is it laid back or rolled up.

These steps describe a custom, not a tested cleaning method. Snow does not replace stain treatment and does not remove what has soaked into the backing.

What can go wrong

• Moisture. Canadian conservators write that high humidity damages rug fibres and can make dyes bleed. Melting snow is water that goes straight into the pile.
• Wool felting. If wool gets soaked and is rubbed, the fibres can felt, and the rug can shrink. This is why the rug is beaten, not rubbed.
• Sand and salt. Street snow often has sand and de-icing salt, and they stay in the pile.
• Mould and smell. If a rug is rolled up or stored damp, in a dark place, it is a mould risk. Conservators advise against storing rugs in cellars and attics.
• Heat for drying. Conservators write that heat strips wool of its natural oils and weakens the threads, so a rug is not dried on a radiator.

Which rugs snow does not suit

This is how synthetic short-pile rugs and wool rugs are often cleaned, but for them too the snow must be dry, and the rug must be dried completely before rolling up. If the rug is valuable and you do not know its fibre, it is better not to try.

Salt stains on a rug from shoes

In winter, salt and sand get into a rug even without snow cleaning, on shoes in the hallway. Blot the damp spot with a clean cloth and do not rub, because rubbing pushes the dirt deeper. Let it dry and only then vacuum up the sand.

If the rug by the front door looks grey or stiffer after winter, send a photo. On how often to clean a rug in a hallway: how often to clean a rug. For fitted carpet on stairs and in hallways: stairwell and hallway carpet cleaning.

Before storage in summer

Rugs are often rolled up and put into storage after winter. Conservators advise not folding a rug but rolling it in the direction of the pile onto a wide tube, covering it with unbleached cotton and keeping it raised off the floor, not in a cellar or attic. The rug must be clean and completely dry. More: how to wrap and store a rug.

When a rug is better cleaned with pick-up

If the rug is wool, cotton, silk, viscose or hand-made, cleaning on a living room floor is not suitable for it: it needs controlled wet cleaning and full drying. Snow does not suit silk, viscose and hand-made rugs, and for wool it is a risk. With pick-up, the rug is cleaned in a workshop and brought back.

• Rug with pick-up, cleaning in a workshop and return (synthetics): from €10/m².
• Wool or cotton rug (with pick-up): from €10/m².
• Silk, viscose, hide, hand-made and Persian rugs (with pick-up): from €15/m², the price is set from a photo.
• For jute, sisal and coir rugs, the price is set from a photo: it depends on the size of the rug in m², the fibre and the backing, stains and water marks, and pick-up or work on site.

Pick-up and return in Riga costs €10 (both ways together); in the Riga region up to about 15 km from the Riga boundary it is also €10, and further out another €10 is added. The €45 minimum order applies to cleaning only; the pick-up and return charge and the travel charge are added. Example: a 2 × 3 m wool rug with pick-up in Riga is 6 m² × €10 = from €60 and pick-up and return €10, so from €70 in total. Service: rug cleaning with pick-up, all prices: carpet and rug cleaning prices.