Dry, wet or steam rug cleaning - which suits which rug

What dry, wet and steam cleaning mean

• Dry rug cleaning: the rug is cleaned with a very small amount of moisture. For plant-fibre rugs, makers write “dry cleaning only”.
• Wet cleaning with extraction: a cleaning solution is introduced into the pile and drawn back out with suction together with the dirt. Carpet makers call this hot water extraction.
• Full washing: the rug is wetted right through, including the backing. It needs controlled drying, which a living room floor does not give.
• Steam cleaning: in everyday use this word covers different things, from hot steam to the same extraction. It matters more to know how much heat and moisture will get into the rug than what the method is called.

No method is “the best” for all rugs. What matters most is the rug’s fibre and dyes, not the name of the method or product.

Which method for which rug

Steam cleaning a rug at home: where the risk is

Steam combines two things that are dangerous for many fibres: heat and moisture. For wool, together with rubbing they mean felting, and felted wool usually cannot be restored. Water and pressure can crush viscose pile for good. Some synthetic fibres melt in heat, and for a tufted rug heat can weaken the glue in the backing.

The other risk is too much water. If moisture soaks into the backing and the underlay, the rug takes a long time to dry. How long depends on the fibre, the pile thickness, the backing, the room temperature, the air humidity and the ventilation. The US Environmental Protection Agency writes that fans and a dehumidifier speed up drying, and that porous materials in which mould has started to grow sometimes have to be thrown out. More: how long a rug takes to dry.

Dry rug cleaning: when it is the right choice

Dry cleaning is the right choice for rugs for which water is itself the damage: jute, sisal and seagrass. If the colourfastness has not been tested, do not wet the rug. Dry cleaning cannot reach dirt that has soaked deep into the rug. If urine has reached the backing, the underlay or the floor, surface cleaning may not solve the smell, and the underlay sometimes has to be replaced.

How to choose: three checks before any method

1. Read the label Care symbols are set by GINETEX and the ISO 3758 standard. A cross over a symbol means “do not”, letters in a circle denote professional cleaning processes, and bars under a symbol mean a gentler process.
2. Look at the underside In a tufted rug the yarn is punched through the backing fabric and fixed with latex glue, and it is often covered with a second fabric. A hand-knotted rug has no layer of glue, and the fringe is formed by the ends of the warp threads.
3. Test the colourfastness Before using any product, try it on a hidden spot. If the colour comes onto a white cloth, wet cleaning at home is not advisable.

What not to do with any rug

• Do not use shop-bought carpet shampoos on valuable rugs. The Canadian Conservation Institute writes that after such cleaning, dirt sticks to the fibres even more.
• Do not use chlorine bleach: it changes the colour, and solvents can damage the backing.
• Do not rub a stain. Blot it: rubbing pushes the stain deeper.
• Do not soak the rug “just in case”: more water means longer drying and a greater risk for the backing.

When to request rug cleaning

If the rug is wool, viscose, silk, hide or jute, if it is hand-made, or if the colour comes onto a cloth, home steam is not the right choice. You can request professional rug cleaning, where the cleaning method depends on the fibre.

• Synthetic short-pile rug, cleaning at home: from €6/m².
• Fitted carpet (soft floor covering) up to 100 m²: from €4/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 given from a photo.
• Jute, sisal and coir rugs: the price is given from a photo.

The minimum order is €45: if the total is lower, you pay €45. Travel is included in Riga and up to about 15 km outside the Riga boundary; further out it is from €10. 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. All prices: carpet and rug cleaning prices.