Caring For Your Hemp Rug

Sound advice for preserving the quality of your hemp rug

We at Nepal Rugs and Carpets do our best to provide our customers with tips to help care for their hemp rugs and ensure that they last for a lifetime. However, there’s always the odd occasion that something should happen, and they need our advice. Not to worry! Here, we’ll discuss how to clean your hemp rug.

First things first. Do you have a large stain or a small one? If your stain is a relatively large one, or you’re in need of an overall rug cleaning, you may want to call a carpet cleaning company that specializes in hemp rugs. We do recognize that isn’t always possible, so here are a few tips to get a small stain out of a hemp rug.

Sometimes, we’re lucky and pouring a little water on the stain will help it to dissipate. Truth be told, just plain water won’t always work. What do we recommend? Try grabbing an empty bucket (be sure to clean out any residue from other cleaning products – this is very important!) and pour in a gallon of warm water with a cup of white vinegar. Get a toothbrush (or, if the stain is larger than a dollar bill, a scrub brush) and a little watered down dishwashing liquid, and scrub out the stain using as little pressure as possible. You may even be able to get away with not using any diswashing liquid at all. Before you know it, the stain begins to fade away, and your hemp rug starts to look the way it did when it first arrived.

After a good scrubbing, rinse the area off with a cup of water to get rid of any leftover dishwashing liquid. Be sure to rinse both sides, that way you know for sure there’s no residue on either side. When you prepare to dry your hemp rug, keep a few things in mind.

• First and foremost, it is strongly advised to avoid using steam cleaners, wet-vacs, or any similar cleaning system. The water temperature in them is usually far too hot to ensure your rug’s quality. If your wet-vac model allows you to adjust the temperature, be sure to set it as close to cold as you can.
• When drying your hemp rug, use good judgment. Hemp rugs are organic products that have been naturally dyed, and placing them in the sun will cause them to fade. Conversely, placing an organic product in a dark, warm, or moist area will cause bacteria to grow… thus causing a moldy smell. Find a location that is bright, dry, and warm enough to dry your rug without baking it. If you live in a climate that allows you to hang-dry clothing outside, then it may be the perfect place to dry off your hemp rug.
• Even with painstaking detail to the method you use in cleaning your hemp rug, you can experience a teeny bit of fading. You simply have to be careful of the amount of pressure you use when you scrub.
• As tempting as it may be to stick your hemp rug in the washing machine and/or dryer, don’t. You’ll ruin it.
• If these instructions are somewhat intimidating, don’t feel bad. You purchased your hemp rug because you appreciate the quality and eco-friendliness, right? Nothing wrong with wanting to preserve that. If you are worried about damaging your rug, there is no shame in leaving it to the pros.

Now, if your hemp rug is much larger? Take it outside and hose it down! Hang it somewhere secure, and hose that bad boy down. A moderate amount of pressure (perhaps sticking your finger in the way of the water spout of your hose) can do just the trick in these cases.

If your rug dries in a fashion that results in the corners of your rug curling, here’s a quick little tip to fix it. Douse the corners of the rug in warm to cold water, and flip it over. Flatten out the corners the right way, and lay something heavy on top of them (anything from old textbooks to bricks will do the trick.) Keeping in mind the rules of drying your hemp rug, allow this setup to dry in a bright place free of moisture. You may remove the weights after a while, and allow your help rug to dry all the way. Should be good as new!

We at Nepal Rugs and Carpets hope these tips have been helpful to you in preserving your hemp rug. If you have any questions about your purchase, or questions about purchasing and caring for a hemp rug, don’t be afraid to contact us!