Investing in a big area rug, perhaps for a living room or bedroom, is generally a large investment for most households and it is completely natural to want to ensure these area rugs are kept in the best shape possible.

Cleaning is going to be a big part of this, but cleaning a big area rug is a huge challenge for a lot of people.

In this article, we will give you our expert tips to ensure you can clean a big area rug in the most efficient and cost effective way possible.

One thing to note is these are general tips and we do not recommend these tips for all rug materials and types. For specific information on how to clean a rug with specific materials and types in mind, please check out this article here.

Set Up Outdoors

The first thing you need to do is set up an area outdoors.

When cleaning big area rugs you are going to be using specialist rug shampoo and water so you need to ensure your space is big enough so you are not potentially causing water damage to items in your home.

If you have space towards the front or rear of your home, we would recommend setting up there. That way, if things get wet, it does not matter too much.

Vacuum Your Area Rug

Before you start cleaning your rug, it is important to vacuum both the front and back of your rug to remove dust and other small pieces of debris that may be sitting within the pile of the rug. This way, you know you are not rubbing dirt deeper into the pile when you start cleaning your rug manually.

We also recommend vacuuming the back of the rug to ensure the rug sits flush to your floor when the cleaning has finished.

Shake The Rug

A very important step, but one that is often missed, is shaking the rug. If you can do this yourself, great! If not, it is recommended to get 1-2 people to help you with this as shaking the rug will allow any smaller pieces of dirt that were not caught with the vacuum to become dislodged from the fibres of the rug.

Shaking the rug is especially recommended for shaggy rugs, wool rugs and viscose rugs as these rugs can often have issues with dirt becoming trapped within the fibres of the rug.

Apply Specialist Carpet/Rug Shampoo

The next step is to shampoo your area rug with a specialist carpet shampoo.

First, hose the rug down and get it wet. Don’t worry about the rug getting too wet as it needs to be prepared well for shampoo application anyway.

Once the rug is nice and wet, you can then work the shampoo into your rug using a sturdy brush with a stout handle. It will, of course, require a lot of elbow grease and manual scrubbing. Make sure to focus on any particular problem areas, for example, areas where the rug has been stained previously.

Important: Test Your Carpet/Rug Shampoo First

It is vitally important to test your chosen carpet shampoo on a small area of the rug prior to full use to ensure the brand of shampoo you have chosen does not cause damage to the fibres or the build of the rug.

Rinse Your Area Rug With Clean Water

Once you have applied shampoo to the entire rug, it is time to rinse off the shampoo with water. In some cases you can use a pressure washer, but this is only if you have an outdoor rug made with a synthetic material like polyester or polypropylene. In most cases, a regular garden hose will do the trick.

Hose down the rug and ensure that all remains of the shampoo has been removed and then it is time to move onto the next step.

Dry The Rug

Once the rug has been completely hosed down it is time to dry the rug. Drying a big area rug can sometimes seem like a daunting task, but in some cases it is as easy as hanging over a washing line if it is strong enough to hold the weight of the rug.

If you do not have a washing line that is strong enough then the rug can be placed on a table or even on the ground with no issue at all, you will just need to dry one side of the rug completely and then turn it over to dry the other side completely.

Vacuum Your Area Rug One Final Time

As your final step before placing the rug down in your room, we would advise vacuuming the rug on both sides one last time. Not only will this help ensure the rug is completely dry as any excess moisture will be sucked from the rug, but it also neatens the pile before the rug is placed down again.