Wool carpets are highly popular within homes, as they are soft and comfortable, and give a nice cozy feeling to any room.
But like any other type of carpet, you have to know how to take care of them, and that includes knowing how to clean and maintain them.
As a main rule, you should never rub when cleaning a wool carpet, but instead, blot the stain dry.
However, there is a lot more to know, depending on the type of stain and whether you’re doing regular cleaning or a longer-term deep clean. Let’s get right into all the details!
Wool carpets and cleaning:
Wool carpets aren’t just comfortable and soft, the fibers are also highly durable, and they naturally repel liquids, which makes cleaning them a lot easier.
In fact, wet stains take a longer time to become permanent damage on the carpet, so you have more time to deal with them. They’re also a lot easier to clean up, and the wool will rarely end up with a permanent stain.
However, this doesn’t mean you can relax and simply leave the stains be. You should still clean them up as soon as possible, to ensure the carpet is well-maintained and therefore has a longer lifespan.
How to clean a new wool carpet:
When you get a new wool carpet, it will likely look incredibly clean and perfect, so you might be tempted to just let it be.
However, the carpet will have gotten dirty during the installation process, in an unnoticeable way, so it’s recommended to give it an initial clean so that it’s truly in perfect condition.
When there are no proper stains or patches of dirt, the only thing you really need to do is use the vacuum cleaner.
This will remove dust, along with any other debris, and will ensure it’s 100% clean. Vacuuming is ideal on wool carpets, and a quick pass once a day or a few times a week should be more than enough to maintain it.
For the best results, it’s best to use a vacuum cleaner with soft bristles. Wool carpets are pretty deep, and the bristles can help agitate the dirt so that it comes loose and is sucked in by the vacuum.
If your wool carpet is thicker than average, then try using adjustable bristles so that you really are getting to every last fiber of wool.
However, make sure the bristles are soft and gentle enough, as wool will otherwise begin to shed from the force, and will significantly decrease the carpet’s lifespan.
Regular maintenance and cleaning of a wool carpet:
Once a week or so has gone by, and the carpet isn’t considered as new anymore, you can clean it by using the regular maintenance and cleaning steps.
It might seem like a bit of a chore to clean your carpet on a regular basis, especially if there aren’t any significant stains or patches of dirt. But keeping up regular maintenance will help the wool carpet last an even longer time, and it will look and feel great for years to come.
So for regular cleaning, you can once again use the vacuum cleaner, as it does an excellent job. A pass or two over the least used parts of the carpet should be enough, and then a couple more passes over the parts of the carpet that are walked on the most often, as they will be the dirtiest.
If you want your cleaning to be even more thorough, you can get a carpet cleaner. You can find one specifically suitable for wool carpets, and it will be designed to get to the bottom of the wool fibers, to remove every last piece of dirt, while being gentle on the wool itself.
There are also cleaning products designed for carpets, that you can spray over the surface before vacuuming, and they will leave the carpet smelling and feeling as fresh as new. Also, something to consider!
Annual maintenance and cleaning of a wool carpet:
Regular cleaning and maintenance are good, but it doesn’t save you from having to perform a deeper clean once a year or so.
This deeper clean is what can really help increase the lifespan of the carpet, and it can completely refresh the carpet so that it continues to resist dirt as well as possible.
To do this, you first have to clear up the entire carpet. This means moving all the furniture out of the way, and any other objects or items.
Next, we recommend you use a proper steam cleaner to deep clean the entire carpet. You could also hire a professional carpet cleaning team, but it’s honestly just easier for you to do it yourself if you have the steam cleaner.
The steam cleaner is amazing for properly deep cleaning the wool fibers, and it will truly leave the carpet looking and feeling new. Not to mention that it does wonders for increasing the lifespan, so it really is worth it, if just once a year.
Once it has been steam cleaned, you should leave the carpet to dry naturally for around a day, before moving the furniture back to its original place.
How to get rid of stains on a wool carpet:
Everything we’ve mentioned so far is for normal cleaning and maintenance. But what happens when your wool carpet has a stain? Perhaps caused by a pet, or by coffee, or similar. Vacuuming over the stain simply won’t be enough.
Instead, you will have to perform some focused cleaning on the specific stain, in order to get it off the carpet. There are many different ways in which you can do this, and there are always various tricks and tips when it comes to removing stains.
Here are a few ways in which you can remove stains from a wool carpet:
Baking soda:
This is one of the most common solutions, and usually, it’s very effective. You simply cover the stain with baking soda and leave it to act for a while. It will absorb the stain and the odor. After some time, you simply vacuum up the baking soda, and the stain should be gone!
If there’s still a bit of stain left behind, because it’s extra tough, you can create a solution of white vinegar, warm water, and a drop of dishwasher detergent. Use a sponge, and dab at the stain with the solution.
You can also try rubbing what’s left out but do so with gentle circular motions. Once you’re done, use clean water to go clean the spot in the carpet, and then dab it dry with a paper towel.
Mineral turpentine:
Also sold as ‘turps’, it’s fairly easy to find at hardware stores, and it’s excellent at removing some of the weirder stains from the carpet, such as oil or lipstick.
To use it, you simply need to soak a piece of cloth with the mineral turpentine and then blot the stain with it. Once the stain has been lifted, you can wipe it away with a paper towel with ease.
Wool detergent and white vinegar:
This is a great solution for easier stains, especially those that are water-based. And white vinegar really is the holy grail of cleaning, so it’s pretty effective!
You simply have to mix a drop of wool detergent, with warm water and the third part of white vinegar. Use the solution to gently rub the stain clean, and then let it air-dry for a while.
Stain remover product:
Another solution is to simply use a stain removing cleaning product, which you can buy in the shop.
However, make sure that the product you use is suitable for wool carpets, and that it isn’t too harsh, as that will otherwise damage the lifespan of the carpet.
In Conclusion
To sum everything up, wool carpets are usually a lot easier to clean, as the wool fibers are naturally repellent of liquids, and therefore, most stains.
Nevertheless, wool carpets are quite deep and tend to accumulate a lot of dust and debris, so it’s important to maintain a regular cleaning habit.
The best and easiest way to regularly clean your wool carpet is by using a vacuum cleaner. Specifically, a vacuum cleaner with soft bristles that will help reach every last bit of dirt.
For a more long-term deep-clean, the best option is to use a steam-cleaner. It’s good to do this once a year or so, as it will significantly increase the overall lifespan of the carpet!
And for cleaning stains, there are various approaches you can take. However, baking soda, stain removers, and white vinegar mixed with dishwashing detergent seem to be the most popular and most effective courses of action!
