A wool rug is a very beautiful accessory in a home and quite an investment; it adds warmth and color to any room. But one frustrating issue is the constant shedding, and you are probably looking for ways on how to stop a wool rug from shedding.
Well, wool rug shedding is normal and very common, but there are ways it can be minimized. There are various reasons why your rug is shedding; the type of material it’s made from, the quality of the material, and the make of the rug, that is the pattern in which the rug was made.
How to Stop a Wool Rug From Shedding
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The best way to reduce your wool rug shedding is to go for a handmade or hand-knotted wool rug, but if that is no longer an option, you can use one or more of the following methods.
Vacuuming
Lightly vacuum your rug, going with the grain of pile instead of going against it.
Ensure you do not go overboard with this as it may be tempting to use the various attachments and brushes that come with a vacuum, but that would do your wool rug more harm than good.
Using a beater bar or rotating brush on your vacuum will just pull the fibers of the rug out and worsen the shedding.
It is advisable to adjust the beater bar, so it barely touches your rug surface and makes sure to remove any brush and also set the vacuum to a softer setting.
The best way to vacuum a rug is to start vacuuming in one direction, which goes against the pile, then go in the opposite directions, that is vacuuming in the direction of the pile.
Continue doing this until you have completed the whole area, by doing this; you first lift the pile catching any loose fibers and loosening any dirt, then you smooth out the pile, giving you a fuzz-free finish.
Also, vacuuming regularly especially for a new rug helps to keep the shedding in check, it is recommended to vacuum at least once a day until the shedding is reduced significantly.
Then the vacuuming can be done once or twice weekly till the shedding stops completely and it takes about six months for that to happen.
Alternatively, you can skip vacuuming and choose to dust your rug frequently, this you can do by taking the rug outside and give it a good shake to shed loose wool fibers and dirt.
You can also opt for specialty rug rakes; they are also a great alternative as they eliminate the risk of pulling up the rug’s fiber. There are quite a number of good quality rug rakes online.
Placing the Rug in a Low Traffic Area
Placing your wool rug in a low traffic area helps to reduce shedding, placing your rug in high traffic areas where there are lots of activities and movements, increases the wool rug shedding.
Places like the living room or at the door are high traffic areas, place your rug in areas with low traffic, and you can return it to the high traffic areas once the shedding has stopped.
Using a Rug Pad
Placing a rug pad underneath your wool rug will help to absorb some impact and slow down shedding. The padding should be one inch lesser in both width and length of the rug so that the rug can cover it completely.
The padding helps to prevent the rug from excessive wear and tear, and it also feels good under your feet or body.
Rug pads also protect the rug from moisture and slipping on the wooden floor, ensure to use a high-quality rug pad.
Read: Best Rug Pads
Trimming
Wool turfs are bound to appear on the surface of your wool rug, desist from pulling up the turfs off, as this will only lead to more damage to your rug.
Instead, trim the turfs of wood with a sharp pair of scissors. Cutting then even with the surrounding carpet will remove the fuzzy appearance of the turfs, wipe your hand over the surface to collect the loose fibers and balls.
Keep Pets Away
Pets like dogs or cats love to play and scratch on wool rugs, so placing your wool rug in a place or spot where they have easy access to it can lead to lots of shedding.
To stop this from happening, make sure to keep your pets away from your rug or, better still, keep the rug in places out of their reach.
Avoid Accumulation of Dirt on Your Rug
If your rug is used as a doormat or placed close to the doorway, it is recommended that your shoes or footwear should be cleaned thoroughly before stepping on the rug.
Walking over your rug with dirty footwear will lead to dirt accumulation on the rug.
Not only does this make the rug dirty, but the dirt accumulated on the rug will start to act like sandpaper, creating friction when walked upon and losing the wool rug’s fibers thereby causing shedding
Using the Rug For the Right Purposes
Not all wool rugs are built to be placed on the floor and walked over, even some expensive handwoven rugs are meant for wall decor.
So be sure to enquire for the exact purpose meant for a rug before buying it because using a rug in a way that doesn’t suit its purpose will lead to unnecessary shedding and damage.
Shopping for quality rugs
Excessive shedding is caused mostly by poor-quality fibers; high-quality rugs are made from fibers called continuous filaments. This means they won’t pull and unravel as easily as regular fibers.
Although they might be a bit pricey, they are mostly worth the cost because they don’t shed much.
The regular fiber used in cheaper rugs is made of many short strands that pull out easily and shed. So make your decision and shop wisely.
Causes of Wool Rug Shedding
Wool rug shed because wool is a natural fiber that can split or fray when irritated. Just like when your hair is not properly conditioned, and it forms spilt ends, which eventually breaks off, if your wool rug is very dry, the fiber becomes more brittle and shed more.
The degree of shedding also depends on the quality of fibers used; a good quality fiber sheds lesser than that of poor quality. If you find two same wool rugs with different prices, the less expensive one is probably made from low-quality fibers, which is drier and sheds more.
The rug construction is another reason for shedding, hand-knotted rugs shed lesser than wool rugs that are hand-tuft ( machine-made). Hand-knotted rugs shed lesser because each pile of fiber is carefully knotted and secured to the rug’s cotton or wool foundation.
They are produced by repeatedly passing millions of threads through the carpet’s weft; this technique makes sure that every part of the rug is integral to the rug’s structure.
This process makes them less likely to come off, which is not the case with hand-turfed rugs. Hand-turfed rugs always have grey or white canvas backing, and they shed more because of their manufacturing process.
They are made using a tool that shoots turfs of wool through the webbing of the rug, these turfs are then sheered to be at the same level, and then the underside is completed with a coat of latex glue and canvas backing. Not only is the wool of low quality, but the backing or canvas of the carpet can deteriorate, and the pile will begin to shed.
This sheering process also leaves thousands of tiny wool fibers in the pile which takes a long time to shed, when you combine low-quality wool with modern rug making technique, your rug is bound to shed. You can find out how your rug is made by simply folding the rug over and checking it out.
Conclusion
Wool rug shedding may be normal, but knowing how to stop a wool rug from shedding is a valuable skill that can help prevent your expensive wool rug from being fatally damaged.
Taking proper care of your wool rug can also lessen the rug shedding, but make sure not to use any harsh cleaning chemicals that may damage the rug.
Shedding is a problem you cannot avoid but using the aforementioned tips will help to minimize it, a wise tip is to choose a rug that matches the color of your furniture upholstery so as to conceal shedding rug fibers that may stick to the furniture.
Remember, hand-turfed rugs are not built to last more than a few years, so when you are planning to upgrade, go for handwoven or handmade ones, always go for rugs with natural fibers materials.