If you’ve spent time and money on finding the perfect rug for your interior, it’s likely you’ll want to know how to help your rug last.

Which is where we come in. We’ve got a list of our top tips to have your rug looking forever fresh.

Some simple and small adjustments to your routine can make a big difference. Meaning your rug will be kept clean and sparkling for years to come. 

Rotate It

Rotating your rug is an easy but essential method to ensure your rug lasts. This allows particular parts of the rug that face a lot of footfall – or sunlight – to not wear at a faster rate than the rest of the rug.

Although it is advisable to try and keep your rug out of direct sunlight, sometimes that isn’t possible. Sunlight is a natural bleach, and will fade the dye on both natural and synthetic rugs. It can also cause wool and cotton rugs to become brittle.

To avoid this happening in only certain patches, rotating your rug regularly can allow fading to be reduced. It can help to even it out across the rug. This means the effect of the sun will be less noticeable.

boho style of rug in the middle of a brightly lit living room on a wooden floor

Rotating the rug can also help with wear. This follows the same logic as the dye fading through sun exposure. Certain parts of your rug will naturally face more wear over time than others, due to higher footfall. 

The outer sides are likely to face less than the centre in a living room, whereas a rug under a dining room table will have little wear in the centre, but a lot around the outer edges.

Rotating the rug around can mean this is again spread out across the different parts of the rug, reducing the impact over time.

Move Your Furniture Around

Furniture can weigh heavily on a rug, and can play a part in affecting the lasting quality of your piece. 

The weight of a sofa or table can be enough to leave imprints on a rug where the furniture is placed. It’s hard, and almost impossible, to get rid of these imprints once they have settled into the rug. 

A sofa placed on a rug that is regularly used can increase this wear even more, due to the movement and extra weight of people sitting on the seat.

the aurora dune rug in a living room with a sofa sat on the edge of it showing hot you make your rug last

To help your rug last, it’s best to move your furniture around regularly. You don’t have to do a drastic rearrangement, just slight moves to the right or left can stop the same parts of the rug wearing down.

Doing this alongside the rotating of the rug can aid the inevitable wearing of the rug that will happen. It helps to spread the wearing and allow the pile to recover when there’s no weight on top of the rug.

Clean Spills Immediately

One important part to help your rug last is to ensure that you look after it carefully. This entails ensuring that all spills are cleaned up as soon as they happen.

The fresher the stain, the easier it is to deal with and clean from the rug fibres. Once a stain has dried, it can be harder to remove. The removal process on a dried stain can require more stress on the rug pile and in turn damage the fibres.

Check out our guide on how to remove coffee, wine or candle wax stains from your rug. 

Cleaning it as soon as it happens will help your rug remain at the best quality. Ensuring patches aren’t worn and marked over time.

Regular Cleaning

It may seem obvious, but regular cleaning of your rug can really benefit the overall condition your rug is in over time.

Vacuuming twice a week will really help your rug last, especially in high traffic areas. As regular cleaning holds more benefits than just removing dirt.

Vacuuming a rug doesn’t simply remove dust and dirt. It also helps to refresh the fibres of the rug and stop fraying of any small loose threads. By vacuuming, it helps to cycle air into the fibres of the rug which helps to plump the rug up.

This helps to make your rug look plush and new again, while also protecting the fibres that could be damaged otherwise.

trainers on the floor next to a hoover used to remove candle wax from the printed rug

It’s best to vacuum both sides of your rug if you want to ensure the best results in the long term. Dust and dirt can get stuck in the underside of a rug, and if that’s worn in it can increase the wear of the rug. 

Larger bits of debris on the underside of a rug can increase friction, and wear specific spots of a rug. This can mean fraying and even holes on more lightweight rugs. Especially if it’s in a high traffic area where it’s trodden on frequently.

Use A Rug Pad

A rug pad is an easy addition to your rug that will truly help your rug last for years to come.

A rug pad fits to the underside of your rug, and it helps with many problems rug owners often face.

rug pad under a red to help your rug last

When a rug is sat on a floor without a rug pad, the friction between the rug and the floor when walked on can damage the rug and your flooring. The rug can become ridged, misshapen and worn down. Plus, particularly if it’s a hardwood floor, you will be able to see signs of friction.

On top of that, a rug pad provides a layer between the rug and the dirt and dust it will pick up from the floor. This added layer simply means that the dust and dirt can’t be worn into your rug as easily. Which means it reduces the damage and affect dirt has on the quality and fibres.

A rug pad is also perfect for aiding with any slipping that may occur for your rug. This reduces any danger from tripping over or slipping on your rugs. Find our rug pads here. 

Thoughts?

So there are our top five tips. Simple and easy to incorporate into your household routine to ensure and help your rug last!

Did this help? Let us know in the comments if you have any more queries about how to care for your rug.