How to Clean Sisal Wool Rugs

How to Clean Sisal Wool Rugs

Natural fiber floor coverings, like Sisal Wool Rugs, are relatively easy to maintain. This is because dirt does not cling to the hard fibers, but rests loosely in the weave. Sisal Wool rugs are very durable and will last a long time if cared for properly. Follow these easy steps below on how to clean Sisal Wool rugs.

Spot Cleaning:

  1. Immediately remove any spills from your rug by pressing firmly with clean, white paper or cloth towels working from the outside of the spill inward to avoid spreading. Continue blotting (blot do not rub) until no moisture transfers to the towel.
  2. For solid spills, scrape up solids with a dull knife or nail file. Then follow step # 1. 
  3. For red wine and tomato sauce, dab with a white cloth dampened with club soda to neutralize the spill and remove any possible stain.
  4. Let dry. Many times the stain disappears. If not, try cleaning with a cloth dampened with mild soap, or use our Sisal Life Cleaner. Dry immediately with a hairdryer or fan.
  5. Host Dry Cleaner Kit Method – you can also use the Host Dry Cleaner to spot clean. Shake HOST Dry Carpet Cleaner onto the spill until covered.
  6. Brush HOST Dry Carpet Cleaner through the Sisal Wool Rugs in all directions: north & south, then east & west.
  7. After brushing, pack the area with another handful of HOST Dry Carpet Cleaner
  8. Wait until the area is completely dry. For wet spills, this may take overnight. HOST Dry Carpet Cleaner will lighten to a pale gold color as it dries. Then vacuum thoroughly
  9. Test a non conspicuous spot with the Host Spot Remover on natural fibers (sisal, jute, seagrass, etc) before applying it. You can also use our Sisal Life Cleaner spot remover.

Pet Accidents

Urine:

  • Blot up as much of the spot as possible by pressing firmly with clean, white paper or cloth towels, working from the outside of the spot inward to avoid spreading.
  • To neutralize odor, mix ¼ cup of white vinegar with ¼ cup of water. Alternately dab a towel dampened in the solution and blot with a dry towel.
  • Then follow procedures in Spot Cleaning.

Feces or Vomit:

  • Scrape up any excess working from the outside of the spot inward to avoid spreading.
  • Then follow procedures for Spot Cleaning.

Overall Cleaning:

It is important to control the amount of moisture during cleaning. NEVER steam clean, wet shampoo or any other method that involves water saturation on a natural fiber rug. It is recommended that a dry cleaning process be used. We have a Host Cleaning Kit for your convenience and it cleans up to a 250 sq. ft. area.

Normal Maintenance:

  1. Regular vacuuming is the best care to keep the appearance of your Sisal Wool Rug fresh. Visible and loose dirt should be vacuumed with a strong suction vacuum. Do not use a beater bar. Vacuum the carpet from different directions, making several passes over the area.
  2. Although the need may not be visible, this frequent and regular vacuuming will increase Sisal Wool Rugs life by preventing soil build-up, and will help eliminate stains caused when spilled liquids dissolve soil accumulations.

If exposed to dryness or low humidity, a frequent, light and even misted application of water strengthens these natural fibers and enhances the wearing qualities.  Minimum moisture can be applied by spraying, light sprinkling, clean mop, damp brush, or any device that would give a light and even application of clean water. This light dampening can also help eliminate minor bubbling and looseness, as carpet will tighten up slightly as it dries. Sisal Wool Rugs dry quickly. Under no conditions should the carpet be saturated, or undesirable dimensional changes could result, as well as possible staining from dyes in the underlay. Care should be taken that the Sisal Sun Rugs are vacuumed and clean before applying the moisture, since dirt in the matting might stain if dissolved.

Vacuuming Bound Rugs: When vacuuming bound area rugs, take special care with the binding border. Do not let the vacuum sit on top of the binding or catch the corner of the rug as it could damage the binding. Also, we suggest you vacuum in the direction that the binding is sewn so as not to pull up the binding from the rug. Do not use the beater bar when vacuuming. Rugs will not be replaced or repaired due to improper vacuuming or care.

Cleaning the Border: For routine maintenance of our woven fabric borders (cotton canvas and linen), simply vacuum the edge finish as explained above in Vacuuming Bound Rugs.

If excessive soiling or spills occur on the binding, our Sisal Life Cleaner works really well and also reapplies the Sisal Life Protector as it is applied.

To maintain one of our Premium leather bindings, simply wipe the surface with a damp—not wet—cloth or sponge or a leather cleaner/conditioner.

Protecting Sisal: We highly recommend that sisal be treated with our Sisal Life Protector. This helps to decrease absorbency and lengthen the time between cleaning. We can professionally apply the protector for you. You can also purchase the Sisal Life Protector in a “do-it-yourself” 22 oz. spray bottle.

What are the advantages of our protector?

Our protector is an acrylic polymer fabric and textile protector, like Scotchguard, but for sisal. Natural fibers and other fabrics treated with this protector will repel water and resist virtually all cold liquid spills and even oily soil. It contains no ozone depleting chemicals. We highly recommend treating natural fiber rugs with our protector to protect against spills and increase the life of your rug.  Applying Sisal Life Protector will NOT GUARANTEE that your sisal will never stain, but it will reduce the chances should a spill occur.

Curled rug corners:  When Sisal Wool Rugs are used as an area rug, traffic or shuffling of feet across a corner or edge could cause the edge to curl. It is easy to fix this by dampening the curled area, or placing a damp towel over the area and weighting it down evenly overnight. If severely curled it might be necessary to repeat this process. We also carry Curl Stop which is an anti-curling rug system that keeps corners flat and is safe for all floors.

Responsibility for cleaning and maintenance lies with those performing this work since the manner and conditions of rug cleaning or maintenance, and the cleaning materials used are beyond our control.

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