Pro Tip: How to Waterproof Your Area Rugs

Area rugs tie your home’s aesthetic together, protect your flooring and keep your feet warm during the colder months. However, they can get dirty fast. Foot traffic, pets, spills and household messes can end up damaging your rugs. Instead of risking stains that won’t come out, try waterproofing your area rugs in South Amboy, NJ. Here’s why you should do it:

• See fewer stains: Even when you think you’ve mopped up a stain, it can pop back up like a bad penny. If the stain soaks into the padding at the base of the area rug, it can work its way back up into the carpet fibers again. Waterproofing helps eliminate the possibility that your rug will retain stains.
• Easy cleanup: Spills and messes are inevitable, especially if you have pets and children. Waterproofing your area rug makes it a lot easier to clean up those messes. They’ll be less likely to soak into your rug and make a permanent stain.
• Avoid wear and tear: Frequent use means that your area rug will see a lot of wear and tear over the years. Waterproofing your area rug can actually help the rug resist dirt, mud and other wear and tear.
• Longer lifespan: Finally, all of these factors keep your rug looking great longer—which means you can get years’ worth of additional life out of it. Why spend money on a brand-new area rug when you can keep the one you’ve got looking great?

How to waterproof your area rugs

To waterproof your rugs in South Amboy, NJ, you’ll first need to find a good waterproofing spray like Scotchgard or WaterSeal FabricSeal. (Do a patch test to make sure the spray doesn’t affect your area rug’s colorfastness.) Depending on the size of your rug, you may need more than one can.

Next, call your local carpet cleaning company to deep clean your rug. You should already be having it professionally cleaned at least once per year, but especially before you waterproof your rug. You don’t want to seal in dirt, stains and odors. After your rug is deep cleaned, let it dry completely. This can take a day or two.

Finally, use the spray to coat your rug according to the directions. You’ll apply the waterproofing spray to the top side of your rug. Use thin, even coats and let dry in between. It should take about four hours to dry in between coats, as long as you’re not saturating the rug.

Once you’ve applied two to three coats of waterproofing spray, let it dry for at least 24 hours. Try to avoid walking on the rug or spilling anything on it at this time. After the 24-hour period has passed, test to see if it’s water resistant. Flick some water on the fabric—if the water beads up on the surface of the rug, you have successfully waterproofed your area rug.

For more information on how to waterproof area rugs in South Amboy, NJ, or to schedule your cleaning, call Lov ‘N Kare Carpet Center.

Categorised in: Rug Cleaning

This post was written by Writer