There are only certain things I am okay with buying vintage or thrifted. Upholstery is not one! A sense of cleanliness in our home is a big deal to me and unless I am getting the piece fully reupholstered down to the studs, I don’t think I’d ever feel that way. An exception is leather which feels clean and wipeable. Okay but what about RUGS. Vintage persian rugs are kind of the best decor thing ever and I need to be able to have them in my life.
And I am good with getting them thrifted or secondhand because I have a very easy way to clean them myself.
Lots of sellers, like the dealer I got this from, possibly already had it professionally cleaned, but I like to do it myself to be sure.
I don’t like renting rug doctors. Maybe ideally I’ll own my own one day, but renting one that a bunch of people have used for stuff they felt was so bad it needed to be PROFESSIONALLY CLEANED seems gross and like it is just going to negate anything it does clean with different dirty-ness?
This method, which is so easy and uses stuff you already have is just mild dish soap and a super big bristle brush. A bigger brush makes it faster, but actually any bristled dish-type brush will do.
I just wet the rug down in my driveway, mix up a big bowl or bucket of water with the soap and then scrub both sides. Then I rinse (like crazy) with the hose to get all the suds out and let it dry in the sun (maybe flipping if needed – I waited for a good and hot day.) A squeegee would be fantastic to get out extra water, or you can just push out as much as you can with your hands.
At then end when it is dry, I fluff the fibers up a bit with my hands and it is perfect! Definitely yes, TEST IN A CORNER. I don’t know what your rug is like and that it won’t make colors run or anything. I have not had any problems with the sun distorting color because it would only be out for a few hours. I love this method because it opened up the world of buying thrifted rugs, even for clean concerned people like me. And it is a good way to just clean any of my rugs now and then.
I did a whole post about how finding vintage rugs that are not in perfect condition and how they are my favorite to put in entryways and mudrooms because they still bring that persian rug beautifulness but you feel okay about them taking wear and tear!