Ahhhhh, oriental rug fringe cleaning - it is the difference between a rug looking great or good, good or just ok, ok or, uh, not so ok. Most people have a love hate relationship with the fringe on their oriental rugs.

If the fringe on your oriental rug is clean and in good shape you probably love it. If the fringe is dirty and all ratted up - you almost for sure hate it and are considering taking out the scissors and cutting the fringe off. DO NOT DO THAT!

Some Basics You Should Know About Oriental Rug Fringe

1. There are two types of fringe and it depends on how the rug was made. The first type of fringe is the actual foundation of the rug and it is usually cotton, but also sometimes silk. If the rug is handwoven then the fringe is actually a very important part of the entire foundation of the rug. It is what the rest of the carpet is "attached" to.

If the rug is machine-made then the fringe is usually sewn to the end of the carpet. 

The reason it is important to know if the rug is handwoven or machine-woven is because if the rug is handwoven you do not want to cut the fringe off! This could lead to a lot more problems down the road.

2. Fringe, as we briefly mentioned above, is either cotton or silk. If the fringe is cotton you can be much more aggressive when cleaning. If the fringe is silk then you have to be much more gentle.

So what do you do when you have dirty fringe?

Like anything else, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So how do you prevent the fringe from getting really dirty over time? Well that is a tough one, but there are a couple of things you can do.

1. Have a high quality carpet protector added to the fringe. Actually, having a high quality carpet protector added to your entire oriental rug is a very good idea.

When the cotton or silk fibers are properly protected they not only resist water based soil, but they also resist dry soil. The soil basically stays on the outside of the fiber and is much easier to clean up.

2. Regularly brush out the fringe and gently vacuum it. When we say brush the fringe out we mean take a soft bristle brush and just "comb" out the fringe away from the base off the oriental rug. 

By brushing out the fringe you are breaking up some of the soil that is lightly attached to the fringe and this makes the vacuuming more effective.

3. If you have an oriental rug with fringe in a high traffic area you need to limit the amount of soil that gets deposited on the rug. And the best way to go abut this is have a no shoe policy.

Most of the soil that gets deposited on your carpets and rugs are from shoes. A no shoe policy can go a long ways in reducing the amount of soil that gets deposited on the fringe of your oriental rug.

Some Do's and Don'ts When It Comes To Fringe Cleaning

1. Do not use any type of really aggressive tools to clean fringe. What we mean by this is do NOT use a stiff bristled brush and aggressively comb-out the fringe. If you do this you are guaranteed to damage the fringe.

2. Do not use a vacuum cleaner with a beater bar or brush when vacuuming the fringe. You take the risk of the fringe getting wrapped around the beater bar or brush.

3. NO BLEACH! Over the years we have seen many people use bleach to clean the fringe on their rugs. This is such a bad idea we barely know where to begin. Yes, using bleach will brighten your fringe - no doubt about that. But it will brighten them unnaturally. Your bleached out fringe will not look good and you take the danger of getting the bleach onto the wool fibers.

In case you don't know - bleach dissolves wool. If any of that bleach touches wool there is a very good chance the wool will be severely damaged. And if bleach damages the wool - there is no repair that is going to fix that damaged wool fiber. The next repair that will be needed is much more in-depth - and expensive.

If you have oriental rug fringe that needs to be cleaned in Vancouver, Washington, and the surrounding areas, then give us a call at Linton's Carpet Cleaning. We specialize in high quality oriental rug cleaning and we are experts in the area of cleaning fringe. We clean it safely and effectively. We will be more than happy to give you a FREE NO OBLIGATION QUOTE on any oriental rug cleaning that you need done.