Keep Your Wool Rugs Looking As Good As The Day You Bought Them.

Some people worry about buying wool rugs as children’s rugs because of the danger of them wearing out and looking scruffy before their time. With wool rugs, this is not usually a problem. Wool rugs are very hard wearing and common stains can easily be cleaned off. There is no need to feel reluctant to choose wool rugs for your children’s rooms. Children can bring in more dirt than the average adult, and can forget to wipe their shoes or take their shoes off. No one wants to be the sort of parent who is continually shouting and nagging at their child so with a few easy tips wool rugs can be cleaned up and look as good as new.

The commonest complaint about stains that I get is muddy footprints all over wool rugs. Children seem to find mud everywhere and often forget to wipe their feet so the mud gets trampled all over the house, especially in their rooms so that their children’s rugs get dirty as well as the rest of the house. Another culprit is the family dog. Children love to play outside in the garden and run around with the dog, but that often means there are muddy paw prints all over the wool rugs, and it is very difficult to teach a dog to wipe its feet. The first thing to remember if you have mud on your children’s rugs is not to panic. First let the mud dry. Be patient, as if you try to remove it before it is completely dry you will smear it all over the wool rug. Once it is dry, most muddy footprints come off with a good vacuuming. If there is some staining left behind, then using washing powder or washing up liquid in warm water, not hot, usually removes the stain. Be sure to test your wool rug for colour fastness first.

At this time of year, with the grass growing and children playing outside, one of the commonest stains on wool rugs is grass. The green stain of grass used to be extremely difficult to remove from children’s clothing and children’s rugs, but it is a biological stain and so can be removed using a biological washing powder. Biological washing powders contain enzymes, which do not work properly if they are too hot. They work by breaking down or digesting the stain. The best temperature is around forty degrees, which feels warm but not hot. This is the ideal temperature for your wool rugs which providing

they are colourfast (test on a small inconspicuous area first) will not be damaged at this temperature. It takes time for enzymes to work, so you must be patient. Leave the biological washing powder on the stain for twenty four hours, keeping it wet. Then rinse off and allow it to dry. In this way the stain should be easily removed. Many other stains on your wool rugs can also be treated in this way.


Buying new wool rugs to use as children’s rugs means that they are easy to look after and will look great for many years.