How To Clean A White Rug

A cushy soft white rug is impossible to resist. A white rug can add warmth, texture, and elegance to your white room design. Keep your classic white rug looking crisp and clean by properly maintaining and cleaning your rug regularly.

How To Maintain A White Rug

Knowing how to maintain a white area rug is more important than knowing how to clean it once it’s dirty. Follow these tips on how to keep a white area rug clean:

Shake Your Rug

• Roll up your white rug and take it outside.
• Hold the corners of the rug firmly while you powerfully shake it. Continue shaking until dirt, debris and crumbs stop falling from the rug.
• If your rug is too large to shake by yourself, you can hang it over a fence or railing. Then give the rug a good whack with a broomstick or other strong stick. Be sure to hit both sides of the rug.

Vacuum

Vacuum your white rug thoroughly starting with the back of the rug. Vacuuming the back of the rug (with the beater brush engaged) helps to loosen dirt within the rug fibers. If you have a shag rug or fibers longer than ¾”, disable the beater brush while you vacuum. Also, avoid vacuuming fringe and knots with the beater brush. Any long fibers can be vacuumed using the upholstery attachment.

Neutralize Odors

Looking to revitalize and freshen your rug? Baking soda is a great natural, odor absorber. Sprinkle a little bit of baking soda on your rug, let it sit for a few hours or overnight and vacuum it up.

Spot Clean

If your white area rug only has a few areas that need to be cleaned, spot cleaning can do the trick.

• Clean spills and spots right away for the best results.
• Remove any excess moisture or debris from the spot. Blot liquids (like wine or urine) with a clean towel. If the stain has dried use the edge of a spoon to remove solid debris.
• Mix together water with a small amount of mild detergent.
• Use a clean, white sponge or rag to blot the spot with the detergent water. Don't rub as this can drive the stain further into the fibers.
• Clean the sponge and repeat until the stain is gone. Then blot the spot several times with clean water until all the detergent is removed.

How To Deep Clean A White Rug

Rugs live on the floor which make dirt and stains inevitable. Follow these steps to get your white carpet white again:

• To deep clean the entire rug, mix together water with a small amount of mild detergent.
• Using a clean sponge, dip in the water detergent mixture and scrub the rug. Start at the corner and work in a grid pattern to go over the entire rug.
• Clean your sponge frequently.
• Once you’ve scrubbed the entire rug, go over the rug again with clean water. Be sure all the detergent is removed as it can attract dirt once the rug dries.

Allow your rug to dry completely before putting it back in place. It’s best to hang or elevate your white area rug in some way so that air can circulate ensuring that your dries completely.

For pesky stains, we recommend having your white area rug professionally cleaned.

More Cleaning Tips

• For advice on how to clean a white shag rug, visit our How to Clean Shag Rugs page.
• For advice on how to clean a white wool rug, visit our How to Clean a Wool Rug page.
• For advice on how to clean a white fur rug, visit our How to Clean A Sheepskin Rug page.