Vacuuming wool rugs?

[ocscott3085]

Hi All,
I have had wool rugs for the last few years but since moving in to our new house, we have been replacing them with new ones. When looking at the care instructions, every paper is saying "vacuum regularly using a vacuum cleaner without a beater brush". My better half is treating these instructions like the Bible which is funny considering every other rug we've had we have always just used a powerhead or regular upright with the brush roll on. The last few rugs we have purchased have been shedding a lot (to be expected) and he's convinced it's because of the central vac's powerhead (I adjust it to a level 4 so it's not too deep). Any other rec's for tools I could use that would still do an adequate job? I have a turbocat lying around here somewhere. Maybe I can let him just vacuum them with the upholstry tool and see how long it takes for him to give up and just use the powerhead? Thanks for any words of wisdom!

 

[dysondestijl]

I'd recommend using your shark rotator lift away, we have rugs that shouldn't be used with a beater brush but I find that modern brush rolls in uprights don't damage the rug at all.

 

[nycwriter]

"Beater brush" ...

... meaning the old Hoover-style brushes with beater bars along with the bristles.

Rotating bristle brushes should be just fine.

Frankly, so should beater-bar brushes. Wool rugs aren't any more delicate than synthetic fiber rugs. In fact, in my experience they are actually stronger.

And yes, I have only pure wool rugs throughout my apartment.

 

[cc]

I have only wool rugs in my home and use an Aerus with the pn. They have been vacuumed twice a week using an electrolux for over 50 years and are fine. If you would like however, there are brushrolls you can buy for almost any pn that are softer and will be more delicate while still cleaning. My advice is to relax - wool is tough.

 

[ocscott3085]

Thanks all, that's exactly what I thought. I'll have to print these replies and share so he can RELAX Have a great day!

 

[suckolux]

I purchased a wool oriental in 84 for living room, it also said suction clean only. It got Panasonic upright daily. It has been moved to garage due to spots worn through.I am sure my aggressive cleaning and high traffic contributed, but maybe that is the lifespan too of the rug I bought.It was on top of thick rug and pad.$2500 in 1984 dollars.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

All of the rugs here are wool, too.

There's one in the house that's over 70 yrs old! Only HOOVER cleaners have cleaned them. The beater bar is great. No surprise there.

 

[MikeKLondon]

STOP It’s not that simple

I have a number of rugs all over the house and it’s more dependent on how the rugs is made and not what it’s made from. Wool is very tough BUT if it a twisted strands any PN will seriously damage it; if its hand knotted again any PN will in time loosen the knots. Older and antique rugs are usually much stronger than many hand made designer rugs. I have two dogs and I do use a PN once a week but a very soft bristle available from Miele with very low suction to and all the rugs and a straight suction rug tool daily, in fact using the suction only cleans most of the rugs better that using a PN. I would check carefully with the rug maker or get professional advise from a rug dealer. Some Gabbeh rugs will be threadbare in 6 months if you use a PN on them. But a loom rug you could vacuum daily with a Hoover beater and not do any damage in fact that what the older hoover was made for.

The rug in the picture is a hand knotted Gabbeh in the dogs bedroom, its now 15 years old and still like new but I would NEVER use a PN to clean it, Why would I when Suction only does a much better job and about once a month i turn it over and gently vacuum the back, however on some of the shorter pile wool rugs you need a PN to remove the dog hair and deeper dirt. Please be careful I found out the hard way at cost.

 

[pinkge]

Rug's

I've used my Hoovers on my wool carpet and my orientals,My rugs are at least 75 years old and Hoovers were used on them weekly.Rug's wear in pathes,because they do not get turned in the opposite directions.Never had one problem,these carpets were Hoovered with the old coffee can cleaners to the 40 and 50's convertibles.I personally believe todays cleaners have to agrressive brush rolls and much higher suction than older cleaners,which pulls the rug's up in the power nozzels and the rugs get damaged more.
Wool rug's shed at least a year or longer,it is fluff from being cut or carved.It will not hurt them using a beater bar cleaner.
Michael

 

[MikeKLondon]

Vintage Rugs and Hoover

Pinkge; I agree with you about new vacuums most have far to agrressive brush rolls that's why I like my Miele with the soft brush and low suction, Hoovers work very well on Antique and Vintage rugs but sadly much like the Vacuums a lot of newer hand made rugs are just not made to the same standard no mater how much you pay. I had a SEBO felix that was also very good for rugs and I know a pot here love their SEBO's but while I loved its easy to use design sadly SEBO and I just to not get along. I currently trying out a number of vacuums to replace it as a daily driver. One thing I have seen is that there are reconditioned Hoover Juniors on the market I would like to see one and see how well they are re-built, I called one shop tis morning and asked if they had real horse hair brushes or nylon and the response was how should I know we only sell them, So I won't be buying from them.

 

[parwaz786]

We have a large wool rug approx 2X1 metres, I use my Dysons on there all the time, and its like a pet cat or dog, the hair comes out and fills up Dysons quickly and I love vacuuming it, looks very nice and cleanly groomed, the fibres always come out a lot, and it looks like the fibres never seem to come to an end I love this rug, but every time I wash it and let it dry, then I leave it on the floor, then vacuum, there is always white powdery dust and I vacuum it, then the next morning, its there again! but I like wool carpets the best, mine is biege coloured with green and blue flowers and brownish/pink(dark pink basically) stems and leaves

 

[dysondestijl]

Ours is a black, 1.5mx2m rug. I've started using my Kirby heritage on it, it does a wonderful job and I vacuum In different directions and it looks like a football pitch lol!
The only bad thing is that the height adjuster is worn, and often slips down to the lowest setting which jams the roller!

 

[eurekaprince]

You know, we had good quality wall to wall wool carpeting in the homes I grew up in, and our two Eureka fan-first uprights took very good care of the floor coverings. Our older blue Eureka Automatic 260 had no beater bars - just that high performing Disturbulator with the three rows of various layouts of bristles. The 260 was eventually replaced by Goldie - a gold Eureka Rugulator Cordaway upright with Vibra Groomer I - Model 2083 with box top bag.

Neither of the Eurekas damaged this carpeting. I wonder if this was due to the low amperage of both motors - though their motors were probably no higher than 4 amps, each deep cleaned the carpets with excellence.

Perhaps the new 12 amp uprights we see in stores today are too powerful for wool rugs? Can someone with electrical motor knowledge clarify this for us: Does a 12 amp motor spin a brush roll faster than a 3 amp motor?

 

[spiraclean]

As someone who used to clean houses professionally I've come across numerous 100% wool rugs that were somewhat challenging to keep clean without causing damage. You need to strike a balance between removing dirt and not pulling out the fibres, and the only way to find out is by carefully testing different vacuums until you find the right one. Also, weigh in the long term damage caused by grit being left in the pile of the rug. Sometimes you've got break eggs to make an omelette, and a quick, careful once over with a rotating brush roller is preferable to allowing a rug to be slowly worn away by the dirt hidden in its backing.

At the time I had about 8 or 9 different vacs on the go, precisely so I could pick and choose which ones I took with me to certain jobs. It's a real one-size-does-not-fit-all situation. The key is to start out gentle, and only step up to something more aggressive if it's absolutely safe to do so, especially if has high monetary or sentimental value.

For lightweight rugs or those with a short, dense pile, my favourite was the Oreck. The brush roller has bristles that are soft yet thickly tufted, so it will do an adequate job of sweeping without being overly aggressive. One other thing Orecks are famous for is having comparatively low suction, and again that's exactly what you need here, as it has enough oomph to carry the dirt away without actually drawing the rug into the cleaner and chewing on it.

For deep pile wool rugs my usual choice was an older Vorwerk upright. I had a VK122 fitted with an ET340 power nozzle, but any model from this series will do the same job to the same standard. Again you have plenty enough suction to do the job, but not so much that the rug gets chewed. You can also open the relief vent underneath the hood of the power nozzle if needed, which bleeds off excess suction. The brush rollers on these cleaners are of a free floating design so they don't get bogged down into the pile. Later Vorwerks (such as the VK130 onwards) have a similar brush system but are far more powerful, so you will need to set the suction at or near minimum to achieve the same effect. You know all is OK when you hear dirt and grit being pulled out of the rug, but don't find fibres in the bag afterwards.

Rugs with a very long and loose "stringy" pile seem quite fashionable these days, but they don't take kindly to being cleaned with a brush roller no matter what fibre they're made of. For these I used a straight suction cleaner, fitted with a natural bristle hard floor brush. This acts rather like a rug rake, grooming without pulling out the fibres. It is heavy going however, and you will need to make repeated passes to get the rug acceptably clean. This is why I will not have such a rug in my own home, as I've seen how much time and effort they take to look after and in all honesty I've got better things to do with my own time.

For anything especially delicate or valuable, clean as above, using straight suction only and a natural bristle floor brush if additional grooming is needed. If you don't get acceptable results using suction only, try a different floor head. They're not all created equal, and some are better than others at focusing suction into the pile. The Miele combination head in particular is a good choice, because the baseplate is designed to gently open up the pile so the suction reaches all the way down to the backing.

For durable rugs made from synthetic fibres, it's a different story altogether. Pretty much anything goes with these and you'd have to be seriously careless to cause any damage. My preferred choice in these instances was either a Hoover Turbopower or Sanitaire commercial. Set the height adjuster, push the cleaner forward in a quick, purposeful motion, and raise the nozzle up and away as you reach the edge of the rug. Simple.

Mike - to answer your question about the Hoover Junior, it will have nylon bristles.