The Oriental rugs may remind you of the culture and history of the East and these genuine hand-knotted area rugs will last for generations if you take the time with a few precautions to protect them from premature wear and tear. The most common forms of damage come from many arena’s. Beware of: Water Damage, Moth Damage, Animals, The Vacuum Cleaner, and Uneven Wear.

Potted plants can leak water and if the pot is on the rug it will also create uneven wear to your rug. The moth will eat your rug. Animals can be a challenge where the doggie chews and the kitty claws the rug and/or pet stains occur. The vacuum cleaner is a terrible culprit and can irrevocably wreck your rug. We once had a cleaner come in and she would leave the vacuum sitting upright and running on the rug. This means the brushes are running round and round and will wear away the beautiful fibers making up your rug. This neglect by the cleaner created several spots that were completely wore to a thread barren state. This can not be fixed, so you’ll want to make your cleaner savvy to not do that. Too much sun can bring you some trouble, too if there is too much light directly on your rug day in and day out. And uneven wear and tear will wear out your area rug much more quickly than you might think.

Being aware of these common problems of damage can help you realize the few things you need to do to protect and care for your beautiful Persian and Oriental rugs. The right ways to take care of Oriental rugs is not as difficult as you might think. However, if you don’t take heed they will eventually lose their meaning. As a proud owner of one, you should take extra precaution in the manner you handle and clean them. To help you out, here are a number of tips for you:

1. The Dog - Keep your puppy away from the rug. Most homes today aren’t only meant for humans. Our precious dogs can also end up chewing on the on the Oriental rugs. The problem is they can develop the habit of gnawing the sides of them, particularly when they are young and their teeth are growing. To prevent them, it’s practical to train your puppy to steer clear from the rug while he’s still young. How? You may want to place moth flakes on the rug, which generally can simply scare them away or catch them off guard. One other ideas is to keep them out of the room as they grow up and become trained and obedient. Sorry, but we can’t say what the best way is to train the dog.

2. The Cat - For kittens a bottle of 1/2 water and 1/2 white (clear) vinegar lightly sprayed on the rug will work exceptionally well. It will not damage the rug and kittens and cats hate the smell of the vinegar, so they will steer clear of your nice rug. You’ll need to repeat applications of the spray until they are well trained. Remember, a cats claws can tear up a perfectly good rug in a heart beat, so beware and use the spray, even if you are not sure they might want to sharpen their claws on your beautiful Oriental rug.

2. Generally, an Oriental rug is highly resistant to damage and color fading when exposed to the sun. Nevertheless, if it’s placed under the UV rays for two years or more, you can definitely see significant change—and you wouldn’t be happy. What you can do is to place these area rugs in a room with some drapes or curtains on the windows to simply block the sunlight from directly hitting your rug, repeatedly.

3. Uneven Wear - Use a rug pad. This helps tremendously when the carpet is laying on tile, marble or hardwood floors. Even wear of your rug will protect it amazingly well for the long haul of durability which these rugs are and hence, the pad is well worth the investment. If your rug lays on the carpet, you should be quite fine and not need the pad.

There’s no other person that can effectively and timely take care of your rug than you. Heed these tips and you should do well in protecting your wonderful investment in the Oriental and Persian rugs. They are true treasures. Enjoy!