We Cleaned a Filthy Old Rug on a Queens Sidewalk. It Was Extremely Satisfying. (2024)

The short answer is, yes—but not all rugs are created equal. Rugs are considered vintage when they are at least 40 years old, and antique when they are 80 or older. Benjamin Mini, head of the rugs and carpets department at the auction house Bonhams Skinner, suggests cleaning your rugs every five to 10 years. “It really depends on if your dog lives on the rug and has a million accidents on it, you know?” Mini added. But not all rugs are suitable for home cleaning. “Don’t even touch silk,” Mini warned. “You’re not good enough to wash silk, so don’t do it.” Flat-woven rugs, like kilims, are also off limits, as are very delicate rugs.

If your old rug isn’t disintegrating, has colorfast dyes that won’t bleed, is knotted, and is made from wool, you can probably safely clean it yourself. “Water is not a carpet’s enemy—if it’s done properly,” said Louise Broadhurst, the director and international head of the rugs and carpets department at Christie’s. Broadhurst pointed out that dirt in and on the carpet will “dull the natural patina, the luster of the wool. Your colors will become dimmer, duller, grayer.”

This was the case with my colleague, senior staff writer Tim Heffernan’s antique wool rug, which had an important story to tell—one rooted in love and family ties.

For decades, Tim’s uncle Bill collected and sold Central Asian rugs in Manhattan. After Bill died, Tim inherited one of his rugs. “We’ve had it for over a decade and cherish it as something that Bill loved and that we love ourselves,” Tim told me. But dirt and heavy wear had blunted its colors, turning it into a sorry ghost of its former self. The rug was in desperate need of a cleaning, so I set out to bring it back to a state that would make Uncle Bill proud.

Before you get the hose out, determine your rug’s fiber, its condition, and whether it’s colorfast.

To check colorfastness, Mini suggests soaking a rag in hot water and placing it on the rug with a brick or similar weight on top for 15 to 20 minutes. If your rug has reds, test those areas first. (Red dyes are particularly prone to bleeding because early synthetic dyes, which appeared in the mid-19th century, were often unstable, Mini explained.)

Or, you can dampen a white towel with water and a bit of detergent and gently rub it on different colors on the rug, said Ali Hafezi Mashhadi, vice president of Babash Rug Services. Pay extra attention to areas of the rug that may have been re-dyed after it was originally woven, which are more likely to wash off, Mashhadi added.

Once your rug is ready for a deep clean, choose a warm day without rain in the forecast for at least 24 hours. (It is important to allow the rug to dry completely to avoid mold and bad smells.)

You’ll need a large, flat space to wash your rug, such as a deck, patio, or driveway. An unfinished basem*nt with floor drains may be suitable, too. Just make sure the water drains into the sewer system. (Consider local ordinances on car-washing or other water runoff.)

You’ll also need an outdoor space to hang up the rug or lay it flat to dry, ideally with full sun exposure and ample ventilation.

A strong but gentle plug-in vacuum cleaner: To deep-clean your rug, you want a vacuum with suction and airflow that’s decent enough to remove debris hiding in the fibers. But gentle handling is equally important: Vintage and antique rugs should not be cleaned with a spinning brush roll, Mini said, singling out Dyson vacuums. “That’s like a razor if you’ve ever seen it. It really tears into carpet.” It can also tangle or tear out delicate fringes.

Our upright- and canister-vacuum picks have excellent cleaning power and allow you to turn off the brush roll for gentler cleaning, but a straight-suction/combination brush that allows you to raise the bristles might be best as “it will glide smoothly over rugs without any potential for snagging or resistance,” said John Van Leuven, CEO of SEBO America. The brush that fits our SEBO picks (8351GS) is available on the company’s website. (Miele also sells straight-suction/combination brushes on its site.)

A rug beater: This is optional, but if you don’t own a really good vacuum cleaner and have a lot of anger to burn, use a rug beater to whack out dirt and dust deep in the rug. You may want to wear a dust mask.

Bucket(s) and soap: You’ll need one or two large buckets (we used 5-gallon buckets) and mild dish soap. Mini is partial to lemon-scented Joy Ultra Dishwashing Liquid, which creates ample suds.

A tarp: To keep street or yard dirt from reaching your rug—which defeats the purpose of washing it, duh—you’ll need a tarp that’s at least 2 feet longer and wider than the rug. For our 7-by-12-foot rug, we used the 12-by-16-foot Everbilt Heavy Duty Tarp, which gave us enough space on all sides to direct the runoff out onto the street.

A brush and a squeegee: You’ll need a brush, ideally one with a long handle, so you don’t have to scrub on your hands and knees. We used a deck brush, similar to this one, which was stiff yet gentle enough to use on a cherished heirloom rug, and has an attached squeegee that works well for smaller rugs. We also used an 18-inch squeegee, attached to a wooden handle, which allowed us to push water out of the rug without being too harsh on the pile.

Sunscreen, sustenance, and a sidekick (or two): When I decided to write this story, I asked a couple of colleagues to join me in my rug-washing endeavor. Instead of approaching it as a chore, I wanted it to be a fun activity with people I like who would help me wash, dry, and carry the rug in and out of the house (as you can imagine, a large, wet rug is very heavy). To keep up their spirits, I provided plenty of sunscreen, beverages, and snacks.

Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum: Before your helpers arrive, thoroughly vacuum both sides of your rug. (Trust me. Nobody likes to watch you vacuum or, worse, vacuum your rug for you, unless you pay them.)

When Mini told me that he sometimes vacuums a rug for an hour straight, I assumed he was exaggerating. But Tim’s gigantic old rug set me straight. I vacuumed it for an hour and 40 minutes, turning the rug at least four times to get out (most of) the dust and debris. I then weighed the dust bag. To my astonishment, it had gathered more than half a pound of dreck. Since I had reached my daily vacuuming limit, I took the rug to the roof and beat it for another half hour. More plumes of dust scattered but they got lighter with each whack. Not only did I get in a workout (and then some), my temper softened with each stroke.

Scrub, scrub, scrub: Next, lay the rug on your tarp. Add plenty of detergent to your bucket. We used about one-fifth of a 375 mL bottle, distributed in two 5-gallon buckets. Add water and watch the squishy foam emerge.

Pour your cleaning solution all over the rug and gently spray it with the hose to fully distribute the foam and saturate the rug. There are several ways to shampoo your rug. Mini told me that he likes to scoop up the foam, get on his hands and knees, and rub it into the rug. “I’ll caress it, you know, get the suds deep into the knots,” he explained, adding, “It’s obsessive stuff—you really get into it. It’s fun.”

While I’m chummy with my colleagues, we’re not comfortable enough with each other to get on our hands and knees on soapy surfaces together. Instead, we used a brush and a broom to work in the suds, being extra careful with the fringes and worn areas of the rug.

Once we had “caressed” the rug for about 30 minutes, we used the hose nozzle’s jet spray setting to rinse out the dirty suds. Boy, it was gross to watch 100 years of gunk seeping out! We continued rinsing it for another 30 minutes or so, until the water ran clear.

Dry, dry, dry: Once the water runs clear, grab your squeegee. Both Mini and Broadhurst emphasized that it is important to run the squeegee along the patina. (You don’t stroke a sensitive cat against the direction of its fur, do you?) To figure out the direction of the pile, run your hands across the carpet in different directions, choosing the one that lies flat. Otherwise, Broadhurst said, “You’ll end up with something that looks like a teddy bear, very matted and all muddled, and that changes the whole character of the carpet.”

Once we had gotten out most of the water, we took our rug to its designated drying space. You can hang the rug over a railing, changing its position occasionally to avoid creases and dents, or lay it flat on the ground. Tim’s giant rug was too large to hang, so we laid it on a tarp on a roof deck, flipping it about mid-way through the drying process.

Once the rug was 100% dry, we did the handkerchief test to see if we did a good job. With all the stiffening gunk removed, the rug should feel soft and supple, Mini explained. “You’re going to be able to pick up your rug, and it’ll just be more like a handkerchief in the hand, and it’s very rewarding.”

Tim’s freshly laundered rug passed the test.

To increase your rug’s life expectancy and protect it from damaging substances like abrasive sand and moth eggs, you should vacuum it regularly. My husband and I vacuum the top of our rugs with an eight-year-old Miele Compact C1 HomeCare PowerLine weekly. Once or twice a week, we run our Eufy RoboVac 11S Max for a more superficial cleanup. (If you don’t have pets and/or kids, you may skip this step.) Every two or three weeks, we flip our rugs and vacuum their backside.

“Moths are probably the number one danger zone” for rugs, Broadhurst said, adding that it’s their little larvae that “munch the wool.” If you find coffee-like granules and webbing on the back of your rug, you should drop it in a large freezer, which kills moths and larvae. “The duration of freezing is a source of debate, with museum experts suggesting between three days and two weeks,” said Kevin Sudeith, a friend and expert on Afghan war rugs. Otherwise, take it to a rug-cleaning professional, because vacuuming and washing it with water and soap alone does not necessarily moth-proof your rug.

The best way to store a beloved rug is flat on the floor in a low-traffic area, moving it occasionally for even distribution of wear. For long-term storage, fold it up, wrap it in acid-free paper, and put it in a freezer or climate-controlled room. If the latter, check occasionally to ensure no creatures have taken up residence. This way, you can help preserve your rug’s beauty and ensure that it continues to tell colorful stories for generations to come.

This article was edited by Courtney Schley and Ingrid Skjong.

1. Benjamin Mini, head of the rugs and carpets department at Bonhams Skinner, video interview, February 1, 2024

2. Louise Broadhurst, director, international head of department of Rugs & Carpets at Christie’s, video interview, February 1, 2024

3. Ali Hafezi Mashhadi, vice president of Babash Rug Services, email interview, June 29, 2024

4. Kevin Sudeith, rug dealer, curator, and collector, email interview, June 28, 2024

5. John Van Leuven, CEO of SEBO America, email interview, June 28, 2024