How to Clean Area Rugs At Home (Easy Guide, FAQs, And Video) (2024)

Wondering How to Clean Area Rugs At Home, here’s the easy steps, FAQs, & a video guide to help. Use most upright & portable carpet cleaners.

How to Clean Area Rugs At Home

Hi guys! I’m so excited to show you how to clean area rugs at home, the easy way! It’s a game changer. I used to take my rugs to a dry cleaner, but half the time the stains weren’t completely removed.

And, paying a professional carpet cleaner always cost more than I though it was worth. Especially with cheaper rugs. So, I’m really loving that I found an easy way to clean a rug at home.

A friend recently recommended the Bissell SpotClean Pro to me. I looked around my house and realized that my car, my rugs, my carpet, couch, and even a fabric headboard of mine could use a deep clean.

And, this Bissell portable cleaner is actually budget-friendly. So, I decided to buy one.

Turns out, I guess I’m a Bissell fan because I just realized that my favorite $100 Vacuum is a Bissell and the Steam Mop I use on my tile is a Bissell too.

Here’s 4 more posts about household items you can clean with that Bissell:

• How To Clean A Couch At Home With The Bissell SpotClean
• What To Use In A Bissell Spot Cleaner: 5 Best Alternatives

Now, let’s talk about how to clean rugs at home. 🙂

Can you Wet Clean your Rugs?

Maybe, maybe not! In the video below, I talk about how I decided to wet clean this rug. It wasn’t really recommended by the rugs manufacturer.

But, since this rug is a SYNTHETIC FIBER, with a lower chance of shrinking, AND it only cost me $75, I decided it was worth the risk to use a carpet cleaner on a rug like that.

To be honest, this rug was so dirty, spot treatment wouldn’t have worked. So, I felt like I had no other option to save this rug.

I WOULD NOT use a power cleaner (wet cleaner) on a wool, silk, antique or any expensive rugs. I’d recommend finding a professional rug cleaner on any expensive rugs.

I PROBABLY wouldn’t use this cleaner on natural grass rugs, like Jute, UNLESS it’s a last ditch effort to save your rug. Natural grasses can shrink.

But, if you’ve tried spot cleaning, and a dry cleaner, and are about to throw that natural grass rug away, then I’d try the bissell stain pretreat and the SpotCleaner as a last attempt to save that rug.

So, check the manufacturer directions and think about whether or not you should wet clean a rug at home. If you decided you should, follow the steps below.

What I Use to Clean An Area Rug At Home

• Bissell 3624 SpotClean Professional Portable Cleaner
• Bissell 4x Concentrated Deep Cleaner
• Vacuum, I use this low cost one
• Clean Towels for soaking up excess liquid
• Drop Cloth or Plastic Sheet to place under the rug
• Optional: Bissell Stain PreTreat for tougher stains or spot cleaning

How Do You Deep Clean An Area Rug At Home

Step One – Vacuum

Before you can wash a rug at home, give it a good vacuum. Wet carpet cleaners, like the Bissell SpotClean, are designed to suck up fluids. So, vacuum up all of that loose dirt first.

Step Two – PreTreat

Now that your rug has been vacuumed, you can use an optional stain pretreat on any tough stains that you think might need it.

A stain pretreat should be used on tough stains, like pet stains, grass, wine, coffee, etc.

Step Three – Prep The Area

Put a plastic sheet or tarp under your rug to protect the floor beneath it from dirty water. You need to wash rugs on a flat surface too.

Step Four – Start Cleaning Your Rug With A Carpet Cleaner

Here’s where the fun starts! Add the hot tap water and 2 ounces of cleaner into the Bissell Spot Cleaner, per instructions.

Then start spraying the cleaning solution on to the rug and sucking up those stains!

I think it’s best to spray an area and suck up all of that liquid, then repeat until that section looks clean.

Lightly push the Bissell attachment you’re using into the area rug you’re cleaning to keep strong suction on that area.

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Keep working on the rug until the water you’re sucking up is clean. My dirty Laundry Room rug took about half an hour to clean.

I probably emptied the dirty water from my carpet cleaner 5 times and had to add more hot water and cleaner 5 or 6 times to the Bissell SpotClean.

If your rug has a nap, like mine, take one last pass with the spray and cleaner moving with the direction the nap lays, so that it dries with the nap flat.

Watch the video below these steps to see me explain the cleaning process and how to lay the rug’s nap.

Step Five – Let The Rug Air Dry

Once you’ve sucked up as much liquid as you can, it’s time to let the rug dry. If it’s a nice, sunny day, you can let it dry outside to reduce the dry time.

Whether you let it dry inside or out, let it dry flat so that it doesn’t get stretched out lumps. Keep it on the tarp or plastic sheet to protect it from dirt.

I also placed old, clean towels under my rug to help the bottom of the rug dry faster.

Once the top and bottom of the rug is dry, you can start using it again. If the rug needs a little “fluffing” use a soft bristle brush or your vacuum attachment to fluff the rug a bit.

Watch this Video to See How To Clean A Rug At Home

Watch this video to see exactly how I clean a dirty rug at home. It’s actually pretty easy.

But there are some things you need to know first. BEFORE CLEANING YOUR AREA RUG with a carpet cleaner, watch my warnings about who shouldn’t wet clean their rugs at the 2:11 mark in the video.

Some rugs could be RUINED by wet cleaning. So, watch this video and decide for yourself if your rug is safe to clean.

Can You Use Bissell Carpet Cleaner On Area Rugs

Good news! You can use a Bissell Carpet Cleaner on most Area Rugs. That includes the Bissell upright and portable carpet cleaners. But, you’ll want to check the label on the area rug first.

Some rugs can’t be wet cleaned, like wool rugs and natural fiber rugs. And, you should probably have antique rugs and heirloom rugs professionally cleaned.

Check out the beginning of this post for more info about whether or not to clean an area rug at home.

That’s pretty much it for how to clean area rugs at home, guys. Good luck with your rug!

If you are looking for more DIY Home Cleaning videos, check out these easy DIY Cleaning Hacks on my YouTube Channel.

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That’s it for How to Clean Area Rugs At Home. Let me know if you have questions. Don’t forget to sign up for the Abbotts At Home email newsletter to get DIY, Remodeling, and Crafty ideas in your inbox.