Advice from a Housecleaner- Rugs

Professional housecleaning technicians have the distinct advantage of seeing and comparing what works best in many areas of the home. From the viewpoint of practicality, ease of cleaning, and aesthetics, we can make suggestions as to what to consider and what to avoid. At Bright at Home Cleaning our motto is to “Brighten Your Home and Free Up Your Time!” From experience we have some suggestions and advice to help with that.

Let's talk about rugs. As you might imagine, we have seen all types of rugs when cleaning homes. We have definite opinions on what works best or what to avoid when it comes to rugs.

Of course it is important to choose a rug that suits the room in appearance,  size, and function. However sometimes when buying or ordering a rug online it is difficult to know what to expect until the rug is laid down to rest. Housecleaners have the advantage of putting these rugs to the test.

Entry rugs: It is best to choose rugs that have some weight to them, will lay flat without scooting, and are sturdy enough to be vacuumed. Entry rugs get a lot of traffic, often collect a lot of dirt and debris. Rugs in this area are not meant to be picked up and shook off, they need to be vacuumed in order to get them cleaned. Rugs that do not lie flat will always be a tripping hazard as well, and will always be scooting out of place.

Family room, living room rugs: So many good large area rugs to choose from.  Keep this in mind when choosing a rug furniture is going to be sitting on. The rug needs to be of substantial thickness and weight that it doesn’t bunch up around the furniture and walk areas. A rug that can be vacuumed and look like it has been vacuumed is a good choice. High pile and fur rugs might look cool but a vacuum that cannot move over the rug to suction up the dirt and dust is a bust. Pet owners, will a vacuum be able to get all the pet hair off the Persian rug? Also something to take into consideration.

Kitchen rugs: So many types of rugs can be useful in the kitchen area. Same advice as an area rug, pick substantial rugs that will stay in place and can be vacuumed.  Keep in mind the flooring in a kitchen will get messy and wet. Rugs that can be washed are the best and most suited to kitchens. Here is what to expect from different kinds of rugs in the kitchen.

Rubber mats: Anti-fatiguing mats are nice in areas you have to stand a lot, like in front of the kitchen sink. However keeping those mats clean is not anti-fatiguing, just the opposite. Mat rugs catch a lot of kitchen mess and are usually sticky, dirty and require extra scrubbing to get them clean. They often scoot around and have debris stuck to the bottom of them that is hard to impossible to remove. When mopping the floor you need to make sure the floor is dry before placing the mat down or there could be slippage, and even damage to the floor with water trapped between.

Ruggables: The concept of the ruggable and similar rugs was a good one. The problem is in practical use it does not perform how it was envisioned to perform. These rugs are attractive until they actually need to have the cover pulled off the rug pad and washed. The top of the rug never matches up with the bottom. The velcro edging always shows, and worse the rug looks like it came out of a pile of laundry smashed in a laundry basket. The corners are always sticking up. Under a dining  room table it is a disaster trying to scoot the chairs. These rugs are also fairly expensive, better choices and nicer rugs for the price are available.

Bathrooms: It is best to choose rugs that are meant for a wet environment and can be washed. Rugs that have rubber backing are attractive, soft and can be machine washed and dried. However, they are meant to have a short life span as the rubber backing rots over time and use. Once the rubber backing starts to rot it leaves residue all over the floor under it. Time to get a new rug.

Microfiber rugs: Soft padding and attractive, however everything sticks to them. The debris on these rugs sticks to the rug and cannot be shaken off. They need to be vacuumed or thrown in the washing machine to get them clean. Every footstep shows. Wiping them off with a damp microfiber towel often removes most of the debris if they are too lightweight to vacuum. Are they worth the time and maintenance?

When it comes to bathroom rugs natural fibers like cotton are often the better choice. Absorbent, easy to shake off, machine washable, longer life span.

We hope our insights and suggestions about rugs are helpful. Stay tuned for more helpful articles about what works best for efficient and practical cleaning. We are here to serve you if you ever need assistance. Bright at Home Cleaning “Brightens Your Home and Frees Up Your Time!”