Rogue rug restoration

I don’t know what to say.  The rug I bought was so dirty and smelly that I just dove in and got after it today.

Here are BEFORE pictures of the rug.

 

The first thing I tried was vacuuming it with the attachment….that really didn’t do a whole lot for the rug….have I mentioned the smell…old, old, old.  I really don’t want to have it in my house because it is so dirty.

After I tried the vacuum, I ran some warm soapy water in the bathtub….yes the PINK bathtub….I love vintage…all the way down to my house :)

I put the rug in and let it soak for about 15 minutes. (I’m sure a proper restorer of rugs would not recommend doing this with a rug hooked on burlap, but, like I said earlier…I paid $25 for it and it’s absolutely going to be worthless if it’s still as stinky as it started out…..it needed cleaning and DEEPLY!

Here is the water after the rug had soaked for 15 minutes….wasn’t sure if it was dirt or dye…..pretty sure it was dirt, because when I lifted the rug up there was all kinds of grit in the tub.

I then rinsed it of the suds…and rinsed….and rinsed…..still more dirt coming out.

I did this 2 more times until the water ran nearly clear….this was one dirty rug!

I then drained the tub and pressed on the wet rug with my hands before lifting out and onto a towel which I rolled it up in to try and soak up more of the water.

It is now lying outside on a chaise lounge to dry.  How will the burlap fair after being subjected to all the water?  I guess time will tell.

As the rug became cleaner I could see that the rug was not hooked with all wool, but hooked with a variety of fibers…truly a make-do rug from the past.

Once the rug is dry, I will be begin documenting the restoration process.

BEFORE

AFTER