Forgive me Shag Rug Lovers…………
…but I am not a fan of Modern Shag rugs and here’s why.
The longer I work at Luv-A-Rug the more I get annoyed. I am annoyed at all the rug manufactures that make rugs out of fibers that cannot be cleaned. Some rugs once they get dirty and stained that is it they cannot be cleaned to look new and clean again.
I was looking at some rug selling websites this week and I was shocked at what they are using as fibers on some of these rugs. It looks like someone went to a craft store and bought all the fancy string, ribbon, felt, and cloth and then went and made rugs with it.
Don’t get me wrong the rugs look amazing, beautiful and modern, but they aren’t made to be walked on.
Shag rugs are not a bad rug choice when they are used properly. It would also be nice if not all shag rugs were off white, cream, or beige, at least the ones sold in Victoria BC.
I call Shag rugs the Divas of the rug world. They need to vacuumed and cleaned more often that other rugs, they are also sensitive to spills and pet urine. Plus some don’t like to be walked on.
My lack of appreciation for shag rugs may stem from the fact that even though I was born in the 70′s, I did not grow up with shag carpet in my home. Plus I am now looking at rugs from a cleaning point of view and an environmental one too.
When you are out looking for rugs think about vacuuming and cleaning it. If you don’t know how it can be vacuumed easily or how you would clean up a messy spill, you may want to keep looking for a more useable rug.
I know that in Victoria BC, because shag rugs are not expensive to buy that a lot end up getting tossed out and replaced, usually by another shag. I wrote about how we are a disposable/green society and the shag rugs I see fit right into that.
This is my plea to area rug makers to start making rugs that stand up to being used everyday and from fibers and products that last and are not harmful to humans, pets or the environment, Please!
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary- healthy, beautiful rug and environment lover
10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Life Today
Changing or improving your life doesn’t have to be a long, frustrating, drawn-out process. I’m always in search of the smallest changes that yield the biggest returns, and below is my collection of quick tips that can make your life easier, more fulfilling, or just less of a pain in the ass. Try one or two of these and tell me how great they worked. Zack’s Not-So-Secret List of Simple Ways to Increase Happiness, Productivity, or General Awesomeness …
A Valentine for Someone I Hate
A Valentine for Someone I Hate.
I think if we all did this at some point in our adult lives we would see that we turned out pretty damn good, despite the people who tried to keep us down!!!
HELP! The rug I love is not the right size.
It is not always easy to find the perfect rug, whether it is the right colour or right shape and size. There are ways to find the perfect rug, or you can make a rug into the perfect rug. when looking for good area rugs don’t forget about going to reputable auction houses.
In Victoria BC we have two very good auction houses where you can get a great deal on area rugs, Lund’s Auction and Kilshaw’s Auctioneer. Luv-A-Rug gets a lot of rugs brought in for cleaning and repairs that were bought at either Auction House. We had one such rug find brought to us by a lady who frequence the auctions a couple of weeks ago, but it wasn’t quite perfect.
Her rug is a 7×11 Turkish rug and it is not in perfect condition, but she got it for a steal price. The rug is a bit too big for the space where she wants to use, so Luv-A-Rug is going clean her rug and trim it down to the size that fits. Here is my video showing what we are going to do to her Turkish rug.
It is important that you know that you can have perfect rug for your home, it just may need some tweaking. Luv-A-Rug as made runners out of little 2×3 scatter mats a client bought at Capital Iron here in Victoria. We are usually only limited by the rug construction and your budget.
Now I will note that Luv-A-Rug will not do this to any old rug. We respect and care about rugs, so if you brought us a valuable rug we would refuse to cut it up, but we can always do an authentic hand repair to restore your antique rugs to a usable and lovable state.
Have you ever found the perfect rug that wasn’t quite the right size or shape? Did you buy it and get it tweaked? I would love to see how you made not so perfect rugs work in your home. Leave me a comment on what you did to make it work or send me pictures to ruglovermary163@gmail.com with the subject line “How I made my rug perfect”
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary- I look forward to your rugs.
What is the most common reason why you get your area rugs cleaned?
The typical answer is not because your rug is dirty. Area rugs are dirty way before they look dirty.
I am in the dog house
The most common reason why you get your rugs cleaned is pet accidents. Our pets know that the rug will work as a great indoor bathroom, as their napkin or to let you know they are not happy with you. It doesn’t seem to matter if you only have one rug or many rugs, pets know that the rug is the place to use.
I know first hand how frustrating it is when your dog pees on the rug. My sweet little Chihuahua, Texas (see picture) likes to forget why we go outside, that is why I only have one rug in my home.
There is one big mistake that you need to stop doing, especially if you have a new puppy and that is waiting. Waiting for puppy to be fully trained before you get your rugs cleaned.
The longer pet urine is in your rug the harder it is to remove the smell and the stains. Plus when your pet starts using your rugs as bathrooms it is harder to get them to stop. There is a myth that if your dog or cat can smell the urine they will continue to keep going on the rugs. That is marginally true. The truer statement is that once they get away with peeing on the rug they think that it is okay to go their. It is more behavioral than odour, unless another animal comes into your home and then they will mark the rug because they smell the urine. Having pet urine, vomit or feces in your rug is not healthy for you, your home, the air you breath, your pets and your rug.
If your pet did any of those things on an article of clothing you would clean it right away, so why would you want to wait weeks or months before you get your rug cleaned?
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary-pet and rug lover
Reusing Area Rugs as Furniture and Art
There a many reasons why you may stop using an area rug:
- decor change
- downsizing or up-sizing your living space
- inherited a rug
- damage from puppy chewing
- pet accidents
- water damage from flooding.
Just because you cannot use your rug on the floor any more doesn’t mean it is ready to be tossed away. There are many other ways to enjoy rugs and that is furniture coverings or wall art.
Here is my video showing you how you can reuse an area rug:
The rugs in the video are flat woven rugs and are easy to turn into chair or ottoman coverings and even decorative pillows. When it comes to antique rugs you don’t want to be chopping them up into pillows and such.
Since area rugs are works of art to begin with there is no reason why they shouldn’t be used as wall art. It is easy to turn a rug into a wall hanging, you just have to do it correctly so there is no damage done to the rug.
To turn an area rug into a wall hanging:
- Get a 4 inch wide piece of good quality cotton the width of the rug minus 2 inches (if your rug is 4 feet wide your cotton needs to be 3′ 11″ in width)
- Fold cotton in half width wise and sew together with good strong thread into a circle
- Sew cotton sleeve to the back of rug. Sew the cotton sleeve top and bottom to rug-see photo. This allows the full weight of the rug to not pull or warp your rug.
- Attach decorative curtain rod hangers to wall, insert 1 to 1 1/2 inch dowel into cotton sleeve, hang and enjoy
- Remember to vacuum rug front and back at least once a month to remove the dust
Another creative way to use an area rug is as a mock headboard. This idea came to me when I was doing an inspection on a Viscose rug. Since Viscose rugs are beautiful and thin it is easy to turn into a mock headboard.
I am a creative minded person so I look at objects as what they can be used for other than their intended purpose. For centuries area rugs were used as wall hangings as well as floor coverings and there is no reason for them to not be used that way today.
Important note: When thinking about using a wool rug get it evaluated by an area rug professional. The last thing you want to do is destroy an valuable antique rug.
When you have a rug you can no longer use on the floor think about what other things it can be used for before you toss it out.
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary-trying to save rugs from the landfill
Is my rug worth cleaning?
“Is my rug worth cleaning?”
This is one of the most asked questions we get here at Luv-A-Rug. Our answer is this:
If you like the rug and have a place to use it than any rug s worth getting cleaned.
Price enters the equation when you think about the cost of replacing the rug. We also honestly let you know when it is not worth cleaning or repairing. Some rugs do get past the point of restoration.
Here is a recent example of a rug that is getting near time to replace an why the client is not doing so just yet.
Today we picked up a 8×12 synthetic area carpet for cleaning from the Fairfield area of Victoria. When I did my inspection of the rug the first thing I noticed was the latex backing of the rug was weak, crunchy sounding and shedding a fine white dust. It also had furniture indents and the pile of the carpet was flattened from walking on it for years.
This is not the first time we have cleaned this rug for the clients, we receive it for cleaning once a year. When I called the client to let them know the cleaning expectations and final cost I asked her if she noticed any white dust on the floor after they rolled up the rug. She responded that there was so much dust it looked like she had a beach in her living room. She asked if there was anything that could be done except replace the rug. Unfortunately there is not anything that can stop the latex from further shedding.
They do not want to get a new rug at this time because they have dogs and they like to lay on the carpet. The dogs are in their mature years and the clients want to wait until they pass on to invest in a new rug. Luv-A-Rug hears that a lot from pet owners that they are waiting until their pets either get older or until they pass on before investing in a new rug.
She also said that she absolutely loved us, just loved us that we make her rug look good every time we clean it and she was happy that it cost the same to clean it as last year.
Most of us may have given up on a rug that sheds latex glue and looks dull where it is used, but instead of just tossing a rug sometimes a little love will make it useable again. Luv-A-Rug sees a lot of rugs that look like they are unusable, but after some good old fashion cleaning and maybe some repairs a rug can have a new lease on life.
Here is a video I did highlighting a rug that again most of us wouldn’t bother with, but it was sentimental to the client
If you have such a rug that you think is not worth it because it is too dirty or the sides are fraying bring it to Luv-A-Rug at 2-4144 Wilkinson Rd, Saanich BC and we will give you an evaluation on how it can be made loveable again. 250-590-6210/800-886-2802 www.luvarug.com.
Thanks for reading RugloverMary
Ruglovermary
