Do you give a dog and a cat the same kind of food? Probably not. Do you give your cat the same bath that you give your dog? Not recommended, right? Why? Because dogs and cats are different animals. Yes, they’re both domesticated, they’re both pets. Your dog is a loyal best friend offering unconditional love, whereas a cat is… well, a cat, but loved nonetheless. Usually.
But we digress. The point is, you don’t treat them the same way because although they have similar roles, they’re different. They require different methods of care and attention. The same is true with carpet and area rugs. Sure, they’re both fiber-based floor furnishings, but they require different methods of maintenance. At Preferred Carpet Care, we understand those differences and implement them appropriately. However, we thought you might like to know a few of the differences.
Material
Most carpets today are made of synthetic, durable fibers designed to take plenty of pounding from your feet. Also, carpets are usually tacked down to stay in one place. Area rugs, however, are often made of organic fibers like wool, cotton, silk, or synthetic bear (yes, it’s a thing). Also, area rugs are constructed to be a single, mobile piece. Their pile, or woven fibers, are much more densely compacted than your average carpet. Because of these differences, carpets and rugs require different care.
Boundaries
The edge of a carpet is often capped underneath a wall baseboard, or a thin metal plating when meeting up with a different type of flooring. As such, your carpet isn’t in much danger when you vacuum. Conversely, area rugs often have stitched edges, or fragile tassels around those edges, called fringes. If you try to vacuum over the fringes, you could damage them to a point where expensive repair is necessary. You certainly want to keep any vacuum with a beater bar or rotating brush away from fringed edges.
Bleeding
Some carpets have pigments added to their makeup to give a certain color. Depending on your cleaning and shampooing efforts, those colors might bleed. Now, with a solid color carpet, it’s not that much of a concern. However, area rugs are typically multicolored with intricate patterns. Even a light solvent in your carpet shampoo could cause bleeding, compromising the intricate pattern and ruining the design. Of course, if you were trying to change the look from Aztec tribal design to tie-dye, then feel free to proceed with shampooing the whole area rug. But if you want to keep the layout of your rug clearly defined and bright with color, it’s best to let professionals like Preferred Carpet Care clean it for you.
The Right Care for the Right Job
While carpets can often be a strong investment, they are designed to be vacuumed and shampooed regularly. Usually, they aren’t as fragile as area rugs, but they need more frequent care because of heavy use. In many cases, an area rug can be a hefty investment so you want to be careful with it. Sure, you can take your area rugs out to the back yard, sling it over a clothesline, grab a broom and act out a version of Michael Jackson’s Beat it, but a costly investment will respond much more favorably to professional care.
In fact, nearly all carpets and area rugs appreciate a little professional attention now and then – say, about every 6 months or so. If it’s been that long since you had your carpet or rug taken care of professionally, please contact Preferred Carpet Care by phone, or use our convenient form here on our website. Carpets and rugs may be different animals, but we can make sure they both stay fresh and clean for years to come.