Maintaining Vintage Decorative and Distressed Antique Rugs

By the very structure of a rug, ends and sides are generally stable under low traffic. Depending on several factors including personal preference, you may want to take note of progressive tatter, especially in and around areas of small or large holes, or tear and tatter to sides and ends. In such instances, generally light trimming as needed will prevent snags of long, continuous yarn. However, you may want to consider professional securing to retain wefts and knots properly. We always recommend rug owners have carpets fully secured prior to use, which is now easier than ever with our new addition to the shop: the option to check out with your purchase and include optional overcasting. We use a special commercial grade natural thread to fully secure your carpet for many years of resistance to loss.

For carpets under heavy and hard traffic, overcasting, darning, or stitching will significantly improve the longevity of your rug throughout ownership. As ongoing maintenance, vacuuming the carpet lightly with an air suction vacuum will help keep the carpet looking new.

We recommend auxiliary extensions or duster attachment with soft bristles of 1/2" or longer to enable suction with lighter draw. For most decorative and distressed rugs, the above will suffice.