How long do wool rugs shed

Measure the carpet's dimensions and purchase a high-quality carpet padding to place underneath the rug. The padding should be about one inch less in both length and width so that the rug completely covers it. Not only does the padding feel good under your feet or body, but it protects the rug's fibers from excessive wear and tear as well as dirt and moisture. Placing the rug in a light-traffic area doesn't really stop it from shedding, although it will receive less wear and tear, so protecting the fibers while using it helps it shed normally.

Rake, brush or groom your rug weekly, or more often if needed. Use a special rake available at specialty carpet outlets. It's like a big haircut for your rug. Cutting the pile can leave little pieces of wool fiber in the rug. Over time, these pieces work their way out of the carpet. If you have a brand new rug, this could be what you are experiencing. Worry not! Shedding of brand new rugs should subside within the first six months or so. Tufted rugs can shed. In the thousands-year old rug making trade, rug tufting is relatively new.

Wool from sheep reared high in the mountains is used to weave rugs of a very high, durable quality. Wool from the sheep in lower lands tends to be coarser and is of a lesser quality. If these sheep are sheered too often and the wool is left short, adhesives are added to bring these short wool pieces together. The adhesive breaks down over time, and these little pieces begin to shed.

More modern techniques are more about assembling pieces than weaving strong, durable rugs. These rugs need to be backed with a polymer or glue to keep the tufts in place. Not only is the wool of lesser quality, the backing material can deteriorate and both the backing and pile will begin to shed. Machine-made rugs are made at incredible speed on a machine similar to a newspaper ream, and usually from polymer-based materials to survive this process.

If your rug is made from wool with a higher lanolin content it will shed less because it is oilier and conditioned. If you are ever shopping for a wool rug and you find two that are of the same construction, if one is less expensive, it is probably because the wool that was used to make it is drier. The highest quality wool with the highest lanolin content is New Zealand wool, and generally, less expensive and drier wool is from India. Shedding is also attributed to how a rug is made.

Wool rugs that are hand-knotted shed significantly less than wool rugs that are hand-tufted. Hand-tufted wool rugs always have a canvas backing that is usually white or grey- so if you want to know for sure how the rug is made, simply fold over the rug to check it out!