...because home doesn't happen overnight.

(It’s not all bad news. I promise.)

epic rug fail 11

How do you clean your living room rug?

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me that I’d have a lot of dollars. And I’d probably spend them all on books or Trader Joe’s cookie butter. Or hand soap.

In all seriousness though, up until a few weeks ago the only cleaning our living room rug had seen was frequent vacuuming – maybe once or twice per week – and spot cleaning over the last 2+ years. I’ve always used this vacuum and vacuumed the shag rug with the roller brush turned OFF. We don’t wear shoes in the house and only allow water and popcorn in the living room for family movie nights. Keeping shoes, food and drinks off the rug helped us avoid major spills. (Except for that one time I floundered a glass of rosé. Oops. Luckily, it came right up with vinegar + water.)

However, I was terrible at rotating the rug regularly and, eventually, there was a noticeable difference in appearance between the part of the rug near the kitchen and the part hidden under the sofa. On the rare occasions when we would pull out the sofa to look for a lost library book, we were struck by the pure whiteness of the untouched area under the sofa. It completely called out our family’s filth and made the rest of the rug look dingy. When it was covered up, no one was the wiser. So I left it covered up.

But I kept getting that question.

How do you clean your living room rug? Cha-ching. Kidding.

I started to become a little self-conscious. Was I supposed to be cleaning the rug? According to Martha Stewart, no. The rug was two and a half years old; I had two and a half years of vacuuming and spot cleaning left to go. It really didn’t look bad unless you saw the virgin part under the sofa. But curiosity got the best of me. I called a few local rug cleaners for quotes. Prices ranged from $2-$2.50 per square foot. For our 8′ x 10′ rug, I was looking at $160-$200 for a cleaning. Having only paid $270 for the rug to begin with, a $200 cleaning seemed pricey. But I had already been bitten by the rug cleaning bug and started researching a way to DIY the cleaning to save money.

(It’s worth noting that we had a horrible experience with a reputable big brand carpet cleaning service several years ago. They came in and cleaned the carpet in our first home and told me their methods were “safe” for kids and pets. An hour after they left, our dog had an anaphylactic reaction to whatever “safe” chemicals had been used. She spent an entire weekend in triage loaded up on epinephrine, steroids and antihistamines. We didn’t know if she was going to live and, if she did, if she would be able to come home to our “safe” carpet. Long story short, I don’t trust carpet cleaners.)

I assume you can predict where this is going.

epic rug fail 4

I made up a solution of water + vinegar + OxiClean and poured some into a spray bottle.

epic rug fail collage

1 – I dragged the rug outside to the deck, a feat in itself. I turned it upside down and vacuumed the backside several times.

2 – I turned the rug right side up and vacuumed it several more times. (You can see how dingy the rug really was!)

3 – Working from the middle to the edges, I saturated the rug with my homemade cleaning solution and let it sit for 10-15 minutes then rinsed it well with the hose. My plan was working! The rug looked brighter and whiter.

4 – I rolled the rug towards the yard end of the deck to squeeze out excess water. Easier said than done. The rug was so SO heavy. I had to put my back into it. I was sweating.

5 – I unrolled the rug and used a wet/dry Shop-Vac to suck up more water (plus miniscule Legos, Play-Doh crumbs and leaf bits). It was slow going. The rug was soaked and I took my time dragging the attachment tool slowly to get up as much water as possible. I had to empty the Shop-Vac canister twice. I got to a point at which the rug felt slightly damp and less slushy. I stopped vacuuming.

6 – I snipped loose threads and used a hairdryer to help dry things a little more. Basically, I groomed and styled that shag. I was happy with how the rug was looking!

epic rug fail 7

I pulled the rug up and over the outdoor dining table to finish drying. This required more muscles than I anticipated. I rubbed my knuckles raw pulling on the heavy rug and dropped a few f-bombs under my breath. But the rug looked so much better! I patted myself on the back for saving a few hundred dollars. The forecast predicted mild temps, low humidity and plenty of sunshine so I left the rug outside for a few days to allow it to dry completely.

BUT.

But after 3 days it smelled like a big, wet dog. I tried to salvage the rug by hanging it over sawhorses in the garage with a box fan blowing under it. I did a great job of making our garage smell like a big, wet dog.

After several more days, it was apparent that there was no way the rug was coming back in the house. In retrospect, I think I did a pretty decent job of cleaning the rug but a horrible job of drying it. The smell was most likely due to mildew from not drying it quickly or thoroughly enough.

I felt awful. I loved that rug. As bad as I felt about ruining the rug, I felt worse about sending it off to a landfill. Ugh. I promise I don’t hate you earth. I should have listened to Martha’s rug guru.

Having lived with the durable but scratchy sisal rug in the living room for a week while I “cleaned” the shag rug, we discovered just how much our living room’s cozy factor rode on the shag rug. Without it, we found ourselves spending less time in the space and what time we did spend there wasn’t as comfortable as it had once been. Needless to say, the entire family was stoked to discover that the rug is still available from RugsUSA. A 75% off coupon code sealed the deal. We didn’t think twice about buying the rug…again. This time it cost us $280…$10 more than what we paid two and a half years ago…and about $80-$100 more than what it would have cost us to have the old one cleaned.

epic rug fail 13

The rug arrived last week. Our cozy living room is back! We’re completely smitten with the new rug. It doesn’t smell like wet dog. It’s plush and clean and barely sheds. Most likely, it’s better than whatever results a professional cleaner could have achieved with the old rug.

Surprisingly, there are some other differences, too, even though the rugs are technically the same. The pile of the new rug is slightly shorter. (I wish I had measured the previous one for comparison.) While I really LOVED the look of the longer pile on the previous rug, it would get caught in the roller brush of the vacuum which is why I had to turn it off while vacuuming. It made hunting for lost Legos nearly impossible. It’s also the reason why I was leery of using a powered carpet cleaner on the previous rug. I had read that long shags don’t do well with agitation. It can lead to knotting, fraying and unraveling. With the shorter pile of the new rug, I’m able to vacuum it with the roller brush on, no problem! I’m hoping this means I’ll be able to clean it with a powered carpet cleaner in the future. You know, to save money ;)

epic rug fail 9

Another subtle difference lies in the zig-zag pattern. The zig-zags are slightly narrower with more brown in them. The older rug’s zig-zags were more taupe/gray in color. The difference in color isn’t a deal breaker at all – just something we noticed. In case you’re wondering, the light background is pretty spot on when compared to the previous version. Overall, we’re impressed with the new version. It’s already proven to be more family- and user-friendly. I’m calling it a happy accident.

A few things I’m taking away from this whole rug cleaning experience:

*I need to do a better job of rotating the living room rug.

*Extremely shaggy rugs aren’t the most family-friendly rugs.

*Water + white vinegar + OxiClean does a decent job of cleaning grimy rugs.

*Wet rugs are super heavy.

*Sometimes I have really bad ideas.

*I love having no carpet in the house. After seeing what came out of the old rug, I like being able to remove our floor coverings for thorough cleanings (or, um, replacements).

*DIY isn’t always better or cheaper.

*Having a cozy rug in our living room makes a world of difference.

*My kids are horrible at picking up their Legos.

*I like my knuckles best when they have skin on them.

epic rug fail 10

epic rug fail 14

I’ll let you know how things go with the new rug in, oh, two years or so ;) Until then, I’ll be vacuuming and spot cleaning away!

Pssst…if you’ve ever considered using the same rug in your home, it’s on sale through 10/12! #notsponsored

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

84 Comments

08.October.2015

washing the rug outside always seems like a good idea to me until I’m halfway through. We’ve had to throw away one and barely salvaged another. I can’t seem to learn ;)

09.October.2015

Great post! And glad that it ultimately worked out! Question, what is the rug below your new rug?

09.October.2015

This is hilarious – I love your list of lessons learned from the experience and I am sooooo glad you have a happy ending!!!

09.October.2015

I love that you shared this with us! Not all bloggers (or even regular people) would have, but not only was it helpful knowledge, I think it’s good to reinforce every once in a while that DIY is not always the way to go. Plus, it was such a great read! I chuckled more than once. ^_^ Oh, and by the by, I think I like the look of the shorter pile, myself, but I never would have noticed the switch if you hadn’t pointed it out.

09.October.2015

Oh no! We have the same rug in our daughters’ room that I’ve been wanting to clean! We did what you did to the corner once because she threw up on it but I used coffee grounds first to get rid of the Pyle smell and it seemed to dry fine. Any thing you might’ve done differently or would you just replace the whole thing again? At that great price it’s not such a terrible idea…

09.October.2015

If I had it to do all over again, I don’t know what I’d do! I would have waited longer (years probably) to clean it whether I hired it out or tried to do it myself. I think just spot cleaning with the method I used wouldn’t be as problematic because a small area can dry more quickly and thoroughly without causing mildew. The rug was just too thick and too saturated with water to air dry given the conditions, I guess. Maybe renting some of those big floor dryers would have helped but, again, does the cost make sense? I’m with you…for the price it really isn’t a huge deal to replace it but I hated having to throw the old one out. That’s kinda the beauty of rugs versus true carpet though, right? When they are beyond repair, you can buy a replacement as opposed to having an entire room(s) of carpet replaced??

I am super happy the new version has a shorter pile so I can vacuum it with the roller brush on to keep it looking new longer. Also, I would be willing to buy / rent a carpet cleaner to DIY the cleaning next time since there shouldn’t be an issue with the shorter pile getting damaged. That’s probably what I will do. Or I’ll leave cleaning to the pros if they can tell me exactly what they use on the rug.

I don’t know the right answer here. I do know that we absolutely LOVE this rug and it puts the living in our living room.

09.October.2015

It’s so funny that you mentioned you wouldn’t have noticed the difference. As soon as I posted a snippet of the new rug on instagram, a few people called it out! Good to know it isn’t a striking difference.

09.October.2015

It’s a 9′ x 12′ sisal from Overstock. Save for one corner that likes to roll up, it’s in perfect condition. I use it for added protection for the wood floors and, because the larger size fits the scale of the room better, I can layer a smaller, cozier rug (the shag is 8′ x 10′) on top of it. The sisal is crazy durable. I have a smaller sisal rug near the front door and it gets daily abuse from dirty shoes coming in / out of the house. It’s 5+ years old and in perfect condition as well! Protects the wood floors great. The only drawback is that it isn’t particularly comfortable to walk on barefoot or lay on. So for a living space (as opposed to a high traffic area) we really enjoy having something softer, plusher layered over the sisal for comfort.

09.October.2015

But, dammit, we try anyway don’t we?! haha. I always say I like to try everything once. How else do we learn?

09.October.2015

This is a great post. I’ve attempted rug cleaning myself with small, low pile rugs and luckily it worked. I think with rotating the rug and vacuuming the back side, you should be able to keep it fairly clean. I’m amazed at how much dirt I get from the back side.

09.October.2015

But what happened to your doggie!?! Did you ever call the company to complain?

09.October.2015

Glad your story had a happy ending and I love that you used the blow dryer. But the question remains, how am I going to clean my rugs??

09.October.2015

I know this post is about the rug, but now I can’t stop thinking about the dog… Did he/she end up making it okay?

09.October.2015

Oh man, I have done this before with a large area rug and it took FOREVER to dry. And yes, wet rugs are super heavy and they stink! With ours, the smell dissipated but it did take a long time.

09.October.2015

Love that rug!! Did you find that your new rug emitted a strong odor? Some of the reviewers on Rugs USA said they had to air it out first.

09.October.2015

“I like my knuckles best when they have skin on them”. Hahahah! Youre funny. This was a great read Dana. Ive been wanting this very rug in our living room but i just couldn’t pull the trigger for fear of maintenance with the dog more than the kids. I do love the look of the shorter pole and let me tell you I know how monumentally different a space can feel without the softness of a rug there. We went jute only in our living room for like 2 weeks and it was the worst. Im headed over to read what Martha says on the matter. Also we live and we learn friend. You sharing this likely saved someone else the heartache and the knuckle skin.

09.October.2015

I saw the picture on instagram and thought it looked much whiter. Why is it that the rug could not be cleaned with a carpet cleaner? I think you a brave for having such a light colored rug.

09.October.2015

This was hilarious! I have the same rug and while I love it’s coziness, it’s impossible to vacuum with my old vacuum (I can only vacuum while moving backwards) and I tried to clean it with a rug doctor which took forever and didn’t really make that big of a difference. I didn’t have the smell issue but I did it on a hot day in Texas so it dried pretty quickly :) I think the problem is that it’s impossible to get every angle of the high pile looking good. Sounds like I’ll have to replace mine with a lower pile but equally cushy version in the future!

09.October.2015

I’ve always done my own carpets too. I’ve heard wet-dry vacs do a fine extraction job, but if yours took so long to dry that it got mildewy . . . I wonder. I’ve either rented a Rug Doctor (but not the cleaning products) or else owned a carpet cleaner. I actually prefer the Rug Doctor for its superior extraction. You can buy them at Costco too, I noticed.

I like a homemade solution of Oxy-Clean, an extremely tiny dribble (one drop? two drops?) of a strong detergent like Dawn – it gets out greasy dirt, like from pets that lie on the carpet habitually, or carpet near the kitchen where grease droplets can float in the air – and also a scoop of Borax. I find the Borax is a very, very good deodorizer. (I use it in the laundry, too – very good on pet odors or exercise clothes.) I mix all that with the hottest tap water I can muster. If I’m on my game, I actually turn up the water heater a little on carpet day (…but I don’t have little kids! Don’t forget to turn it down again.)

I wash/scrub twice, and rinse until I can’t see any froth being pulled out . . . and then I extract until I can’t see any droplets coming up at all.

A fan aimed at the carpet will speed up its drying by a large factor. You can drape a plastic paint dropcloth over flooring and dry an area rug on that, so it will dry indoors – good for inclement weather or winter.

09.October.2015

Heavy!! We recently had to ditch a rug for the same reason—(wet dogs stench) and just getting it into the dumpster was more than I could handle. I had no idea.

Woof. (no pun intended)

09.October.2015

I bought this rug 3 months ago after admiring yours for years. I started noticing wear just after two months, so I spot cleaned the rug as USA Rugs suggested and it only made it worse! The rug is ruined. Not sure that I can justify buying another one after just 3 months. Don’t know that I want to pay hundreds of dollars to have it professionally cleaned if it’s not going to get the brown dinginess (is that a word?) out of the rug either. I emailed USA Rugs and asked them to make this right and they’ve totally ignored me. I was really excited to read your post at first. Now I’m just disappointed. Good luck with your new rug!

09.October.2015

I’m not expert but I think it’s the material. The rug in the link you shared is made of polyester. A 100% wool rug should clean (and dry) much better. But wool comes with a bigger price tag of course! Great post regardless :)

09.October.2015

Oh man. I’m so glad to know that I’m not the only one who has done this. I did the exact same thing earlier this year. I took it outside, scrubbed it clean, tried to get as much water out as I could (it was still SUPER heavy), then left it outside for a few days to dry…and then it rained while I was at work. The rug was ruined! I mostly felt bad about having to throw it out. Next time I’ll be borrowing a carpet cleaner.

09.October.2015

Not necessarily related to your post, and I know you typically site sources for most of your furniture and decor but where is the white / gray (or maybe black?) patterned pillow on the left side of your couch from? Thanks!

09.October.2015

What about cleaning a rug in the snow? I haven’t personally tried it but I have friends that swear by it. See: http://www.yankeemagazine.com/article/resources/clean-wool-rugs

09.October.2015

I had the exact same rug and experienced the same problem! After about a year our rug started looking pretty dingy in the high traffic areas, so I thought I would clean the whole thing. And just like you said, WET DOG SMELL! It was so awful!!! I eventually gave up hope and tossed it. I was super bummed because I absolutely loved this rug. Glad I’m not crazy!

09.October.2015

Remember! RugsUSA rugs are ALWAYS on sale and they change the base price so that the prices are pretty consistent. So don’t fall prey to the false timeclock running on their 80% off sales. Sometimes the 30% sales make for a cheaper rug. They are tricking you. The rugs are fine, but you should be aware of the pricing practices.

09.October.2015

Oh my gosh! Moral of the story is that if you have kids…buy a back-up rug! :) It’s cheaper than having it cleaned! On another note, where is the giant black & white pillow on your leather couch from? I am in love with it!

09.October.2015

Loved this post. So nice to see trial and error and success. Did you even consider getting a different rug? If so, what?

09.October.2015

OMG! I literally just ruined my living room rug doing the exact same thing! It makes me feel a lot better that you did it too, and I’m not the only one who ruined a rug trying to save some money only to have to spend even more money to buy the exact SAME rug… whomp whomp #lessonlearned

09.October.2015

Thank you for this post. It made me lol and I am so glad to know that I am not the only one who does things like this!

09.October.2015

Wow, thanks for the honest post and the sale link! If I wasn’t moving overseas I would consider buying it.
Is your cat (for some weird reason) not interested in destroying rugs? We have two and I had to forget about plushy rugs a while ago. By the way, did your dog get better?

09.October.2015

I have the same rug and have been a little jealous of your experience with it! Ours is dingy gray unless you move the furniture (where it is still pearly white!) and I’ve been left to deduce my family is a bunch of filthy animals:) I do think its proximity to our kitchen has a huge affect of how dirty it gets. I have been meditating about renting a carpet cleaner, but maybe I should cut my loses. And, next rug borrow your clearly cleaner family:)

09.October.2015

“I like my knuckles best when they have skin on them.”

Thanks for making me laugh out loud at my screen–at work. Ha. Have a wonderful weekend. I love all your posts no matter the topic, your hi-larious girl. xo

09.October.2015

you’re* (pet peeve, #sorrynotsorry)

09.October.2015

It’s so nice hearing from others how they upkeep their rugs and you have such a beautiful light rug! I’ve been a huge fan of RugsUSA and their sale. I’ve bought polyester to wool rugs from them and have cleaned the wool rug with a carpet shampooer with no problems. Our current living room rug is polyester and light gray but it gets moved often (military) so the wear is pretty even. We actually currently live in a Japanese rental with a huge shoe cabinet in the foyer in Okinawa and now EVERYONE takes off their shoes. I think shoe cabinets are going to be a must have from now on. The rugs in our house have done great here!! I wish RugsUSA shipped to FPO addresses, our entire house is white linoleum and screams for soft rugs. :) Oh, I also trim my hand looped and shag rugs too! I enjoyed hearing how you groomed yours!! I thought I was the only one… lol

09.October.2015

Dana, I’m sorry about your rug! But thank you for sharing and for passing along the discount. I ordered that rug because I’ve loved it for so long! I was trying to explain the concept of layering rugs to my boyfriend, but he just doesn’t get it. (Fortunately he’ll take my word for it and your photos helped). Your living room is beautiful!

12.October.2015

I did the same thing with the same rug! I also bought an exact replacement and will re-purchase again when needed :) !

12.October.2015

I feel your pain! I did this, too, once. Worst idea ever. I’ve since learned that regularly sprinkling baking soda, rubbing in, and vacuuming up does an awesome job of cleaning a rug without moisture. If you have stains or extra wear, do the baking soda, then add vinegar, let bubble, then blot up. I don’t have a white/ivory rug, but I do have a pale blue rug and this works wonders.

12.October.2015

So I was going to order this rug tonight but I had to stop and email/comment you first. I live in Canada and have been looking for a rug for ages. But I want a rug with more white than cream/beige and I *think* this is the one? But I need you to tell me your thoughts on the colour. I have a LOT of white in my house – white white kind of white. Will this do the trick? The whole ‘living in Canada’ thing makes it tricky because returns are not an option for me and the exchange rate makes it more of a commitment. Its WAY cheaper than the Pottery Barn rug I just returned because of its beige-ness, but still. :) Thanks for any sort of affirmation you may have to offer!

13.October.2015

I don’t know if this will help but… we used Benjamin Moore white dove paint on the doors, trim, wainscoting, plank ceiling, fireplace surround, etc. It’s a warmish white without being yellow or creamy. The rug is a cooler white than Benjamin Moore white dove…more of a white white.

13.October.2015

Love it.

13.October.2015

We lucked out in the cat department. Cheetah has never shown in an interest in our rugs unless it’s to nap on them. Every once in a while she will scratch her nails on the sisal by the front door but that rug is so durable it hasn’t been damaged. I try to keep Cheetah’s nails clipped and she has a scratching post and cardboard lounger that she knows she is allowed to scratch. My vet told me his cats are rug scratchers. He said he finally dedicated one of his rugs to the cats. They’re allowed to scratch at one rug and that seems to appease them.

13.October.2015

I did consider a rug made up of Flor tiles. (I like the vintage vibe.) We have Flor tiles in the boys’ shared bedroom and LOVE them. But for a ~8′ x 10′ Flor rug, the cost would have been 3-4 times as much as the shag rug. I probably wouldn’t have to replace the carpet tiles as frequently. They’re super easy to hose off and dry outside. When it came down to it, we just really liked the plush shag in the living room so I figured why mess with a good thing.

13.October.2015

CB2!

13.October.2015

Thanks for sharing the link! Sounds interesting…I will try anything once. Just wondering if it works on non-wool rugs too. I think my cheapy rug is polyester.

13.October.2015

CB2!

13.October.2015

You’re probably right! I didn’t think of that.

13.October.2015

It had a faint new carpet smell for maybe 3-4 days. Luckily, the weather was mild so I was able to open the windows while it off-gassed for the first week.

13.October.2015

She made it and became the triage mascot! She has since passed away due to age and other health conditions. We ended up replacing the carpet and I never had the new carpet professionally cleaned…just used a friend’s cleaner and made my own cleaning solution.

13.October.2015

I’m going to rent / buy a carpet cleaner and make up my own cleaning solution next time. I’ll let you know how it goes…

13.October.2015

She made it! (She has since passed away.) We ended up replacing the carpet with laminate and new carpet and I’ve never used a professional carpet cleaning service again. I did call the company to let them know what happened because I worried someone else might go through the same thing but I wasn’t looking to get compensated or anything like that. I’m not good at confrontation.

13.October.2015

First of all, please give your dog a hug from m ( I assume she survived the anaphylactic reaction). Did you complain to the carpet cleaner about it? Apart from the anxiety, you were probably burdened with the bills for the steroids, epinephrine and other stuff.

Going back to carpet cleaning, yeah DIY isn’t also cheaper. Shaggy rugs are nice but they are really difficult to clean. If you plan to clean them on your own, make sure it’ll be scorching hot outside so they’ll dry out before the end of the day.

13.October.2015

The new rug looks great!
I have a question I would love your opinion on. We have a 9.5″ x 6.5″ (weird I know) handmade Persian rug that we love. It is too small for our new living room however. It sits in the middle of the floor about 8 inches away from the furniture. Do you think the layering idea (with a sisal rug) would work in this situation? I noticed that your furniture does touch the top rug. Thanks.

13.October.2015

Do you find that the sisal rug is terrible with water stains? Yours might be mostly protected from stains by the fluffy rug… I just had to dump the same exact one because every time water spilled on the rug it looked like a giant dog pee stain :(

13.October.2015

Thanks so much! I always forget about CB2!

14.October.2015

I laughed so hard I almost cried…and boy, did I feel bad for you (but it’s a learning experience; I don’t have enough room here and you don’t have enough reading time to detail all of my failures in decorating. Let’s just say, don’t look in the basement….). But it did give me a really weird idea…what about dry shampoo? Shag is like hair, right? I wonder if anyone’s ever tried that…couldn’t hurt?

14.October.2015

No water stains on either sisal here…but I can’t recall anyone spilling more than a few ounces. That probably doesn’t help any :/

14.October.2015

I definitely think it could work! Maybe try taping out the footprint of the larger rug first to get a feel for the scale. Jute is another great bottom rug for layering.

14.October.2015

thanks very much!

14.October.2015

I, too, bought this rug on your recommendation and placed it under the queen bed in our tiny guest room. It was grayish and worn, grubby and thrown out in five months. We don’t wear shoes in our house, either. I’ve always marveled that yours looks white, not gray. I guess the bottoms of your feet are cleaner or you are sock wearers. We are not. And I guess need more baths! Lol

15.October.2015

My husband and I would like to copy and paste your style to our next house. Love everything you do. However, right now we’re debating the initial investment of getting this same rug. Can you describe the feel of it? We found a similar one at Target that felt way too “plasticy” and since we have to order this one, we don’t want it to arrive and not like the texture. Does it feel like wool or natural fibers? Thank you!

15.October.2015

Loved the rug story but…where did you get that great looking leather pouf??

15.October.2015

Joss & Main!

15.October.2015

It does not feel plastic-y. If I had to describe it simply, it feels like plush carpet. Not scratchy like some wool rugs can be. Hope that helps??

16.October.2015

CRAP! I was totally hoping you had the miracle cleaning solution for this rug! I wonder if using an air compressor to blow all the water off would work? I also ordered a “backup” rug but I don’t like it. Our lines have a reddish brown color woven in and it pissed me off everytime I look at it. So now I am on a quest to find an addition “original” backup and cleaning my original while these reddish brown lines mock me from my children’s bedroom!

17.October.2015

I wish I read this post earlier and could tell you that there was a pretty simple way to save your rug! I’ve done the exact same thing more than once now (dragging the rug outside, scrubbing both sides, drying for days and nearly breaking my back in the process) and while the rug always looks so nice and bright afterward, it SMELLS BAD. The trick to get the smell out is baking soda. I literally dump a few large boxes of baking soda on the rug (it’s ok if the rug is still a little damp), rub it in gently with a scrubbing brush (just to work it in a little and make sure it covers as much of the rug as possible). Leave the rug overnight (or longer if you need to give your back a break), and when ready vacuum it all up (it might take a few passes). The smell will be gone and the rug will be like new again.

18.October.2015

Oh no! You could have saved the old rug by misting it with a pet stain and odor remover containing enzymes (like this: http://amzn.com/B014C2TY2G) after you shop-vac’d it. This is a trick I learned when I was an auto detailer. The enzymes feed on the bacteria and mildew to eliminate the odors. My sister did the same DIY cleaning thing with her long shag rug and was devastated when it smelled like dog. I told her about the enzymes and she sprayed it down, let it dry, sprayed it down again, let it dry, and it was as good as new.

19.October.2015

I think I would have used clean water in the spray bottle or a damp towel to rinse off the vinegar solution. I would try not to get the rug really wet. So far it’s worked with my wall to wall carpet.

19.October.2015

Thanks for your honesty, you made me laugh so much. Good to know that we all screw up, with the best of intentions.

20.October.2015

Good to know! Thanks for sharing your trick.

20.October.2015

I thought about baking soda…after it already smelled like wet dog :(

21.October.2015

I ruined my white shaggy rug trying to use the rented carpet cleaner (Rug Doctor) on it. It was the longer pile version and the carpet cleaner just could not get it clean. or dry. It was gross.

21.October.2015

Eek! I really hope the shorter pile makes a difference.

[…] last long.  Dana from House Tweaking recently blogged about her white shag rug and how she ruined it.  When I read her post I no longer felt as guilty about my dirty and dingy rug.  However, I am […]

We did exactly the same to our old living room rug. We brought it back in when it appeared to be dry thinking the smell was bound to go eventually. It didn’t! When we finally relented and accepted we were going to have to buy a new one, I lifted it up to find the underside had gone mouldy!! Gross!! I won’t be attempting any rug cleaning again any time soon! Good to know it’s not just me! Xx

03.January.2016

In love with the leather sofa! Where did it come from?

05.January.2016

Source lists are available at the end of each room tour under the ‘see my house’ tab in the side bar. Hope that helps!

21.January.2016

Thanks so much for directing me to this page re my question. So…the rugs are slightly different, I thought I was losing my mind!! I’m a little disappointed in it because of the lower pile and the fact that I tried to spot clean the tiny spot with oxy clean and the lines in the rug bled into the white.
Good luck with yours!

22.January.2016

Yep, they’re different. I used The Honest Co.’s stain remover a few weeks ago and it worked great!

09.March.2016

oh my, same thing happened to my mother. I do love that rug as well, and only noticed the differences when you pointed out. Im fixing my vacation home and purchased these milan leather set from macys.

http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/milan-leather-sofa-living-room-furniture-collection?ID=252638&CategoryID=29391#fn=sp%3D1%26spc%3D7%26slotId%3D7%26kws%3Dmilan

I was thinking of getting the same rug or maybe this

http://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/shaggy-curves/cream/200OZSG08A-2808.html

I have light beige large square tiles in the living room floor but i am so unsure what would look best because the color of the sofa, daybed, and chair is not white but a pearl color.

What do you think? It would be greatly appreciate since you have such great creativity. I wish i can hire you if you didn’t live so far away!

24.March.2016

Hi Dana,
I’m tempted to buy this rug after remembering this post…any chance you have any new thoughts on it all these months later??? Thanks!

24.March.2016

Surprisingly, the one I most recently ordered (after ruining the first one) is SO MUCH better! Even though they are the same model, the newer rug’s shag is shorter (closer to a carpet but still a long pile) which makes it easier to vacuum, clean and find stray LEGOs. It’s holding up really, really well and barely sheds – much like the first one. When it comes time for a cleaning, this time around I’m looking forward to cleaning it myself with a carpet shampooer. The first rug was too shaggy to attempt a shampooer at home. I’ll let you know how it goes.

04.January.2020

Exactly what happened to me today! My living room was also smelling like big wet dog till I finally rolled the rug up again and put it outside. So much for trying to save money haha.
Loved your post !