Caring for a Handmade Rug: Notes from the Atelier

A hand-knotted rug is one of the most durable objects a home can contain. It is also one of the most misunderstood. The care it requires is less than most people imagine, and different from what most cleaning guides suggest. For the full guide, see how to care for handmade wool and silk rugs.

The first rule is the simplest: rotate the rug every twelve to eighteen months if it receives uneven light or foot traffic. Wool is robust, but prolonged exposure in a single orientation, a path worn by daily movement, a panel bleached by afternoon sun, will, over years, create visible asymmetry. A quarter-turn on a regular basis is all that is needed to distribute the wear evenly.

For day-to-day cleaning, a low-suction vacuum run with the pile, not against it, is sufficient. Avoid the beater-bar attachment. For spills, blot immediately with a dry cloth, do not rub, which drives the liquid into the knot structure. Cold water and a small amount of wool-safe soap, worked gently from the outside of the stain inward, will address most household incidents. Rinse thoroughly and dry flat.

The bedroom rug pictured here, a lustrous, tonal silk-and-wool piece in warm stone, shows why finish matters as much as fibre. Its sheen comes from the bamboo silk in the pile, which catches light differently from every angle. A harsh clean or an aggressive vacuum would strip that quality permanently. Handle it as you would cashmere: firmly enough to remove dirt, gently enough to preserve the surface.

A proper professional wash, the kind we offer through our care programme, where the rug is hand-washed on open ground and dried flat, is recommended every three to five years. Beyond that, the rug largely looks after itself.

Read the full guide: How to Care for Handmade Wool and Silk Rugs: A Complete Guide covers care in full.