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Show J FARM and ME TTAH STATK AO RJ CULTURAL COLLEGE EXTENSION EEKV1C MARY LOU REICHERT CLEAN RUGS If rugs and carpets are to wear well and stay attractive they must be kept clean, a bulletin from the New York State Extension . Service emphasize. Dirt on the surface dulls the color of the rug;, embeded grit wears and cuts the fibers. Damage from ciotnes moms ana carpet beetles is less likely to occur when rugs are kept clean. The time to spray rugs against these insects is after they have been thoroughly cleaned WherS there is heavy traffic on a rug, daily cleaning with a vacumn cleaner or carpet sweeper may be needed. A light vacuuming vacuum-ing will pick up much of the soil, before it works down and becomes embeded in the fibers. Less frequently fre-quently give the rug a longer, more thorough vacuuming. Anvthing spilled on the rug should be removed at flnce. Blot up as much as possible with a soft cloth or absorbent tissue. Then sponge the area with a soft cloth wrung out of a mixture of 1 teaspoon mild synthetic detergent deter-gent to 1 cup lukewarm water. Use a circular motion, beginning at the outer edge and working in. Blot up the solution and rinse with clear water. If the spot does not diseppear try a mixture of 1 teaspoon white vinegar and 3 tea-spons tea-spons lukewarm water. Finish by sponging with a- cloth dampened in lukewarm water. Remove grease spots with a grease solvent or "cleaning fluid." But use cautiously if the rug has a rubber backing because the fluid may disolve the rubber. Surface soils can be . removed from rugs with an absorbent Cileaner or .shampoo, but such home cleaning does not remove the embeded soil. , Professional, cleaners today are equipped to clean rugs thoroughly at the plant or to do on-location cleaning for most types of wall-to-wall carpeting. car-peting. Professional cleaning at the cleaning plant is most thorough because plants have special machines to wash, rinse and remove water from rugs and have drying rooms engineered for correct temperature and air circulation. |