A beautiful rug can greatly enhance your home décor, serving as a means to add warmth during the cold winter or an escape from the floor-to-floor carpeting often dreaded in hot summer months.
However, since high quality handmade rugs last decades, you may need to keep them in storage at some point for a short or long period, depending on your individual needs or situation. Whether you are renovating, moving or remodeling parts of the flooring, your rugs will need to be away from your sight for some time.
In such a case, care must be taken to store your fine are rugs correctly, to prevent any damage during rug storage.
- When storing a rug it is best to roll it. Avoid folding your rug to prevent any creases that may form long term.
- In rug storage it is a good idea to roll the rug with the pile facing as the foundation is much stronger and makes it harder to roll smoothly. This will also protect the rug more.
- Avoid storing rugs directly on the floor. Have a good housekeeping plan for storage areas to prevent insect infestation.
- Handmade rugs are best wrapped in cloth prior to storage. Plastic must not be used as hand knotted rugs must be allowed be ‘breathe.’
- Once a month unroll your rugs to check for any infestation. Choose a different rug for inspection each month.
- Clean dustcovers and padding, making sure to wipe off storage shelves as well.
- Regularly clean or vacuum the storage room thoroughly to eliminate insect-attracting dust and dirt.
- If living in a high humidity climate, make sure air can circulate in the storage area, to avoid mildew problems. It is best to store rugs in a cool and dry room.
- Care should be taken to block extra or strong sunlight using blinds.
- Lay rugs flat during storage if possible as this is the best position for a rug to be laid. Stack rugs to save space when storing multiple rugs but not for long periods. Use a pole for larger rugs for long-term storage by wrapping the rug around it.
