How to scrub rag rugs with soap—how do you do it?

Further down in the post, you will find pictures, detailed instructions, and tips on which products you need to succeed with soap scrubbing.

 

 

Rag rugs are often handmade by experienced hands that have carefully saved fabrics, cut them into rug strips, planned the colors, set up the warp, and then woven the rug.

 

A wonderful example of reuse and a craft that deserves respect and care. Look after your rugs by scrubbing them with soap the traditional way. If you have access to a jetty, that is of course easy and traditional, but a garden hose on a lawn works well too. Naturally, common sense applies, so you cannot wash your rugs somewhere unsuitable or where it is not permitted. Never wash anything other than ordinary household rugs in the lake. Car mats, for example, or items stained with environmentally hazardous substances must be washed where there is an approved drain. Here is a blog post about how to do it the traditional way.

 

What you need:

1. Traditional hard soap

2. Scrub brushes – preferably a softer brush, such as one with tampico fiber

3. Water

 

 

 

Here's how:

 

1. Soak. Place the rugs in the lake or a tub if you are not working on a jetty, and leave them until they have sunk and absorbed plenty of water. Rag rugs can consist of several different materials, which all take different amounts of time to soak, so let them take the time they need.

 

 

2. Apply the solid soap directly to the brush and work along the lines—one color at a time. It should lather, and if necessary, add more water with a scoop. 

 

 

3. Pull part of the rug onto the dock/surface (a lawn works too) and scrub one section at a time.

 

 

 

4. Rinse it with a hose or bucket, roll up the scrubbed section, and pull up more of the rug. Continue this way until the rug has been scrubbed. For thorough cleaning, repeat the process on the other side.

 

 

 

5. Then rinse the rug.

6. For the rug to dry within a reasonable time, you must now step on it. Unroll part of the rug and walk along it, moving your feet a little at a time to press out as much water as possible.

  

 

 

7. Once you have stepped on the entire rolled-up rug, take the whole roll and beat it with a few firm blows against an edge or stone to remove even more water.

 

 

 

8. Finally, it is time to hang your rugs out to dry. Remember to hang the rugs lengthwise as shown in the picture. This way, you avoid the risk of any of the lines/colors in the rug bleeding and running into another color. As mentioned, rag rugs are a wonderful old form of textile reuse that would otherwise have ended up in the trash, but this also means that the materials in the rug may vary, so the safest option is to dry the rugs as shown below.

 

 

The Västerbottenssåpa store

 

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 Questions and answers

 

- Why do we recommend soaking the rag rugs before scrubbing with soap?

By soaking the rugs, they absorb water thoroughly, which facilitates the cleaning process and makes it easier to dissolve the dirt.

 

 

- Why is it important to use solid traditional soap to clean rag rugs?

The solid soap is effective for lathering and gently breaking down dirt in the fabrics. Its historical use in traditional cleaning makes it suitable for this purpose.

 

 

- How should the rag rugs be hung to prevent the colors from running together?

To prevent the colors from mixing, we recommend hanging the rugs lengthwise, with the lines vertical, so that no color runs into another.

 

 

- Why is it important to step on the rugs and then beat them before drying?

By stepping on the rugs, excess water is pressed out, helping them dry faster. Then beating them against an edge or stone helps remove additional water and freshen the fibers.