How to Clean a Rug from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit Rugs can be beautiful additions to your home, but they can be expensive and sometimes delicate. It’s important to know how to clean and maintain them to protect your investment. These few tips can keep your rugs looking new for as long as possible. There are a few very common mistakes that people make when it comes to cleaning area rugs. These mistakes can end up subtracting years from the life of your rugs, and they should be avoided. Steps The best way to keep your area rug looking its best is once a month flip it upside down and vacuum the back of the rug. It is okay to use a beater bar/rotating brush vacuum on the back of a wool rug, on the front it is recommended to only use suction. The beater bar/rotating brush sucks up the small fine wool fibers wearing away your wool rug. For synthetic area rugs it is fine to use the beater bar/rotating brush vacuum on the front and back of the rug. It is not advisable to...