How To Clean a Sheepskin Rug

A Sheepskin rug makes a beautiful addition to any home’s interior. It can create a cozy and warm look.

They are like any other rug except when it comes time to clean them.

Sheepskin rugs can be easily cleaned at home but will require a few special steps and tools to get the job done and maintain the quality of your rug. Due to the delicate wool fibers, you need to take extra care to ensure they last a long time. 

In this article, we’ll give you the information you need to properly care for and clean your delicate sheepskin rug.

Products You’ll Need

Since your sheepskin rug is a bit more intricate than some other types of rugs, you may need some special tools to get the cleaning job done and done well.

These products can all be easily found online or in many stores.

Perhaps the most important product you will need in your arsenal of tools and products is some sort of wool shampoo.

The wool shampoo is a specialized solution that is gentle on wool fibers and works to remove stains.

Another product that can be effective is cornstarch. Cornstarch can be super effective at helping to remove stains from a wool carpet such as a sheepskin rug.

You will also likely need a vacuum, a cloth, warm water, and a bucket. You can also utilize a washing machine or a large tub to clean your rug, depending on the severity of the stain.

  • Wool Shampoo
  • Cornstarch
  • Vacuum
  • Cloth
  • Warm Water
  • Bucket

Steps to Properly Clean A Sheepskin Rug

If your sheepskin rug is real, you will need to be a little more careful when cleaning.

If you have a faux rug, the steps are largely the same, but you can use a gentle laundry detergent to help the cleaning process.

Below are the steps to properly clean any stain of your sheepskin rug.

Step 1

Before beginning the cleaning process, it is wise to shake out the rug to remove any loose debris. Shake your rug outside, so you don’t have another mess to clean up!

Step 2

After you shake the rug to remove any excess dirt or crumbs, take a vacuum quickly across the rug to ensure you have removed all debris.

Step 3

If you have a food stain you’re trying to remove, take wool shampoo and dab it on the stain. Let it sit for a few minutes, and then take warm water and a cloth and gently scrub at the stain until shampoo is removed.

Step 4

If you have an oilier stain to remove, use cornstarch. Sprinkle some of the powder onto the stain and let it sit for a few hours. Vacuum the powder up to remove the stain.

Step 5

If you need to wash a larger area of the rug, you can fill a bathtub with warm water and mix in wool shampoo. Fully submerge the rug into the water/shampoo solution and let it sit after it has time to sit. Drain the tub and rinse the rug out with cool water well.

Step 6

Hang dry the rug and brush out wool fibers once completely dry. 

After Cleaning Care

To maintain the quality of your sheepskin rug, you’ll want to do a few preventative things.

First, it helps to keep the rug out of high-traffic areas. The less foot traffic that goes over the rug, the better.

It is also beneficial to keep the rug out of direct sunlight as much as possible and brush the wool fibers gently from time to time to keep the rug fluffed.

Conclusion

Cleaning a sheepskin rug is a fairly straightforward and simple process.

With the right tools and proper knowledge, you’ll have a beautiful sheepskin rug to display in your home for years to come!