Remember the auction we went to on Sunday….the one where hubby bought Betty, my new featherweight? Â Well I was so excited about the sewing machine that I forgot to tell you about my rugs. Â I got four braided rugs…
One is big…
These are perfect colors for me….
One is red and black. Â Hubby liked this one. Â I did too but I wasn’t sure where I’ll put it.
There are two that look like this one that Pepper and Gracie are showing off. Â One of these small ones needs a bit of repair.
I got a good price on these…not as good as the sewing machine, but definitely a price I was happy with. Â I loaded them up and brought them home but they are musty. Â They have that older basement smell to them. Â I took them outside and hung them over the railings…but after a couple days, still musty.
Does anyone have any suggestions to get the musty smell out of wool braided rugs. Â I don’t want to leave them outside too long because I don’t want them to be faded by the sun.
Years ago I got our kitchen rug, which is the same type of rug, for free from Freecycle. Â It smelled like pets. Â I left it outside and the smell eventually went away. Â Please leave any advice you might have on how to get out the smell here in the comments….
On another note….There are lots of people who are making progress on their crumb blocks. Â When you have a minute, take some time to check them out here for the most recent….or here for last week’s.
Would it work to vacuum them with some kind of deodorizing powder stuff that is made for doing that? Or with Febreeze or something along those lines?
I know baking soda or coffee (grounds right out of the can) takes the smell of raw fish out of the plastic containers we use to brine our salmon in before we smoke it so that may work for the musty smell. Sprinkle it on the rugs, roll them up for a few days and shake/vacuum them out. Years ago we purchased a musty smelling chest of drawers at an estate auction and I liberally sprinkled baking soda in each drawer and let it sit for 4-6 weeks and the smell went away.
I use baking soda to freshen up the rugs. Sprinkle it on, let it sit for a while and vacuum.
Sprinkle baking soda all over the rug. Let it sit for at least 1/2 hour and then vacuum. If the smell still doesn’t come out, check out the cleaning products for rugs in the grocery. A number of these do work. The fabreeze works but it does pretty much just cover up the smell. I used it and after awhile it smells like you just covered up stink with more stink. I have a number of wool rugs that we use a little bissel machine that we have to get rid of dirt and doggie odor.
If you can put them, one at a time, in a large trash bag then put a bowl of amonia in it. close up tight and leave for 24 hrs. take out and check. if still smells try again. may take several times. IT works. DH got deer urine in his truck and I put a bowl of amonia in it overnite. got rid of the smell, and that was a very very bad one. I have used the trash bag thing lots. got most of the smell out of my featherweight case. I think the case is doomed because of the kind of glue they used in 1940! I love the rugs, good luck.
I have braided rugs in my kitchen, and I wash them in my washing machine at least once a year. The tags said not to wash them, but I do anyway, using cold water. Then I hang them off my deck to dry. They do a bit of curling up, but they stretch out again and flatten after they are walked on a day or so.
The little ones easily fit in my machine. The bigger ones (4×6) were too big for my old washing machine, but they do ok in my new front loader.
Love the black and red rug. Go Georgia Bulldawgs!
I successfully used bicarbonate of soda(baking soda in USA?) to deodorise some musty smelling wool tapestries I bought. I sprinkled it liberally, rolled them up and wrapped them in plastic and left them for a few days.They must be dry to start with.
Yup, baking soda.
Febreeze works wonders on old musty smells. I sprayed it on and let it dry outside. I think I had to do it twice, but it worked like a charm. I love braided rugs and yours are wonderful!
I bought an antique quilt top that smelled musty a few years ago and nothing worked to get the smell out until someone suggested I put it in a trash bag with one or two open bars of Lifeguard deodorant soap and tie it tightly shut. I left in the bag for a couple weeks and it worked like a charm. The top didn’t even smell like the soap after I aired it out in the garage for about an hour.
We had braided rugs at home.
I grew up in northwest Iowa and we would wait for a very cold and dry January day, then take the rugs outside and fluff them around in a snowbank. The fine snow would filter through the braided rugs. Shake them very good, then back in the house. Any lingering snow would melt soon and evaporate.
This would refresh the rugs.
In the meantime, as January is far off, I would put them in the sunshine for an hour or two–the angle of the sun is shallower this time of year and you shouldn’t have too much fading. If you hang them on a porch rail or clothesline so the air can blow through that would help too.
I have my Grandmother’s braided rug on my bedroom floor. Love it.
The minute you mentioned musty smell, I thought of baking soda, just like a lot of others did. That should do it.
I would try baking soda. It works pretty well with most odors.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4895956_clean-wool-braided-rug.html
I confess, I would totally wimp out and have them cleaned by a carpet cleaning company. But there are some articles at http://www.ehow.com (one that involves laying it in the driveway and using your garden hose – laughed at that one even though it was serious).
Ok how weird I wrote a long not on here yesterday and it never showed up. hmmm
Charcoal like the grilling kind is a great smell remover. put the rug in a bag or roll the rug up with the charcoal inside.
Also cat litter can be used like the charcoal. Its clay so is would soak up the smells.
To spray on the rug use tea tree oil. like 2 teaspoons in about 8oz of water. its a natural disinfectant.
Hope something on here works.
Do you have some spray to get rid of doggy accident smells? I got mine at wal*mart and sprayed it on a rug that had a funny smell and it took it right out.