My relationship versus my sitting room rug. Which one do I save? You decide!

[BroccoliSpears]

So, temporarily taking leave of our senses, DP and I bought a beautiful cream rug for our sitting room. It's got pale blue embroidery on it, and little white bits. It's stunning.

Two weeks later it is a beautiful, muddy, sticky, hairy, smudged, off-grey rug.

Who would have thought that having a free range toddler and an enormous, hairy dog was incompatible with having a beautiful cream rug? I'm shocked too.

It says dry clean only. I want to give it a go with the carpet cleaner. DP says we will RUIN it with the carpet cleaner, and wrings his hands in anguished horror.

So, now I've made a huge deal about how silly he's being and have said that it will DEFINITELY be fine and we're DEFINITELY going to shampoo it with the cleaner.

Should I back track? I think I got more interested in winning the argument than cleaning the rug . If we do clean it and it's ruined DP will never ever ever ever ever ever let me forget it. He won't be angry, he'll be disappointed which is so much worse. He'll shake his head sadly and be so annoying that I'll have to leave him and start a new life with my ruined rug somewhere far far away.

Please advise.

[lazarou]

I would just clean it with the carpet cleaner. You can always buy another rug. [frivolous emoticon]

[hotbot]

far be it for me to take a blokes side, but just this once dh is right
and fib and say you did clean it but it didnt make any difference, win win

[CarGirl]

okay I think you have to look it at this

How often is it going to need dry cleaning to look beautiful in your house versus what it cost????????

Sometimes I just figure it's not cost efficient to dry clean stuff and wash it instead and if it ruins it then it doesn't matter because I wouldn't have spent the money to get it clean anyway IYSWIM

Present this logical arguement to dh and the wash it

[NAB3wishesfor2008]

Save the rug!!!!

[whomovedmychocolate]

If it's dry clean only you can clean it with soap. Just get a flannel, wet and then wring it out, wipe toilet soap on it, press it onto the carpet, the dirt will lift as you gently pad it. Then wash the flannel and repeat.

Or better still get your DH to do the sodding job since he has so much time on his hands for complaining!

[warthog]

dry clean once and use carpet cleaner thereafter. it's a silly rule, but one i follow to the letter.

[Cappuccino]

ah, the white rug relationship killer

see here you are not alone

what is your dp's suggestion then, that you sit there and watch it turn black?

[kindersurprise]

They always write dry clean only on things nowadays, so that they are covered if you try to wash it yourself. Clothes too.

Can you try it out on a tiny little corner of the rug?

I agree with Cargirl on this, you cannot take your rug to the cleaners every 4 weeks.

[purpleduck]

ooh, thats a hard one

what will happen after you clean it, will there be yellow and black tape around it, and one of those yellow signs that cleaners use that always say "ACHTUNG!!" ?

[sparklylucy]

Why not get hold of some carpet cleaner fluid and try a little corner. Thats what I would do. ( Probably without telling my DH)

[Cappuccino]

I sprayed mine with vanish carpet spray when dd2 squashed a fruit spread sandwich into it on Day 2

I don't fancy doing the whole thing with it every week mind

[lazarou]

Our rug is a death trap. We have a wooden floor, so if you move too quickly you go flying across the room.

[CatIsSleepy]

we have a cream rug in our living-room...
it looked nice for oooh about a week

we are going to replace it with a chocolate brown rug VERY soon

[CarGirl]

I have a friend who recarpeted with 2 or 3 tone bown speckled carpet - it has amazed us with how great it looks and it nevers looks dirty/debris covered!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BroccoliSpears]

Many of you have succinctly gone straight to the crux of the problem - what are we going to do, dry clean it once a fortnight?

Or (and I suspect this is DP's preferred option) live with an increasingly stained and grubby rug in the sitting room. Honestly, I have very low standards when it comes to good housekeeping but this rug is grim!

Better to ruin it than have it filthy.

Tis very annoying, I would have bolshily done it myself by now but am too pregnant to lift the heavy machine up from the cellar.

[TrinityRhinosDhWonHerAnIPOD]

I pushed and pushed to get cream carpet
dh let me and now I regret it immensely
we have had it cleaned but it didn't really do much even though its supposed to be scotchgaurded and all that


I would carpet shampoo the rug and cross fingers

oh and never buy cream rug/carpet ever again

[Cappuccino]

you both decided on this rug together?

oh dear

you see you can't blame him for being impractical because you were involved