Aaarrrgghh why is my rug suddenly constantly shedding?

[LunchLadyWannabe]

Had my rug about 18 months. It has never shedded until the last few months.

Now its shedding constantly!

Why is this?

I'm interested to know too as ours has only recently started to do this. I'm guessing it's something to do with the heating.

What I'm struggling with is how to clean it as the vacuum can't suck it all up and other than shaving the rug...I'm at a loss and it looks terrible.

Can anyone explain this?