Dry Clean Rug - can I wash it?!!!

[youvegottobekidding]

I have an old Laura Ashley rug, it's got a couple of light stains on & it & is just generally grubby, could do with a clean, but just haven't the cash to take it to the dry cleaners (as it says on the label professional clean only) so I was wondering whether I could get away with cleaning it myself? If so how?! It was given to us a while back & I'd love to be able to clean it up a bit & use it. It's not really really big about 120cm x 160cm approx so I thought about putting it in the bath with a little bit of water & detergent, then rinsing with shower hose, but not too much, then drying outside. It's 59%cotton & 41%wool. Or would I just ruin it completely?

Hi OP, I had the same issue with a Laura Ashley rug. Ironically I did take it to the dry cleaners who refused to clean it as they were concerned it might fade, despite it having a Dry Clean Only label on it like yours!

I used Persil Small and Mighty to clean mine. I laid it on old towels outside (it was a hot day) and slooshed warm water over it from a washing up bowl so it was wet all over. I then squirted some of the Persil onto it and then scrubbed it all over using a soft bristle scrubbing brush I got from Wilko, concentrating on the more stained areas. I rinsed it thoroughly by slooshing more water all over it and scraped the excess off with the scrubbing brush. I dried it by lying it on some more old towels in the sun and finished it off by draping it over our washing line.

It looks great - not like new but it is 30 years old - but back to the original cream and green colours, rather than the grey tinge it had before it was washed. The secret is not to drown it or it will shrink. My grandmother gave me this tip - she was in service in a big house during the war and said they used to clean really valuable Turkish carpets in this way, using soap flakes and a soft bristled yard brush!

Meant to add that mine is the same mix of materials as yours.