Why is My Rug Shedding?
You’ve noticed some fibers coming off your rug and you’re wondering if you should be worried. There are a few reasons rugs shed, and it’s not always an indicator of a more serious problem. It is not unusual to buy a new rug and notice a bit of light shedding in the weeks after you bring it home. This shedding may get worse for a little while but should decrease and eventually stop within a few months.
If your rug was woven using brittle or poor-quality fibers, tugging on the thread will pull the material and knot out of the pile. Foot traffic will break off small bits of yarn. Rugs made of low-quality materials are easily damaged by vacuuming and regular use. These rugs are more likely to shed. Both handmade rugs and machine-made rugs can shed.
Properly caring for your rug- doing things like using the correct padding, gently grooming, and vacuuming the rug without the use of the beater bar, will often resolve this problem over time.
Why Do New Rugs Shed?
When rugs experience foot traffic for the first time, that traffic can affect the material. There may be some light shedding from the pressure and friction of being walked on. Heavier shedding may occur if the quality of the materials is poor and it therefore untwists and breaks easily. Typically, the rugs that experience shedding are made of wool or are made of cheap man-made fibers. If you are worried about buying a rug that sheds, we recommend purchasing a handmade natural silk rug. Many of the most beautiful and well-made rugs are made of wool and can last for generations, but shedding may occur due to the nature of the fibers.
Wool Quality and Durability
Wool is the most durable rug material, in fact, the oldest rug in the world, the Pazyryk Rug, is made of wool. Wool fibers vary in quality depending on the area the sheep come from, the climate, the breed of the sheep, the diet of the sheep, the age of the sheep, as well as what part of the body the wool was sheared from. The front chest and belly of a lamb produce some of the softest, most desirable wool because it is both protected from the elements and supple due to youth. The back of an adult sheep has wool that is coarse and thick due to exposure to the elements. Some wool is more dry and brittle than other kinds and will be more prone to breakage. In general, two rugs of similar construction that differ in price are usually made of different quality wool. The one made of drier wool will be cheaper.
Depending on the quality of the wool, the fibers will be used to make different lengths and thicknesses of wool yarn to weave rugs. Yarn may be single-ply or multi-ply depending on the expected use. The cheapest wool yarn will be made from a single ply of thick, coarse wool. The length of the yarn is crucial to how it will be used. Longer yarn can be twisted many more times than shorter yarn. A high-quality rug with an intricate design will use very fine wool yarn. This fine wool will be spun with other tiny strands to make multi-ply yarn for the intricately detailed design.
Why Do Wool Rugs Shed?
When yarn is composed of thick, short fibers, it is easy to untwist. Foot traffic and vacuuming will separate the fibers by untwisting them. When the yarn untwists, part of the fiber may come out. This is shedding. If the wool fibers are dry and brittle, it is more likely that use will cause shedding because the fibers break and untwist easily.
A good rug manufacturer with lots of experience will choose the ideal fiber thickness, length, twist method, and quality for their rugs. The highest quality wool comes from New Zealand and is considered the best in the world due to having the most lanolin. These natural oils keep the wool from being dry and breakable and make the fibers exceptionally soft and shiny. In fact, the top-quality New Zealand wool is so soft that it often must be woven with a bit of coarser wool so that the fibers stand up on their own and do not slump due to their softness. The result is a crisp design. The more detail in the design, the thinner the fibers that make up the yarn twists need to be.
Shaggy and chunky-woven wool rugs are more likely to shed than other types of wool rugs. High-quality shag rugs should stop shedding after three to six months of use. Poor quality shag rugs will shed the entirety of their lives, eventually showing wear and looking patchy. Wool rugs that are shaggy can be groomed with a natural bristle brush to remove loose strands. Vacuuming shaggy rugs can be risky, never use the beater brush on any handmade rug, but especially this type. If suction isn’t removing as much dirt as you would like, take the rug outside and use a leaf blower to fluff the rug and blow away debris.
Why Do Tufted Rugs Shed?
Another reason your rug may shed is because it’s tufted. Tufted rugs use glue to connect the fiber loops to the backing. If the construction material or the glue is not strong enough, the rug will shed, a lot. Even a high-quality hooked tufted rug can break and shed with heavy traffic.
Why Do Plant Fiber Rugs Shed?
Natural plant fibers like jute, sisal, and seagrass don’t possess much flexibility and break easily. The fibers splinter when they are being woven because they are delicate and brittle. If you look closely at a brand new plant fiber rug, you will see these frays. Plant fiber rugs typically shed the entire time they are used.
Why Do Viscose Rugs Shed?
Viscose and other artificial silk options are very weak. A viscose rug will last five to ten years MAX and may shed continuously during that time. These rugs are the most likely to shred and break since they are not made to last. In fact, artificial silk rugs are considered to be the “disposable” rugs of the rug industry. Just spilling a bit of water on a viscose rug and not drying it immediately can stain and turn the area to mush. Fiber protector can extend the life of a viscose rug, but it will never look presentable for more than ten years.
Hand-knotted rugs must be sheared to an even length after construction. Small fibers may stick to the surface of the rug after shearing and the owner may notice them once the rug receives foot traffic. This form of “shedding” is not truly shedding, just some fibers that got left behind. Typically, professional cleaning will release any sheared or broken fibers and shedding should diminish to almost nothing.
Sprouting
Another issue you may notice is sprouting. Sprouting is typically something that happens with time and use. Sprouting occurs when the yarn untwists and stretches, resulting in a strand of fiber that is longer than the rest. Sprouting is often caused by use and heavy vacuuming. Most new rugs do not exhibit sprouting except in the case of a couple of threads that got missed during shearing in post-production inspection. Some rugs sprout after their first wash and some rugs sprout after years of use.
If you’ve noticed sprouting on your rug, trim it evenly to match its brethren. Do NOT pull the sprouted thread, as this can make a small hole. Think of the knots in your rugs as seeds. The pile is the grass growing from those seeds. You can trim your grass so that it is an even length, but if you pull out a blade of grass by the root, you are left with a hole in the dirt.
The best prevention for shedding and sprouting is vigilant care and maintenance. Use proper padding, rotate your rug to even out wear, groom your rug, and take it in for professional rug cleaning every three to five years. Do not use harsh chemicals to clean your rug, and never vacuum with the beater brush extension.