This is a great question and one that is frequently asked. Almost all rugs are worth cleaning, and all rugs must be cleaned just as a matter of hygiene. If you don’t have your rugs cleaned on a regular basis they become unhealthy, so they should be cleaned or disposed of.

Taking all emotion and the cost of your time to go rug shopping for a replacement, the cost of repainting or recovering your furniture if you can’t find an identical rug, the rule of thumb is 50%. Meaning if you can replace the rug in question and the cost of your time to do so for twice what the cost of cleaning it will be, you should do so. For example, if your rug cost $1000 and cleaning it will cost $500 you should clean it.

There are many exceptions to this rule such as, if you got a great deal at an estate sale on a rug, like you paid $1000 for a $20,000 rug and it costs $1,500 to clean your rug…clean your rug and be glad you got such a good deal on a great rug.

If the rug has great sentimental value, or was very difficult to locate, you should clean your rug.

These are all personal decisions, and the answers will be different for each rug and circumstance, but these are the general rules of thumb.

There are certain types of rugs that cannot be safely cleaned or properly cleaned. These rugs are disposable rugs so select your rugs with care if you don’t want to be replacing them every year.