How to Clean a Shag Carpet

Shag carpets can be a stylish and cozy addition to your home. However, they don’t come without their drawbacks. While shag rugs are far softer and plusher than a standard rug, the extra long fibers make the rugs much harder to clean. However, with a bit of extra care, you can keep your shag rug clean and enjoy the ambiance it adds to your home. Here at

Shake Your Rug Clean

While shaking a regular rug isn’t necessary to clean it, a shag rugs’ long fibers mean that dust and dirt can become lodged within the fibers of the rug. Bringing your rug outside and giving it a good shake is a great first step to cleaning your rug.

Try Vacuuming

The next step to take is to vacuum your rug. However, vacuuming a shag rug comes with complications that a normal rug doesn’t. The extra long fibers of the shag rug mean that a standard vacuum won’t work well on the rug. It will likely either rip the fibers off the rug or wrap them around the mechanisms of the vacuum. Instead, try using the upholstery attachment that comes standard with most vacuums. This attachment adds an extra layer of plastic between the spinning mechanism of the vacuum and your rug, meaning you can run the attachment across the fibers of the rug without worrying about breaking your vacuum or ripping your rug apart.

Steaming the Rug

If you are trying to get a stain out of a particular section of your shag rug, or even just trying to give you it a thorough wash, you can try steam cleaning it. When steam cleaning, always be sure to clean in straight lines going in the same direction, as this will prevent your rug from matting together. Roy’s Carpet Cleaning offers professional carpet steaming services. 

Using A Shag Rake

The final step that can leave your rug looking brand new is running a shag rake across it. These specially designed rakes help fluff up the fibers of your carpet to leave it looking pristine. After a thorough cleaning, running a shag rake across the rug is the finishing touch that will help you feel like you just purchased the rug again!

Roy’s Carpet Cleaning Solutions

Having trouble getting your rug to look brand new again? Give us a call at Roy’s Carpet Cleaning for an estimate, or fill out our free estimate form online!