What’s the best way to clean a jute rug?

Q: What is the best way to clean a jute rug?

A: Jute, a vegetable fiber, is a popular choice for area rugs where people want texture and a neutral, natural look. The rugs generally are easy to clean as long as they’re just walked on. Things become much more difficult, though, if they get grimy or drenched in pet urine.

Routine care is simple:

• Vacuum the top of the rug once or twice a week. Use gentle suction and disengage the beater bars so you don’t pull apart the weave.

• Some dry dirt and bits of the rug fiber filter through the weave, so turn back the rug in sections occasionally to vacuum the floor underneath.

• Or, if the rug is small enough, you can take it outside and shake out the dirt.

For spills and stains:

• Blot liquids up as soon as possible, using a clean cloth or rag - whatever is close at hand because speed matters.

• Don’t rub; that would push the spill farther into the fibers, according to websites of numerous companies that sell these rugs.

• Scoop up solids with a butter knife or other tool, but avoid pushing the material into the weave.

• If stains remain, blot the area again, this time with a cloth moistened in a cleaning solution. For most food spills, use a half-and-half solution of warm water and hand dishwashing soap. Or, if the spill is something acidic, such as red wine, use club soda instead. If it’s pet pee, use a half-and-half solution of white vinegar and warm water, rugsusa.com suggests. Then, if you’ve used detergent, blot using fresh water to remove the soap. It’s OK to rub gently with any of these liquids, but don’t scrub. And don’t pour the cleaner on the rug.

• Use a fan or blow dryer to get the moisture out as quickly as possible.

• If you’re dealing with a pet’s accident and odor remains, sprinkle on a little baking soda once the rug is dry and vacuum the powder off the next day.

But what if these don’t work and the rug stinks or still looks dirty? This is where the confusion begins. If you search online, you’ll find advice that jute and other plant-fiber rugs such as sisal or seagrass should only be dry-cleaned, by a professional. “Never steam clean or wet-shampoo a natural fiber floor covering; these methods can cause shrinkage, discoloration, and/or staining,” says sisalcarpet.com, a Seattle-based online retailer. Sisalrugs.com, based in Excelsior, Minnesota, offers similar advice: “You should never steam clean, use wet shampoo, or wash your jute rug - and don’t use any other method that involves water saturation on a natural fiber rug, either.”

But we heard otherwise when we called Khazai Rug Cleaning and Repair, which cleans all sorts of rugs in and around Washington, D.C., and Louisville. It said wet-cleaning is the only way to get a heavily soiled jute rug clean and odor-free, especially if a pet has peed on it. “Urine sinks in and crystalizes,” owner David Khazai said. He said he cleans about a dozen jute rugs each quarter and would do more except that some potential customers are put off by the price: $4 to $6 a square foot, which includes pickup and delivery. They say they could buy a new rug for about the same price, he said. “I say, ‘Go buy another one.’” The reason, he says, is that plant-fiber rugs are mostly made where labor costs are very low, while his rug-cleaning business needs to pay around $20 an hour or no one will do the work.

James McNeil, owner of the Rug Specialists in Fair Oaks, California, also uses water to clean jute rugs. “It’s the only way to get urine out,” he said. He sometimes does a couple a week, for $3.60 a square foot.

Both Khazai and McNeil said there are three key issues when wet-cleaning a jute rug. The whole rug needs to get wet or colors in the fiber could migrate and result in a blotched look. The rug has to dry quickly or it could mildew. And the rug can’t be distorted; it needs to dry in a way that keeps its original dimensions. McNeil said he has a centrifuge that spins out most of the water and a way to hang rugs with fans going to get out the rest. He said he recently cleaned a rug that still had one discolored area. “Maybe it was soap residue,” he said. “I rewashed it and it came out really nice.”

What about dry-cleaning, the option some websites recommend? There are two basic approaches for this: Sprinkle on a powder that absorbs smells and some grime, then vacuum that off. Or mist the rug with a cleaning solution (sometimes solvent-based), work it in with a soft brush or pad, then rub it off with a towel (the homeowner option) or a buffer fitted with a bonnet (the pro version). Dry-cleaning can refresh the look of a jute rug, but it has its limits.

Stephen Bair, owner of Angel Dry Carpet & Rug Cleaning in Carrollton, Texas, said he has heard horror stories about jute rugs turning brown or black from cleaning with water, which is why he dry-cleans only, using a plant-based cleaner. He said he has seen dark blotches left when customers spilled water or poured water onto rugs, and he has friends who report whole rugs turning dark from wet-cleaning. But when told about Khazai’s and McNeil’s statements, he said they must have a system that works and can get pet-stained rugs cleaner than he can. “Urine really needs to be flushed out,” he said.

All three cleaners agree on one point. As Bair put it: “Jute is a problem for sure.” For customers who want a natural-fiber rug and have busy households with kids and pets, all three recommended wool, which is easier to clean, as well as softer to walk on.