The Magic Carpet

This week marked the 20 year anniversary of

the day we bought our house.  This was meant

to be our starter home, we thought we'd be here

for a few years.  After my Father passed away, 

my Mum decided she wanted more than a few

phone calls a week with her only grandchildren

and she decided to move to Indiana to be near 

us.  She flew out on a few house hunting trips

but we couldn't find a place that was just right.

One day a neighbor came over to tell me the

neighbor whose property ran along my back

yard had passed away, I said I didn't want to

sound crass but what did they plan to do with 

the house?  She said they wanted to sell it right

away.  I call my Mum and told her to get on a

plane.  It was perfect and that was how our

life like the Waltons began.  My kids were able 

to see their Grammie every day, it was such a

good move.

So back to the heart of this story, after we bought

our house my Mother-in-Law told me she had 

something for me.  On one of their visits from

Michigan, my inlaws had a beautiful, huge Persian

carpet in the back of the Cadillac.  My Mother-in-Law 

said it had been her Mother's when she had her first 

house and she wanted me to have it since I had such

a lovely relationship with her Mom ~ we were both

Ellens.  I cherish it and it has been in our family room

ever since.

After my Mother-in-Law passed away we inherited

the runner pictured above.  It needed a cleaning but

I didn't want to send it out because I was afraid they

might use chemicals and I try to keep harsh chemicals

out of our life.  I remember seeing a show on PBS many

years ago about wool carpets and they said you could

wash them yourself.  I checked on youtube and found

many tutorials and finally I found the courage to try 

this on my own.  I was so afraid I might ruin it.

First I vacuumed it well on both sides. I then

saturated it with the hose, don't just get it wet, 

you want to fill it with water.  I worked on my deck 

but a concrete driveway would work as well.

I then turned it over and walked all over it like 

you were crushing grapes.  You want to get any

dirty or debris to move from between the fibers.

Then I turned it over again and added soapy

water (I used a product made for wool) in a

circular motion with a soft brush.  Once again,

walk on it like you are stomping grapes.  I did 

this on the top and bottom of the rug.

Then it was time to rinse and squeegee.  Use a

floor squeegee, not the type for windows. I

rinsed and squeegeed many times until it looked

like the rinse water was clear.

I then moved it to a dry area of the deck and

let it drain for a few hours.  Then I put it upside

down on the lawn.  This was to prevent static

that could harm the lanolin in the fibers.

Of course, Murphy's Law would have it that it

started to rain later in the day, so I brought it

into the gazebo and let it dry draped over a few

chairs.  Leave it until completely dry.

It is now in another section of our family room

and Mia the Wonder dog thinks it is just for her.

We call it her Magic Carpet.