Five Steps to (Easily!) Clean your Shag Rug
Last updated on March 28th, 2025
Shag rugs bring tons of comfort to any room, but they’re also pretty good at holding onto dust and other debris. With their thick, plush fibers, you may not even notice what gets trapped below the surface. That’s why they need a bit more than a quick once-over. This short tutorial will help you keep your shag rugs fresh and clean!
How to clean a shag rug
Here are five easy steps you can follow to clean your shag rug quickly and safely with a vacuum:
1. Remove all the furniture
No shortcuts! Unlike most rugs, vacuuming around sofa or table legs isn’t going to be enough to get that shag cleaned.
2. Roll up and flip your rug
If you’re cleaning a relatively small rug, you don’t need to roll it up—just flip it over. Larger rugs can be tricky to flip, though. Trying to flip an 8 ×10 or 9 ×12 can easily lead to strained muscles or other household emergencies if you’re not careful.
A better approach is to roll it up first so that you can unroll it upside down. Be sure to unroll on a hard surface like tile or hardwood before moving onto the next steps.
3. Turn your vacuum’s beater bar on
Normally, we’d never recommend using a beater bar on a rug. That’s because it can get snagged on the fibers and wear down the pile. In this case, though, it’s the key to loosen stubborn dirt. Just be sure to start with an empty vacuum canister to get the most suction out of your machine.
4. Vacuum the back of the rug
This cleaning hack saves you the trouble of taking the rug outside, hanging it from a line, and beating it with a broom. Vacuuming the back of the rug with the beater bar turned on knocks any deeply embedded debris from the rug and deposits it onto the floor for easy cleanup.
Make sure to run the vacuum over the entire back surface of the rug multiple times. Be careful to avoid the edges of the rug, since you may accidentally catch stray surface threads. Standing on the rug while you vacuum will also help keep it from sliding around on the floor.
5. Vacuum any remaining debris
When you’re done vacuuming, carefully move the rug somewhere outside of your cleaning area. All of the debris that the beater bar dislodged will end up on the floor (and that’s why cleaning on hard floors is key!). Now you can easily and safely vacuum all the remaining dirt.
You may also need to use a brush to remove any bits still caught in the shag pile, or just pick them out by hand. Give the surface pile one final vacuum (without the beater bar this time), and enjoy your fully cleaned rug!
To keep your shag rug looking its best, plan on a professional cleaning every year or two—especially if it lives in a high-traffic area like the living room.
For more help on keeping your rugs fresh and functional, check out our guide to cleaning rugs at home!
