Since ancient times, sheepskin in the house is considered not only a sign of prosperity, but also a real find in the home interior. This fur allows you to perfectly decorate the room, and its high thermal insulation properties make it possible to create comfort even in the coldest winter. However, the main disadvantage of sheepskin is susceptibility to all sorts of pollutants. The article will take a detailed look at how to clean carpet and other products made from natural sheep fur, as well as give a natural white shade to sheepskin clothes.
Sheepskin cleaning at home
Cleaning sheepskin at home is considered a rather troublesome and labor-intensive procedure, so most housewives try to shift it onto the shoulders of dry cleaners. However, this is not always convenient and beneficial for the wallet, so more and more self-cleaning of fur is becoming commonplace.
Did you know? Sheep breeding is considered one of the oldest branches of agriculture. For the first time, sheep were domesticated about 8 thousand years ago in the territory of Ancient Syria, Turkey and Mesopotamia.
Today, for this, you can use both a lot of professional tools and a lot of folk methods, the most effective of which will be discussed below.
Dry cleaning white sheepskin
Dry cleaning is ideal for the daily care of sheep’s fur. It helps to effectively deal with contaminants and protect valuables from stubborn stains. The easiest way to dry clean is considered to be shaking or using a vacuum cleaner. This allows you to remove dust and all kinds of large contaminants from the product.
If the product during operation changed its shade to gray, became covered with dark and greasy spots, you need to use a more intensive cleaning method. The surface of the fur should be covered with fine table salt, semolina or potato starch, and then wiped with a soft brush. This procedure is carried out several times, until the sheepskin is completely bleached.
Despite the simplicity and high efficiency, dry cleaning is not always suitable. Only perfectly dried fur is subjected to it, without the remains of drops and other things. Otherwise, moisture may react with the cleaning component and cause the formation of lumps, and this may render the product unusable, so it is recommended to dry the wool thoroughly at room temperature before the procedure.
Sheepskin cleaning with improvised means
In addition to dry cleaning, you can use a whole range of wet preparations for cleaning fur. Of the available means for this, the most popular can be called simple hydrogen peroxide. A tablespoon of the liquid must be diluted in a liter of clean water, and then moisten the sponge with the resulting mixture. A damp sponge is gently carried over the top of the wool so as not to wet the product, and then it is dried.
Alternatively, a mixture of starch and aviation kerosene can be used. It is cooked to a thick consistency, after which it is applied to the surface of the fur. After the mixture dries, the sheep’s fur should be shaken out or vacuumed.
When you need to overcome greasy stains, dried bread will be the most reliable tool at hand. Crusts need to wipe the dirty place several times.
The use of household chemicals
In most cases, cleaning with specialized chemicals is started after home methods have been powerless. To do this, use special tools for cleaning carpets or wool.
They are a concentrate that should be diluted in water, and then whipped to a foamy state. The resulting foam is carefully applied to the surface of the sheepskin with a soft brush.
As soon as the cleaned surface dries, the wool must be thoroughly vacuumed from large contaminants, and then combed.
Highly active chemicals instantly clean sheepskin products, but their use has some disadvantages. First of all, such drugs often contain strong allergens, so they can cause acute allergic manifestations or other specific reactions of the body.
That is why they are not recommended for allergy sufferers, as well as in the case when there are small children in the house. In addition, such preparations can cause irritation if they come into contact with the skin, so it is imperative to use rubber gloves during their use.
Did you know? Sheepskin products have special thermal insulation properties. In the cold season, they warm perfectly, and in the heat they help to avoid overheating, which allowed the fur to gain particular popularity in ancient times.
Stain removal
Often, contamination on sheepskin is local in nature, and the product is covered with a variety of spots. In this case, most people subject the wool to complex and intensive processing. However, a local cleaning method can be applied by exposing the desired area.
At the same time, it is necessary to strictly separate the processing of colored and white products, not only the final success, but also the appearance of the woolen cover depends on this condition.
Video: how to distinguish natural sheepskin from artificial
On colored sheepskin
If a stain has appeared on an artificially dyed sheepskin, it will not be so easy to remove it. Under the influence of aggressive agents, the product may lose its saturated color, and in the case of local application, it can even cause a chemical burn to the color of the coat.
At home, it is best to use special cleaners for dyed wool. They can be replaced with an aqueous solution of ammonia (1:1). It must be gently rubbed into the contaminated area, and then removed with a dampened sponge.
On a white sheepskin
One of the difficult tasks is to clean the snow-white sheepskin from all kinds of stains from chocolate, juices, drinks, etc. In most cases, even after several washing cycles, the remnants of aggressive substances remain on the surface of the sheepskin. In this case, it is necessary to apply a solution of hydrogen peroxide (2 tablespoons / 1 liter of water).
This liquid should be applied with a sponge to the stain, without wetting the base of the sheepskin, and then dried. If it was not possible to eliminate the stain at one time, the procedure is repeated several times until the traces of pollutants are completely eliminated.
Video: cleaning natural white sheepskin covers
Bleach
The main problem that every owner of sheepskin and other fur products faces is the change in the whitish shade of the fur to grayish yellow. They fight it by bleaching with a concentrated solution of hydrogen peroxide.
The liquid is diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 1, after which the prepared solution must be poured into a mechanical spray gun and sprayed evenly over the surface of the fur. Then the sheepskin needs to be dried well. If the procedure does not bring the expected result, it is repeated.
However, bleaching often causes irreparable damage to the sheepskin. Under the influence of concentrated and aggressive agents, the wool is destroyed, as well as its base.
This leads not only to a deterioration in the appearance of such products, but also significantly reduces their service life, therefore it is often not recommended to bleach sheepskin, such a procedure is carried out only as needed and no more than 2 times a year.
Fur base cleaning
This procedure is carried out no more than several times a year.. Despite its necessity, it harms the sheepskin, which over time leads to a sharp reduction in the life of sheepskin products. The easiest way to carry out such cleaning is chopped potatoes.
Important! Before using any of the above methods, a small amount of cleaning agent should be applied to an inconspicuous part of the product. This will help protect the fur from an unexpected chemical reaction with all sorts of impurities of cleaning agents.
Peeled tubers should be brought to a homogeneous mass with a meat grinder, and then evenly distributed over the sheepskin and walked well over it with a soft brush. As the potato mixture acquires a dirty shade, it is changed to a new one. At the end of the procedure, the remains of the potato are removed with a damp sponge, and the product is dried at room temperature.
Wash
One of the universal ways to remove any stains and contaminants on sheepskin is washing. This is the most aggressive, but at the same time effective way to clean the wool, as well as the base of the sheepskin. In this case, you can traditionally apply both hand and machine wash, adhering to some of the features of these procedures.
Handwash
Sheepskin washing is ideal for removing medium-sized soiling from small items, or when you want to achieve a special delicacy of the procedure. The general scheme for washing a white product looks quite simple.
Rinsing is also carried out with warm water, otherwise the product may be deformed.
A small container must be filled with warm water (no more than + 40 ° C), and then dissolved in it is a detergent for washing carpets or fur products. Dirty sheepskin should be soaked in water for 30 minutes, after which it should be washed with light and smooth movements.
In case of contamination of dyed fur, the sheepskin is soaked in a cleaning solution at room temperature. This is one of the main requirements, because otherwise the fur may lose its rich color.
In this case, the soaking procedure can be extended up to 60 minutes. The rest of the operations are no different from washing white fur, with the exception of rinsing, which is performed in cold water.
Spin without twisting!
The main disadvantage of hand washing can be called limitations in the size of the product. Only small home rugs and other things are cleaned with this method, with the size of one of the sides not exceeding 50 cm. In all other cases, a washing machine is used.
Hand washing quite often leads to a change in the rich sheen of the fur to a duller one. In this case, the skin will need to be restored. To do this, a handful of walnuts must be slightly chopped, then wrapped in gauze, and then carefully wipe the pile.
Machine washable
You can also wash the sheepskin in the washing machine without any problems. To do this, select a special delicate wash or a program for cleaning woolen products. Wherein, Depending on the color of the wool, you need to choose a special temperature regime. White skins are washed at +30…+40°C, colored skins are washed only in cold water. At the same time, the spin is set to a minimum or no more than 500 revolutions / minute.
Important! Regardless of the type of wet wash, to dry the sheepskin should be spread out on a horizontal plane and periodically wiped with a dry terry towel. Otherwise, the skin may lose its shape and softness.
Despite the fact that after washing in a washing machine the product is cleaned almost perfectly, such washing may not always go smoothly. Unlike the manual procedure, the procedure itself does not allow for adjustments and, if the wrong program is chosen, damage to the fur cannot be avoided.
Incorrectly set when washing in a typewriter, the temperature regime leads to the fact that a product made of natural wool can “sit down” so to speak, that is, become smaller than it was originally.
Ordinary washing powder is unsuitable for this, machine washing sheepskin is carried out using special liquid shampoos for woolen or fur fabrics.
Sheepskin care rules
Each owner of valuable fur should be able not only to properly wash a delicate product, but also be able to care for it. This will make it possible to avoid severe pollution, as well as extend the life of the fur cover. To do this, you will need to follow fairly simple rules that do not require specific knowledge and skills.
Sheared
By itself, sheepskin pile is capable of self-cleaning, this is achieved thanks to a special substance – lanolin. However, such products cannot do without the help of the owner. To maintain the quality of sheared fur for a long time, you will need to clean it from dust at least once a week.
Dry cleaning or simple vacuuming is suitable for this. In this case, the power of the vacuum cleaner should be minimal, otherwise there is a high probability of damage to the fur. As dirty spots appear, the wool must be cleaned with a wet method.
It is better to do such procedures manually, since only in this case can damage to its structure be completely avoided. At the same time, it is permissible to carry out no more than 3-4 washes per year, otherwise the quality of the pile will decrease after 1-2 years of use.
Longhair
If the product made of sheep’s fur has a long pile, in addition to the main cleaning, periodic combing of the villi will be required. Otherwise, after some time they will stick together, and in this case the sheepskin will completely lose its decorative value. Use a special or any soft brush for this.
Comb the fur regularly, in the direction of hair growth, but no more than a few times a month. Otherwise, the general scheme for caring for long-haired sheepskin is no different from sheared sheepskin and is carried out similarly to it.
Sheepskin is one of the most popular natural products, characterized by special decorative properties. Unlike other fur products, it lasts many times longer and does not require complex care. However, periodically such fur needs high-quality cleaning in a dry and wet way, otherwise it will become completely unusable in just a few years.
