How to Wash Faux Sheepskin

When I go into a house to scout it for photography, I often see a faux sheepskin. They’re everywhere–on floors, on chairs, on beds. And I’m no innocent: I have one in my living room. That kind of fluffiness is hard to deny. I almost gave up on mine a few weeks ago. It was starting to tuft in a weird way and got dingy. No amount of vigorous shaking out in my yard could revive it.

So I did the scary thing and washed it, then discovered a trick for getting all the fluff back. Here’s how I did it.

1. Shake the rug out to get as many particles free as possible.2. Wash the rug on cold with a gentle detergent like Woolite (I had to go to a laundromat to use a larger washer for this).3. Lay the rug across a drying rack and let it be for about a week. It takes a long time to dry. It will look terrible, like little spires of matted wool (see them in the top of the photo), but don’t worry.4. Start brushing it in short strokes with a wire dog brush (clean and new, please!). Yes, a dog brush. It will break up the mats and restore the fluff with minimal shedding. You’ll still have to pull some fibers out of it every few strokes, but nothing major.