Making a new area rug safe for ferrets

[powerwoman]

I recently purchased a new area rug for my bedroom, and though I did leave it out for a couple days (for outgassing) a chemical-like smell remains, and he seemed to have a reaction to it when I tried putting it in my room afterwards (which also might've been dust or a cold, but I'm not ruling the rug out. I removed the rug and put him in a steamy bathroom a couple times and he seems better now after a little over a day.)

I'm worried about putting it back in my room (which I share with my ferret) as I know they can be very sensitive to chemicals and their noses are so close to the ground. It doesn't help matters that my ferret loves rolling around/scratching at carpet so much.

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for how I could make the rug safe for my ferret to play on (if there was a specific way I should clean it, or if I should just leave it out for a week or so?).

Alternatively, if anyone wants to tell me I'm being paranoid and need to relax please say so.

Thanks in advance!

[abbeytheferret6]

Not paranoid in my opinion----I went to a carpet outlet several years ago after dropping a bottle of bleach on my carpet and got a wool carpet just for that reason. It is dark green and kind of ugly(LOL). It has felt underneath it.

I found this site
www.ewg.org/healthyhomeguide/carpet/
www.nwclimate.org/green-home/low-voc-carpets-and-rugs/#bcfc

Some laminated floorings can be bad too.



I live in a modular type home and the walls in bathroom, laundry, and kitchen are that vinyl paper on sheetrock, so one has to use an oil primer on that before painting the walls with latex. Talk about out-gassing--- it has been 3 days now since I painted my pantry and it is still out gassing. The first day I blocked it off with a Marshall playpen stretched out (the ferrets are used to going in there because that is where I feed them).


Maybe some other folks will have knowledge about what you can do.

[Corvidophile]

New carpet makes me sick, too. Only thing that helps is time and agitating the fibers- give it a vacuum every few days to better aerate, but be aware it’ll smell extra after the vacuuming for a while.

[peacexlovexpets]

How big is the rug? Is it something that you could rent a rug-doctor for and clean it out with a pet-odor cleaner and then rinse clean reals good before bringing back in the house?

I personally haven't had a problem with my rugs (I have with smelly carpet though). It doesn't hurt to heavily saturate/rinse out the rug and then hang it to dry for a few days before trying again. Similar to new fabrics, carpets/rugs tend to have sort of a powder on them from processing that can be quite harsh. It shouldn't be much different than washing a new blanket before letting the ferrets have it to get the starchy feel off of it.

[cockneyferret]

Modern rugs, even pure woollen ones can be washed pretty harshly, so long as they're allowed to dry properly. I have hosed rugs in the garden before after puppy accidents, and allowed them to dry outside for a few days before bringing them back indoors.

You can also use a pet safe cleaner on them, so long as you thoroughly rinse after.

Cheers

[abbeytheferret6]

Modern rugs, even pure woollen ones can be washed pretty harshly, so long as they're allowed to dry properly. I have hosed rugs in the garden before after puppy accidents, and allowed them to dry outside for a few days before bringing them back indoors.

Read more: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/25415/new-area-rug-safe-ferrets#ixzz63YdvUoXW

My daughter has done this with some throw rugs---laying them out on the driveway and squirting a little liquid soap on it. She hosed it down, and took a mop and scrubbed it back and forth as the mop will glide over the water real nicely(with or without the soap). These were not huge rugs. But like you said, if you can get it to dry---sounds like a good idea.