I have 2 woven wool rag rugs that needed a bit of freshening, and I have vague memories of my Dad using snow to clean rugs. We had yet another snow storm last week and I took advantage of the dry, powdery snow to clean the rugs. I laid the rugs on the snow on top of our patio, the boys and I shoveled snow on top, and we swept the snow around vigorously.

I then hung the rugs over our porch railing and beat them with the flat side of the broom to get all the snow off. This worked well and was good exercise!

I must interrupt myself here to say how much I like my handmade brooms (Katie bought me the the red broom from Berea College Crafts when I moved into my first apartment 14 YEARS ago...)

When I carried the rugs inside and laid them out, they were cold obviously, but only a teensy bit damp in places. The snow we swept off was visibly dirty, so I’d say this was a success-give it a try!