My parents bought a 5 x 7 area rug about 20 years ago, at K-Mart or somewhere abouts, and bequeathed it to me when I moved out. The colors are still really nice, but the problem is- and I suspect this has always been the case- its a bear to get clean. I don't mind a few spots, but it collects hair like mad. Its a very tight-woven rug, with no long strands. I run my Dirt Devil upright over it usually three or four times, and nothing budges. Is there a vacuum cleaner that is powerful enough to disentange hair from the carpet fibers? I really don't want to throw it out or store it, but I can't afford to have it professionally cleaned, at $100 a go, every month.
Pressure wash it at the car wash
You can rent a cleaner for a day and clean it yourself. Dirt devil vacuums aren't that great for rugs I'm afraid.
When I clean my area rugs I take them out to the driveway and spray them off with the hose. Mix some laundry detergent with water and scrub it with a brush, then spray it off really good again. The only downfall here is you have to let it dry outside in the sun, so this is best to do in the summer! And, unfortunately, if you do this often the rug will fade.
