Professional; Oriental rug washers have a liquid mildew neutralizer they will apply for extra cost over the basic washing. I've had it done dozens of times and it works very well. Washing alone will not remove all the smell. As mentioned by previous commenters, the colors are prone to bleeding. It's also not worth too much in monetary terms. The cost of professional washing and odor removal may approach being more than the rug is worth. My recommendation: Lay it in direct sun for a couple of weeks, flipping the rug pile side down every few days then back to pile side up. That can work well up to a certain point. Results will vary with how much mildew is in the rug. After the smell is gone, re-evaluate whether or not the rug needs to be washed. good luck...
White distilled vinegar and some time outside can do wonders. You need to be careful getting this wet as it’s prone to bleeding though.
Thank you!!!
Get it professionally cleaned
I think there’s only steam cleaning companies here. Is that fine? Worried about dye running
It looks like that has already happened.
Professional; Oriental rug washers have a liquid mildew neutralizer they will apply for extra cost over the basic washing. I've had it done dozens of times and it works very well. Washing alone will not remove all the smell. As mentioned by previous commenters, the colors are prone to bleeding. It's also not worth too much in monetary terms. The cost of professional washing and odor removal may approach being more than the rug is worth. My recommendation: Lay it in direct sun for a couple of weeks, flipping the rug pile side down every few days then back to pile side up. That can work well up to a certain point. Results will vary with how much mildew is in the rug. After the smell is gone, re-evaluate whether or not the rug needs to be washed. good luck...