Our cat, the big handsome boy, Dizzy Gillespie, suggested a great idea for a post: How to clean dried cat barf from a rug. Sadly, he didn't think to tell me about this until after I'd noticed the, um, 'problem'. He was so proud of himself.
If you have cats, you know that no matter how much Hairball Remedy you give them, they're gonna puke. And, they have an amazing talent for doing it on a rug or carpet. Sigh. You can slow it down, but you can't stop it. It what a cat's gotta do.
In most cases, you should let it dry. Completely. It's much easier to clean off. Don't try to clean wet barf, you'll simply grind it into the fibers and make matters worse. If we're talking about a throw rug, pick it up and put it outdoors if possible. Grab a good stiff, all-purpose brush like the one you see above, and brush in one direction ... getting the offending barf to flake off. Then, when you've got the worst of it off, you can brush in different directions in order to thoroughly remove what's left. If we're talking carpet, the same general process works. You'll want to have a vacuum handy to remove the flaked off barf when cleaning up a carpet.
Finally, I tossed this small rug into the dryer - no heat - to tumble for a few minutes just to remove whatever it picked up from laying outdoors on the patio. In fact, I tumble all of my throw rugs occasionally to remove dust and other tiny debris between more thorough cleanings.
This should get us through for a few days, when he'll decide to leave us another 'gift'.