CamelliaFlower wrote:
To dry them lean them on an edge in a sunny place.

To clean them, use a 1:1 mixture of water and white vinegar.

Hope this helps!

Indeed it does. Thank you.

I don't want to destroy them. I have lots of chemicals I'm tempted to try.

That's why I asked in this forum of ideas where I can find the answers to everything in The Universe.

I'm pretty sure that there are lots of people in the world who are intimately familiar with this situation and have been protecting their tatami's for over a thousand years. Culturally speaking, of course.

I think they can be as perishable as vegetables, or fine cigars,  or red wine stored under the wrong conditions, especially if not maintained by people who understand what they are and what they are not.

Real tatami's are like cultural art. They feel good, and it's a pleasure to behold.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to close the rest of the world out behind a shoji.

Maybe I can make one from scraps in my pile of art materials 

Click Hamilton wrote:
I picked up 6 nice looking Japanese tatami mats this morning. They have aged to a beautiful polished amber color.

In our recent rains they got wet.

I do not have experience with wet tatamis, but I had a few imported ones (blue ribboned) on which I had real futon mattresses (not the western style imitations) rolled out and slept on with my wife in the luxury high-rise apartment in NYC which I occupied during financially solid times of my life.

The smell of grass, is the draw of the tatami... hard to compare to anything... it fills the room with an aroma of a country side... even if you life in a big city. That is one of the reasons many Japanese people maintain at least one tatami room in their city apartment, to feel the connection to nature.

When I am wealthy again... I will have a tatami room again, which might be my bedroom, or a room that combines sleeping and mediation room.

I love tatamis!

Click Hamilton wrote:
I don't want to destroy them. I have lots of chemicals I'm tempted to try.

I wouldn't use random commercial chemical cleaners--it's a porous, organic material and is really easily discoloured. There ARE products especially for cleaning tatami mats, you may be able to order them on the Internet.

For general cleaning, vacuuming and a damp cloth are fine. The vinegar and water is if they get a stain, I wouldn't regularly clean it with this since the acidity can harm the reeds if overexposed.

Click Hamilton wrote:
I'm pretty sure that there are lots of people in the world who are intimately familiar with this situation and have been protecting their tatami's for over a thousand years. Culturally speaking, of course.

I think they can be as perishable as vegetables, or fine cigars,  or red wine stored under the wrong conditions, especially if not maintained by people who understand what they are and what they are not.

It depends...if you are keeping them to use purely as a prop piece, and not regularly walking on them, yes they can last for many years.

But if you have them placed on the floor in your house and are daily using them (by walking on them), they will wear out eventually...how long they last will depend on the quality of the mat but 5-10 years is probably a safe estimate. Tatami mats aren't meant to last forever, for people who live in houses with tatami rooms and use them regularly they are typically replaced as they wear out.

To protect your tatami mats, keep them dry and air them out now and then.  And never walk on them with shoes on, that will crush and scratch the reeds.