Wool Area Rug

Looking for a new rug for your living room but can't make up your mind which material to get? Let me make the decision easier for you and tell you that you should be narrowing down your search to only natural fibers right off the bat.

Wool rugs, from Himalayan or New Zealand sheep, are well known as are the Persian wool rugs of legends. However, since the rugs we purchase come already dyed and woven or knotted into intricate masterpieces of artistic design, it is sometimes easy to forget that even the most colorful Tibetan rug or Indian carpet is in fact made of natural fibers just as natural as cotton, bamboo, sea grass, mountain grass and sisal, but more durable. Sea grass natural rugs and mountain grass area rugs may not be for snuggling into by the fire, but they are great for entranceways and hallways and even as mats bellow another pile wool rug.

One curious thing about natural fibers in rugs is that wool can be blended with sisal. If you’re not sure what such a natural fiber rug may feel like, especially something as unique a wool and natural grass blend, you can ask for a rug dealer to send you a sample. Then you’ll be able to choose. Another good reason to try a wool and sisal blend for an area rug is that sisal acts as a natural anti-static and anti-stain ingredient as well as being a sound absorber and a flame retardant. Some of the best area rugs will have a blend in this proportion: 53% wool, and 47% sisal, which should create a soft durable rug. Sisal is said to help make your home air fresher, naturally helping to eliminate small amounts of home pollutants and not adding to the mold or bacteria that many synthetic rugs may produce.

Although the word “Sisal” may be new to you, it is one of oldest materials used in making rugs, used by skilled ancient Egyptian rug weavers. Sisal fiber today is primarily produced in Africa, where the long, strong fibers are taken from the agave plant. Some good quality sisal rugs to check would include one called the Boston, another is the Concord and two others called the Echo and the Embassy which are really nicely finished with cotton bound edge.

Contemporary area rugs made of 80% to 100% wool are the best rugs you can own. It’s just that simple. Wool is durable, easy to care for and not easily matted or scrunched even in high foot traffic entryways and halls. The downside to wool carpet is small but important for you to know. A wool rug will absorb humidity and lingering bad smells and so it is best to shake well or vacuum them more than once or twice a week. If they are small, it’s no problem to lay them out in the sun for a few hours each week. Perhaps once or twice a year you may want to take them for a good professional carpet cleaning.

Natural area rugs are a choice you should seriously consider instead of cheap synthetic rugs, because after you have enjoyed your rug and it is time to let it go, a natural fiber carpet, even a wool Persian rug will decay with no harm to the environment, one of the reasons we have so few ancient carpets – they decomposed. The one rug that survived 2,500 years was frozen! Oddly, a wool rug or a natural fiber shag rug or a sheepskin will last a lot longer than man-made versions with the same use if kept indoors and properly cared for.

Natural wool area rugs are obviously not made with chemicals that harm us or the environment and many companies, including Indian, Chinese and Tibetan carpet traders will even allow you to specify that you want only natural dyes as well. Many New Zealand wool rug makers say their sheepskins and wool rugs are naturally anti-bacterial, and although wool, as said above, can retain odors, in some cases they can help to eliminate bad odors because they become trapped in the wool. Then the wool rug can be set in the sun or shaken and returned to its original freshness. Curiously, rug runners, that take a lot of daily abuse underfoot, are primarily made of wool.

If you are buying yourself a beautiful contemporary wool rug for a living area in your home then you might want to update other furniture in the room. At the same time you might want to add some functionality to the room. What about looking into getting a corner sofa bed? They look great when matched with a suitable stylish wool area rug and you can even find them with build in storage space. Check them out if you really want to revamp your living room and give it a whole new look.