Help me do rug shopping like less of a clueless noob.

July 23, 2017 8:28 PM

I know what i want in a rug but I don't have any of the terms.

I have a few rugs at home already. Rug A was bought at a mass producing carpet shop. I do not love the faux Persian pattern but I do love that it is thick, has its own backing (doesn't need a pad and when the dog pounces in it it slides instead of rumpling) and 'smooth', so that it vacuums easily and doesn't collect junk too easily.

Rug B is a more fashionable style (in terms of the pattern) from a more fashionable shop
But is sort of knobbly. It has a few knots that have come loose (see dog) and it shows the dirt really easily. It is a huge pita to vacuum. It is very thin and in spite of the rug pad we were using is still pretty thin and not so great (again, see dog).

I want a rug that is durable and easy to clean like rug A but most of the stores I'm looking in seem to only carry rug B's style.

Can you give me better searching terms than knobbly and smooth? Is there a kind of rug pad that I can get that is more pad and less thin porous sheet like thing?

I'm in Australia if it makes any difference.

posted by jojobobo to Home & Garden (1 answer total)

Can you can make it to a Rugs-A-Million showroom before they finally shutter the entrance after what seems like their fifteen year closing-down sale? Touch and feel the rugs and ask the staff to put them on the ground and roll them out so you can judge their performance.

Also Lisa the "Rug Chick" looks like a pretty good resource: here.
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:43 PM on July 23, 2017