Selecting Area Rugs & Mats

Area Rugs & Mats are the perhaps the most simple way to spice up your home.

Choosing a rug look that ties a room together is an art, not a science. Rather than focus on interior design concepts, this guide focuses on the material durability and maintenance characteristics of the most common rug materials. We want you to get the best rug for your use case and know what you’re getting.

This guide focuses on the most common materials rugs are made of to aid you when selecting a rug for your home.

Material Concepts to Keep in Mind When Selecting A Rug

Fibers / Yarn / Textile Type

What your rug is made of matters. The fiber that a rug is made of impacts characteristics such as: maintainability, sheen, color fastness, stain-resistance, soil-resistance, durability, and odor resistance. Some rug materials perform better than others in different locations of the home.

There’s no Holy Grail of fiber yet. Selecting the best fiber is often a trade-off in other aspects. Today, most rugs are made from synthetic fibers because they are more economical and generally easier to clean. See below for our breakdown of the most common fibers used to manufacture rugs.

Synthetic Fibers

• Olefin (Polypropylene or “PP”)
  

A polypropylene rug with a mid-to-high sheen. Low-pile cut.

Olefin is just the generic name for polypropylene, which is an everyday plastic (commonly used in packaging, such as yogurt cups and ketchup bottles). It’s frequently utilized due to how economical it is. Olefin has a similar appearance to wool rugs while being far less expensive. It can have a high sheen finish to a more matte appearance. It can also be made to feel very soft. Static build up is not a problem with Olefin rugs.

Olefin is known for being highly stain-resistant, but not soil-resistant. Stain-resistance means spills will not easily chemically alter the Olefin’s dye color. However, if a spill is left uncleaned on your Olefin rug (it’s soiled) and the material dries, Olefin fibers are prone to being coated by residual material after evaporation. This will cause dirt to be more likely to show. Therefore, Olefin is known for being good with spills, but that only holds true if you properly clean your rug when it becomes soiled. Olefin fibers are especially prone to being soiled by oils.

In terms of resilience, Olefin is relatively less resilient than Nylon and Polyester. That means its fibers are more likely to retain compression in high traffic areas. However, this characteristic can be mitigated if an Olefin rug is tufted as a level-loop, Berber, or dense low-pile carpet. Olefin would not be good as a shag rug, but will perform well as a Berber. In total, Olefin is economical but will not last decades in high traffic areas or without sufficient cleaning when spills occur.

• Nylon
  

Blast from the past. Today, nylon is the fiber of choice for many red carpet events, including the Oscar’s. The red carpet for the Oscar’s is made right here in Georgia. Nylon has the durability and color-fastness to be the material of choice. (Image from Library of Congress Archives)

Nylon is Nylon, the fiber that changed the game for stockings back in the 1930’s. As back then, Nylon is known for its durability. Among the common synthetic fibers, Nylon is the least likely to stay flattened from compression and lose its bounce. It has the highest resilience among the common artificial fibers. Nylon technology has come so far that you can find Nylon of every feel characteristic. It’s not uncommon to find Nylon today that’s incredibly soft.

It can be hard to gauge stain resistance of Nylon due to the fact that it depends on the dying process. Solution-dyed Nylon is highly stain resistant. However, if the Nylon is dyed after the fiber has already been spun (coated like a car is painted), it can have poor stain resistance. Solution-dyed Nylon is more common. Solution-dyed Nylon also retains colors well. Nylon’s drawbacks to note are that it builds up static electricity and is costlier than other synthetic materials.

Nylon can range widely in price depending on its characteristics, but is generally an excellent fiber. It is usually more expensive than Polyester and Olefin, but less expensive than wool.

• Polyester
  

Like Olefin, Polyester is a highly economical fiber. This is the same Polyester used to make clothes. Generally Polyester can be half the cost of Nylon. However, compared to Olefin, Polyester has two marked differences: Polyester can be dyed well in a broader range of colors (especially bright colors) that are less likely to fade. Polyester can also be made to be have a very soft feel; if the rug is incredibly soft to the touch, it’s very likely a Polyester rug.

Polyester is similar to Olefin in that it is highly stain-resistance. But, like Olefin, Polyester has poor but better soil resistance. In terms of durability, Polyester is less durable than Nylon, but more durable than Olefin. That is, it’s in between in terms of bounce back or resilience. Polyester does not cause static builder unlike Nylon.

An important factor to note about Polyester is that it may initially shed. In simple terms, it depends on how it was manufactured, but there may be small loose fibers on the surface which appear to be the material coming apart. It’s not actually coming apart and this is normal. After several runs of the vacuum, Polyester will no longer shed and remain as cohesive as the other fibers.

Polyester is an economic choice, and often chosen for it’s wide range of colors and softness. It’s not as durable as Nylon, but is far more budget friendly. The specific manufacturing process can also make a big difference in terms of level of quality.