With synthetics, I would pick a woven rug (obviously machine woven, they don’t hand weave nylon rugs) where you can see the design on the back side and NOT a tufted rug, which is a rug with material on the back. The reason I say this is because with tufted rugs a lot of latex is used to hold these rugs together, and that adhesive usually has an odor that is irritating to some people.

Hope that helps, those are just my opinions – others may think differently. =)
Lisa

Are there any synthetic fibers you would recommend? While I appreciate that wool and silk are fantastic fibers, is there anything more hypo-allergenic/allergy friendly that you would consider best in the synthetic class?

Thanks you!
S

I understand their desire to use viscose, because it’s cheap, and it “looks like” silk for the short period of time in the beginning when it’s in good shape, but with foot traffic and cleaning, it simply does not hold up well. Women know this especially with our nice blouses that happen to be rayon – even with dry cleaning, it looks “old” much faster than silk ever would.

I hope someday they stop using viscose in any products. It would be one thing if they made the price of those products much lower due to the inferiority of the fiber – like particular board is at IKEA compared to real wood furniture… but they don’t. The blouses are the same price, and the rugs are as well. So you pay a good price for a bad fiber/fabric/rug.

Wool is the BEST fiber for rugs hands-down. A little bit of viscose as a highlighting design fiber is not going to ruin that rug, it’s just that those highlights will not look as good as the first year of that rug’s life.

Hope that helps,
Lisa

If you peel open the fibers you will be able to see any color loss from the tips compared to the base of the fibers. You also will be able to grin open and see the foundation fibers, usually cotton and white, and see if the color moved during your washing of it. But if the rug is overall the same color, if it bled any you would likely not notice it anyway.

Go ahead and email me a photo if you have one, I’d like to see what you have. My email is rugchick@gmail.com

My issue with sharing the weaknesses of viscose is that many rugs today are presented as if they are SILK – when they are a knock-off that has a fraction of the strength and longevity, and they often sell it for more money than should be paid for viscose. But – if you KNOW that, and choose it anyway, that’s fine. Some people just want a good looking piece for a few years and nothing more, and if they spill on it, it’s no big deal. Which is fine too. That’s why Home Depot and Pottery Barn sell rugs, for that market of people who want some area rugs and don’t really care what the fiber is, just the look it has, and don’t care if they have to replace it in a few years. There are lots of choices for all different levels of interest and budgets.

Thanks for sharing!
Lisa

I owned one for seven years and it is only now starting to wear out but because it was not expensive I feel I got my money out of it. I also have no idea why your colours would run the way you show because mine was a rusty red with navy and it never lost its colour or ran into the fringe at all.

I have no idea why some rug lines are using viscose right beside a strong fiber like wool – it’s kind of like making a shirt out of tissue paper, every time you move, it will break down.

If the rug is not expensive, and you like the look, then I’d say go ahead. Just know that the viscose areas will ugly out over time. And if they are just a few highlights in the rug, some accent points, then that might not be too bad to live with.

Hope that helps,
Lisa