Commentary by Christy Solo
Welcome to the wonderful world of washable area rugs!
My house has very little carpet, which I am grateful for. Many dog owners probably understand why. Especially if you have puppies, senior dogs or rescue dogs.
Having had some mix of all of the above for years, I’m not a fan of carpet. I do own two carpet cleaners for the “inevitable” – a Hoover Deluxe and a Bissel Little Green Mini (I’ll note my parents used to have a Bissel Spot Bot which was arguably the best invention ever…so naturally Bissel does not make them anymore).
As much as I dislike carpet, linoleum and wood floors are slippy things. While it can be humorous to watch a dog sliiiiiide to a stop on a hard surface floor it gets unfunny fast if they smack into a cabinet. Even less funny still when it’s you in stocking feet doing the splits quite unintentionally.
So. The answer for hard surface floors is area rugs.
The dog problem however still remains – dogs and area rugs don’t mix much better than dogs and carpet.
Enter the washable area rug.
To my knowledge they are a relatively new thing. When I moved to my new house five years ago I had many wool area rugs – most of which have since been destroyed. While looking for a replacement for one kitchen rug, I stumbled upon washable rugs.
“Back then” (way back in 2021 ha ha) there seemed to be only one brand, Better Homes and Gardens and they ran (still run) $90 for a 5X7’ rug. Whew!
Fortunately I had some money at that time for “miscellaneous stuff I will need for a new home” (which was…so much stuff) and I bought one of the Better Homes rugs. Then they went on sale a few months later and I bought another one. Worth even the non-sale price as tossing a rug in a washer is light years easier than cleaning with a rag and cleaning solution, or even a steam cleaner.
Over the years more brands of washable rugs have become available, and while not cheap, you can do now better than $90 for a 5×7’ washable rug.
That said, some of the “non-90” rugs are…worth what you pay. I jumped at one very inexpensive small rug only to find it was made of the cheapest materials ever created. That lasted about one month.
I hit a great sale on another brand Nourison Home and was so excited by the price I bought two. They…are not particularly washable. They are technically washable, but SO stiff you’ll need a nap, some Advil and maybe a massage after cramming one into your washing machine. They are more of a “washable if you absolutely have to and are desperate” rug.
By 2026 I thought I finally had “all the washable rugs I’ll ever need” after scouring for sales for almost five years and slowly building my stock (five total).
Then disaster struck and my HUGE wool area rug (either 8X10’ or maybe 9X12’) was destroyed. It was even in the “dog free” area of the house. It was a rug that had been given to me – wool rugs that size run anywhere from $250 – $450 on a good day.
I lamented to myself that I would “never” be able to afford a replacement.
Then Wayfair hit me up on email promising “washable rugs under $100.” Well that doesn’t mean much – they could be 2×3’ rugs for $99.99.
But with enough scrolling, I was able to score an 8×10’ washable rug for $71. Not really in my budget, but not a deal I could miss out on if I ever wanted a rug downstairs again.
It is much more pliant than my “only wash if it’s an emergency” stiff washable rugs, though I’m not sure I can cram an 8×10’ rug in the washer. At least I still have my Hoover Deluxe to fall back on if anything happens to this rug.
