Attention, pet owners: how to find your perfect rug

Attention, pet owners: how to find your perfect rug

Owning a furry four-legged friend, and building a relationship or even a friendship with them, can be one of the finest feelings in the world. That friendship does tend to wobble now and then, though – specifically when it is time to clean the rug.

However much you love your pet, getting the hair out of a rug and scrubbing it can become a tiresome job. If the textile is not robust enough, claws can ruin it quickly. Or worse, the animal hurts itself. Fortunately there is a simple solution, and you have to give up neither your little darling nor the decoration on your floor. There is now a wide choice of rugs made for pet owners.

Pet owners know it well: for dogs and cats, a rug has an irresistible pull. Pets understandably like to make themselves comfortable on a snug rug, or even play with it. In no time the loveliest rug is full of pet hair that resists the vacuum cleaner, the fibres felt together and stand out in every direction. So must pet owners do without a decorative rug? Not at all. Rugs for pet owners simply have to take a little more.

These rugs suit pet owners best

Best suited to living with an animal are synthetic flat-woven rugs and sisal rugs. Both have a very firm structure, which stops the animal tearing its claws.

A structure like that brings another advantage with it: it is very easy to care for. Hairs can simply be vacuumed off. And even heavier marks can be removed quickly with a cloth, water and even a cleaning product. Whatever you use should still be fairly gentle and not too acidic, so that the surface does not bleach over time.

Sisal

Sisal is a natural fibre obtained from the sisal agave. Thanks to its hygroscopic properties it can noticeably improve the climate in a room. That means the rug takes surplus moisture out of the air and gives it back when needed. Made from this fibre, a rug is not only very easy to care for but naturally dirt-repellent.

For cat owners, sisal is the best choice.

Many scratching posts are made from a similar raw material, which is why these rugs can serve as a substitute for exactly that. You will find sisal rugs in our range.

Flat-woven

This attribute says nothing about the kind of textile, but it does say something about how it is made. A distinction is drawn between long-pile or high-pile rugs, short-pile rugs and flatweaves. Pile is the name for the loose hairs that stand up from the base of the rug. The longer they are, the fluffier it feels underfoot. A flatweave has no pile; the upper side consists purely of the woven structure.

What should you look for when buying a rug for pets?

With these tips on material you are already well advised. Even so, there are a few small details to look for when buying a rug as a pet owner, which will make living with it later even easier.

Despite how straightforward these rugs are, it is worth matching the colour you choose to the colour of your animal's coat where you can. That way you have to vacuum less often, and you can welcome an unexpected visitor without giving it a thought. Another useful keyword is pattern. Ornament and pattern disguise the odd hair, even in fairly contrasting colours. Dog owners with larger dogs should look for rugs with an extra non-slip backing. Every rug grips well on the underside, but large four-legged friends can certainly overcome that grip. This way you are on the safe side.

Outdoor rugs, or those labelled “outdoor and indoor”, are particularly robust. And they come in designs at least as beautiful as any others.

The advantages of a rug for cats and dogs

An elegant rug does not only make a room more beautiful and give it a homely atmosphere; for a pet owner it can bring a further benefit as well. Pets – cats, dogs, rabbits or guinea pigs – are known for having sharp claws. Larger dogs especially can easily leave scratches on parquet and laminate floors with them.

That can be avoided with the right rug. Quite apart from that, rugs suit pets because they are kinder to an animal's joints, so that it no longer slides on a smooth floor and risks hurting itself.

Hard-wearing material and colour are what count

Whether someone likes colourful, richly patterned rugs or prefers plain, single-colour rugs depends on their own taste and their style of living. That is no different for a pet owner. To keep pet hair from showing, a pet owner can match the colour of the rug to the colour of the animal as well.

Pale animal hair shows less on a pale rug than on a dark one, and the other way round. Fortunately there are plenty of multicoloured rugs on which the occasional mark does not show either. What else matters in choosing the right rug as a pet owner? Above all, the material. The rug should be hard-wearing, so that dog and cat do not shred it with their claws on first acquaintance, and so that everyone in the household enjoys the new rug for a long time.

Rugs in robust fibres are ideal

Excellently suited to pet owners are flat-woven rugs, such as sisal rugs. Sisal rugs are woven by hand and are robust and long-lasting thanks to the particular way they are made. Whether a sisal rug is round, oval, plain, multicoloured or worked with artful elements – rugs made from the fibres of the sisal agave are easy to wash and can even be used on both sides. You have more choice of colour with a hard-wearing short-pile rug. The good workmanship of short-pile rugs makes them both precious and durable. In colour and in the variety of motifs you can let yourself go entirely with a short-pile rug and set quite new accents in a room.

Also suited to pet owners are timeless Kilim rugs. A flat-woven Kilim is hand-woven from pure new wool, can be used on both sides and is extremely hard-wearing. The fibres are usually 0.6 cm high, which is perfect for not being torn open by an animal's claws. A Kilim with stylish motifs is a real eye-catcher as well.

If you want something a little softer that still stands up to daily life, Gabbeh rugs are worth considering. Particularly robust Gabbeh rugs are usually made from dense new wool and bring enough stability to cope better with daily life with a dog or a cat. What matters is a fairly short pile, so that hair is easier to remove and claws do not catch in the fibres so quickly.

What else should pet owners look for when buying a rug?

Almost every pet owner experiences their animal's mad five minutes at least once a day, when the little one tears around the flat. If a rug is not large enough to be held down by furniture such as a sofa or a table, a non-slip rug is a good idea.

There are individual rugs that resist slipping, such as Gabbeh runners, but you can also simply help yourself with an anti-slip mat, which fits under any rug. Indoor and outdoor rugs in synthetic fibres, such as acrylic, polyester or polypropylene, are durable and usually resist slipping at the same time. Indoor and outdoor rugs in synthetic fibres also suit underfloor heating, damp impact noise and are washable. So if your pet does have a little accident, odours disappear from a synthetic-fibre rug quickly.
 

Which rugs should pet owners avoid?

For a pet owner it is not advisable to buy a fluffy high-pile rug, a sheepskin rug or a shaggy rug. It is not only the claws of dogs and cats that can be the undoing of a high-pile rug; the other way round, animals can hurt themselves when their claws catch in the loops. If you would still like something snug underfoot, choose a good Nepal rug or a colourful Gabbeh. Nepal rugs and Gabbeh rugs are both hand-knotted from pure new wool and are therefore particularly easy to care for and dirt-repellent. If it really has to be an elaborately made Persian rug in Kashmir silk or cork wool, it is best given a place in a room the pets cannot get into.
    

And if something does go wrong?

Of course there are events that can get the better even of rugs recommended for pet owners. Then the best way to tackle an unsightly mark is with the familiar household remedies: salt, sparkling water, washing powder and shaving foam. Against unpleasant odours, a mix of water and vinegar helps. Against stubborn pet hair that even the vacuum cleaner cannot manage, lint rollers or dampened rubber gloves work, drawing the hair up as if by magic.