Best Rugs for You

For many of you may have already seen Sisal rugs but do not know much about it. Sisal rugs are made from a special cactus fiber. I know, to many of us, when we think of cactus, we see a round and green shaped plant with many thorns. We never thought that a cactus plant can have enough FIBERS to make rugs.

It is true, this plant called AGAVE cactus has many fibers and from there people use its fibers to make rope and rugs. Besides that, there are many use of the Agave plant such as Tequila, syrup, scrubs and even Biofuel.

Of course when you are considering buying Sisal rugs you must consider the advantages and disadvantages of owning this type of rugs. So what are the advantages of having Natural Fiber rugs to Synthetic ones? The obvious one? It's natural and green living.
Here are some that I can think of:
1) It is 100% natural, which means when it is worn and old and it's thrown out and landed in landfill, it is bio-degradable.
2) It is not toxic. When anything is synthetic, it is made of something unnatural, meaning it is made from chemicals.
3) It absorb moisture, so it balance the air in the house. When the air is dry, your home is not totally dry, because the Sisal rugs release moisture in the air.
4) Natural colour so it matches with many colours in your home decoration.
5) Agave fibers are resilient, so it's great to have it as your welcome mat.
6) It is hard wearing.
7) Moth and insects are not attracted to this fiber.
8) Stain resistant
9) Easy to clean
10) It is fire resistant
11) Most of Sisal Rugs comes in natural colour, so you do not worry about faded rugs in the long run.
12) Because sisal rugs are rough it adds a bit of massage effect to our feet when we walk on it.
And many more reasons when you look up in the internet. But the reasons that I can think of, actually has so many benefits for us and also for the environment.

Everything has the pros and cons. To Sisal rugs have disadvantages, but I can not think of at the moment so I surfed the internet a bit to look for a few for you. So, here are the disadvantages:
1) You can not put it in outdoor areas or places where there's lots of water. Patio or kitchen or bathroom.
2) It's a little uncomfortable to sit on, if you like to sit on the floor a lot, but you can add some sitting pillows like I do.
That's all I can find on-line.

This tells you that sisal rugs are the way to go in the future.

Well you might argue that you like to have more colours on your rugs than plain old natural hue. Well, weary no more. Living green does not mean that you have to be dull and boring. There are so many other types of patterns for you. Take a look at some of these beautiful sisal rugs.

The opposite pole of the Sisal Rug is the Oriental Rugs, some people call it Oriental Carpets. The Oriental rugs are also made with natural fiber, but not of plants but of wool or silk. They have the most beautiful patterns and wonderful to walk on, especially the silk one. I had once visited a friend's home and she had this awesome oriental rug, once my feet were on the rug I could not leave it.

Of course with more patterns and intricate designs, the price is also higher of course! Have a look as some of the most beautiful oriental rugs below.

Is one of the oldest carpet in the world. The first documented Oriental rugs was in China dated 224 - 641 AD. Oriental rugs are also known as Persian Rugs/Carpets. It's from Iran and it has gone through many transitions. The material used is mainly Wool and also many quality of wools, sometimes camel's hair is used too. Now that would be a cool carpet to have in your living room!

Now we can buy oriental rugs in any country, however make sure you are paying the price you want. Naturally, hand-woven oriental rugs are mroe expensive than machine woven ones. More intricate patterns oriental rugs are also pricier than the regular patterns.

I believe if you are thinking of buying an oriental rug, get the hand-woven one. You will help the women working as carpet weaver jobs in their country. Below you see how these women weave the carpets we walk on.

It's important to know how to clean your oriental rugs so that it last long for you to use and admire. So how do you know that your rug needs cleaning? Weekly? Monthly? Yearly? Decades? My advice, if you have a small oriental rug then you can use the tips below. If your oriental rug is big and heavy, I would suggest you get professional cleaners.

Tips to know when your carpet is dirty:
1) Bring your rug out in your backyard, patio or balcony. Then give it a hard kick, and if you see a cloud of dirt poof out, then your rug is dirty.
2) Rub your hand with a short arc in a circular motion on the upside of the rug, and after a while if you see dirt on your finger and your palm, please clean your rug,

These are just 2 tips. What I am saying is that you don't need to clean it weekly or monthly. Only when it's dirty. So you can prevent your oriental rug from getting dirty too quickly by making sure you do not walk on the rug with your shoes on, that surely helps.

To clean your rug, try to clean your rug outside because you can air the rug a little as well.
1) I usually vacuum it whenever I am cleaning my home. Both sides.
2) Use special rug shampoo and cold water but you can also use mild liquid soap but nothing strong. I would wash it on the floor or in a bucket. On the floor slightly brush it, and in a bucket, hold two ends and then slush it up and down. Rinse and let it dry, and after it's dried and it's a bit stiff, give it a vacuum again.

Or if you purchase a rug cleaner solution, follow the instruction carefully.

There's always sales on rugs. You do not have to fork out a lot of money for a good rug, just need to be patient and wait for sales time.
Just remember to buy natural fiber rugs instead of synthetic, as they last longer, non-toxic and you score points for the environment.

There are many types natural fibers being made into rugs. I urge you to buy them the next time you are thinking of buying a rug, or thinking of getting a new rug for your home.

These are some of the natural fibers you can keep in mind when you want to by a rug. Whether you want it for your living room, dining room, outdoor rugs for your patio or large area rugs.
* Sisal/ cord carpets
* Jute Carpets
* Wool Carpets
* Coir Carpets
* Bamboo Carpets
* Silk Carpets