shagpile carpets/rugs!  

I had a large white flokati a...
I had a large white flokati and it looked beautiful for a while, but even though I don't wear shoes inside, it became nasty pretty quickly. The area that got walked on the most became matted down and looked like dreadlocks, even though I would rake and rake til my arms were sore. It was too big of a rug to wash, so I just gave up after a while.

Here's a shag rug story:
forty years ago when I was a young grad student in Hawaii, I worked as a day maid for a family that had a MCM house that had a C-shaped footprint. (A design alluding to plantation big houses). Two inner walls of the C were non-existent. The outside space was a volcanic rock garden courtyard, with a winding pond that entered the interior spaces. The living room was one entire arm of the C and was covered wall to pond with a white shag rug. During mating season, I had to afro comb the rug on my hands and knees to get the long tendrils of frog eggs out of the carpet. It was easiest when fresh. The other flooring was terrazzo, thank heavens.

!!!
this has to THE number one MCM story of all time! Combing fresh frogspawn from a long hired rug. Please if anyone has a better tale, tell tell tell.

That is soooooooooooo...
That is soooooooooooo disgusting!
I LOVE white shag. Love it. Want it. Won't buy it.
It just isn't practical unless you want to spend a good deal of time cleaning it.
For functional purposes I champion very low pile rugs. Mine is just a solid dark red made of nylon loops.
Yes, I still want a white shag rug. But hopefully I can keep myself from giving in. They look so good!!
The house I rented before we built this one had wall to wall carpet. It's pretty hard to find good hardwood in Austin. You can get concrete if you live downtown in a loft ... not possible when you want a yard.
The carpet was a medium pile. Boy was it a pain. Stains from the dogs feet coming in and out. Mounds of hair you wouldn't believe. Every time I vacuumed, I wanted to urp seeing all the shit that lives in carpet.
I vowed to make the new home carpetless, and make every rug low pile so I can actually see most of what is on it. I didn't want my kid crawling on all that filth!!!
I can say it has made life easier. My wife is a vacuum fanatic. Sometimes using it up to 4 times a day!!! Fur sits on the surface. Junior even puked on it this weekend. Came up with just a wet rag. That's what I'm talking about!!! Imagine getting puke out of a white shag!

Linen shag rug
I bought this 3 inches thick linen shag (see pictures) rug from a company based in Canada three years ago, and I'm extremely satisfied. My rug never look dirty and it is easy to clean. I had to pay the price though, but still, I'm very impressed and wouldn't hesitate to buy another one! I'm vacuuming it once per week (sometime once per two weeks!) and it did keep is original appearance, even if my cat and dog are crazy about it!
Because it's made of linen, my shag doesn't create any static electricity so it doesn't attract dirt as much as good (not so good) old wool shag from the 60' and 70's. It doesn't get all tangled up and always feel "fresh". According to the guy I've spoked to, linen rugs are especially recommended for people who suffer from allergies and have a sensitive skin (which I do).
The only downside is the price. Linen rug are expensive, but since I have no other downsides, I would by another one tomorrow. Which I may do so for our bedroom (see second pictures).
http://www.urba.ca

Using very hairy rugs can...
Using very hairy rugs can cost on cleaning factor. There is only way to give to dry cleaner. Or else there's a hand held brush size cleaner can clean it. but it takes time.
(edited by DA - link removed - no advertising please)

Wow, this thread is old!
Since the time I posted three years ago, I have taken to washing all three of my flokhatis in the washer and drying them in the dryer. They all three still look great.
However, since I live in Europe now, where one sheet barely fits in the washer/dryer, I bring one dirty rug per trip back to the US each time I go to visit. I wash and dry the rug in my immense American washer/dryer and cart it back all clean and shiny in my suitcase. Ergo, it takes about one year to clean all my rugs because I make about 3 trips per year back to the US.
So, if you ever see a woman in customs at the airport unfurling a big, white rug out of her suitcase, it's just me.

Flokati
Flokati rugs are wool.....always. Putting one in the dryer after washing is akin to putting a favorite wool sweater in the dryer. Your flokati will 'felt' and besides shrinking , it will mat. Mine is about 4x8' and it gets taken outside sometimes twice a year for a good shake. Once a year I take it to town to a laundromat to use the big machines (COLD WATER ONLY) and then take it home wet and hang on a clothes line. It has lived happily with cats, though a friends dog threw up on it once. No big deal. I slid a large stainless bowl under the spit and washed it. If you are bored, you can actually brush them if you find they get matted. You do get what you pay for with a flokati so go for a companies reputation. Narrow runners are great on benches. I love the idea of washing in a small blow up kiddie pool. If you get carried away and get in with it just be careful not to stamp it like grapes, as it will felt. But then again, that might be an interesting look.....

Again, I think it depends somewhat on the
type of wool as far as felting. I've washed and dried smaller ones in machines and they didn't felt much, if at all. I still have the large, super-thick one that I talked about in this thread a few years back and have not washed it again since that wading pool session but it also has not gotten hardly any foot traffic since then. But I had a horrible time getting it dry in the Maryland summer weather the first time---took many days to dry and by the third day there was algae growing in it, or something! Ew.
I've done a ton of felting on purpose and have found that some wools felt if you so much as wave them over a washing machine and others take forever to felt up. Just depends on the variety of sheep.

Oh, and you can't
vacuum a flokati with a vacuum that has a beater bar. The long strands of wool will wrap around the beater bar.

stoner sidenote.
when I was a pudgy youngster, our hipster neighbor family next door, put orange shag (wall to wall) in their basement. They must have been upper-class, as they had 2 "rakes" to groom their shag. And as a "party boy" back then...I enjoyed raking their shag. My rakeing patterns were fierce!
Yep.
Aunt Mark
ps carry on.

.
It is a quality difference with flokati rugs. I must have mentioned washing mine a few years ago. Bought at an auction and cut it into 4x4 squares and took it to a laundromat before bringing inside. Washed and dried beautifully. They lay flat and thick. And now wash in my home machine as they are small enough. Tossed as dog beds inside and on the back deck. The crap one from ikea i did the same, but they seized up into a nappy ball of dreadlocks.
My 9x12 tight weave wool shag i had a few years never stopped shedding. The yarn itself was too loose a weave. Tossed it. Looking again for another. Maybe a continuous loop might be a better choice?

Somewhere along the line...
Somewhere along the line I've read that taking your rug outside in the winter snow, laying it out pile side down in said snow, and beating the hell out of it is the best way to clean. I've never tried it on any of my rugs but might have to give it a try this winter. Especially this one...

Stunning
Stunning!! Looks like a Rya. How big? When and if, you get that snow, take a pic of the rug right side up laying against that snowy backdrop. Old photo stylists never die.....(sorry, I'm hopeless)

Panton rya
I love all of my Panton ryas but this one has a special place in my heart.