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Spills, dust and mucky paws are no match for these durable designs
While not as plush as their wool counterparts, they make up for it in affordability and freshness
This chic rug comes in an array of sizes and colours. We sampled the coral shade in 150cm x 215cm, which added plentiful rug coverage in a small lounge. The ornate pattern features a border and inner design with blue tones too, and we found it added a luxurious-looking element to our living room.
Lorena Canals is a name to know when it comes to practical, kid-friendly carpets. The designer founded her washable rug concept over 20 years ago and has since grown enormously in popularity – especially with parents. This one’s all about the pleasing texture, with its tufted, Berber-like geometric pattern. Yet it’ll happily take a 30C wash and a tumble dry on a low heat.
This chic geometric rug doesn’t pretend to be hand woven from natural materials. Rather, this 100 per cent polyester carpet is digitally printed and boasts a subtle sheen that you don’t get from wool or cotton. The rug is backed with non-slip latex, which keeps it firmly in place and also awards it a bouncy, spongey feel when you walk over it – and walk over it barefoot you must, because it’s wonderfully soft. Incredibly friendly on your purse strings, it’s ideal for a quick kid’s bedroom makeover. We found it washed well at 30C and, given the nature of the man-made materials, dries in a jiffy.
When it comes to washable rugs and carpets, don’t overlook a trusty sheepskin. This one comes up fresh and new after a gentle machine cycle of up to 40C. For homemakers with a conscience, Nature’s Collection rugs are sustainably sourced from New Zealand, and in this case, a by-product of the meat industry. With its organic pelt shaping, this one’s ideal as a rug to sink your toes into at the side of the bed or, better still, to cosy up on in front of an open fire. Short-sheared, it is naturally tightly curled and boasts attractive tonal variations too.
This cotton and polyester rug is available in red, sage and blue, depending on your decor. There are four sizes too – we plumped for the 160cm x 230cm size. We immediately noticed how soft the rug felt to touch, and the faded aesthetic of its print contributed a classic vibe to our lounge. We sampled the warm red shade, and we found any dirt or marks didn’t show up easily. It was simple to machine wash, and air dry too. You can also buy a separate anti-slip mat (from £5, Dunelm.co.uk) to go underneath it.
This is a soft and fluffy deep-pile rug, made from 100 per cent polypropylene yarn, which is a man-made fibre that’s highly durable. In fact, the rug is both stain-resistant and doesn’t shed.
There’s nothing like a traditional Persian-style rug to bring instant homeliness to a living space. This one offers a contemporary twist with its fresh, minty tones. The carpet boasts a soft but hardwearing chenille surface, while the underside is made from a mix of polyester and recycled cotton, which keeps it from slipping. It might be machine-made and digitally printed, but the rug has a worn, distressed finish, as if it’s been loved for years. The rug can be machine washed, but needs to be air dried flat. A light and bright take on a classic – and one that scrubs up well.
This thin, lightweight rug comes with an anti-slip mat, and we found it simple to connect the two together. The vibrant blue hue has a cracked marble-esque pattern, which we found added a quick refresh to our room. There’s a vast array of size options – from 55cm x 85cm to 295cm x 400cm – to suit every space. The rug can be machine washed at 30C, and we found this didn’t affect the finish. Plus, vacuum cleaning the rug made it look good as new.
This runner is an ideal washable option for small spaces and kids’ bedrooms. The grey geo pattern has a slightly thicker pile than some of the other washable rugs we tried, which makes for underfoot comfort. It looks and feels hardy, and we found the stain-resistant fabric practical. We tended to shake the rug outdoors, to remove any dust or dirt, but it can be easily spruced up with a vacuum cleaner too. The only downside is this rug can bunch up, but, to keep the runner flat, we’d just smooth it out from time to time. Which, given the £22 price point, we were more than happy to do.
Rugs provide a quick and easy way of updating your living space without overhauling the entire room. A runner or rug can add a pop of colour, pattern and a layer of texture to any room, should you be looking to refresh a bedroom, lounge, hallway or other area in the home.
The only downside can be that rugs often pick up dirt, and you may notice this even more if there are pets in your household. Even with the best intentions and strictest house rules, our cherished rugs and carpets will inevitably suffer the odd nasty stain from accidental spills and mishaps.
Not only that, deep-pile rugs in particular can gather dust, which can cause them to dull over time. Enter: the washable rug – a relatively new concept that, thanks to increasingly clever technology and materials, is really catching on, particularly among parents and pet owners.
By its very nature, a washable rug needs to be thin and malleable enough to gather up and throw into the machine, and so you’ll find that most have a particularly slim profile with little depth. Some brands get around this cleverly with a separate base that stays put, while the top layer easily detaches.
While washable rugs are rarely plush like their conventional counterparts, what they lack in texture they make up for in staying fresh. They’re also a much more affordable option than a traditional wool rug.
If you have wood or tiled flooring, look for a rug that comes complete with a non-slip, grippy backing. It’s worth noting, too, that while washable rugs can withstand a machine cycle, typically up to 40C, those with a rubbery backing cannot be tumble dried.With that mind, we’ve sampled a selection, to help inspire your interiors shopping. Keep scrolling to see the practical picks on our list.
We put a range of washable rugs to the test with two kids and a muddy-puddle-loving spaniel in the house, ensuring we followed the care instructions of each one to the letter. All the rugs in our round-up washed well, with stains disappearing and their shape maintained after drying. Read on for our full review of the best washable rugs to buy.
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This chic rug comes in an array of sizes and colours. We sampled the coral shade in 150cm x 215cm, which added plentiful rug coverage in a small lounge. The ornate pattern features a border and inner design with blue tones too, and we found it added a luxurious-looking element to our living room.
All Ruggable buys cleverly come in two pieces: a base pad for grip and the rug cover. The separate components were simple to line up and arrange in situ, and we were suitably impressed by the zero-slip element. Because the rug is washable, the top layer isn’t very thick but it is both durable and comfy to walk on. To wash it, we simply removed the top cover – it can be tumble dried too, so gained extra practicality points. With a dog and two kids at home, we found the water-resistant, stain-resistant rug still looked spotless after several weeks’ use, and it’s easy to vacuum too.
Lorena Canals is a name to know when it comes to practical, kid-friendly carpets. The designer founded her washable rug concept over 20 years ago and has since grown enormously in popularity – especially with parents. This one’s all about the pleasing texture, with its tufted, Berber-like geometric pattern. Yet it’ll happily take a 30C wash and a tumble dry on a low heat.
Unlike most washable rugs, the tribu has some weight to it, which helps keep it nice and flat on the floor. The hand-crafted, hard-wearing cotton rug is coloured using natural dyes and the olive hue is light and muted. We loved the corner tassels, too.
This chic geometric rug doesn’t pretend to be hand woven from natural materials. Rather, this 100 per cent polyester carpet is digitally printed and boasts a subtle sheen that you don’t get from wool or cotton. The rug is backed with non-slip latex, which keeps it firmly in place and also awards it a bouncy, spongey feel when you walk over it – and walk over it barefoot you must, because it’s wonderfully soft. Incredibly friendly on your purse strings, it’s ideal for a quick kid’s bedroom makeover. We found it washed well at 30C and, given the nature of the man-made materials, dries in a jiffy.
When it comes to washable rugs and carpets, don’t overlook a trusty sheepskin. This one comes up fresh and new after a gentle machine cycle of up to 40C. For homemakers with a conscience, Nature’s Collection rugs are sustainably sourced from New Zealand, and in this case, a by-product of the meat industry. With its organic pelt shaping, this one’s ideal as a rug to sink your toes into at the side of the bed or, better still, to cosy up on in front of an open fire. Short-sheared, it is naturally tightly curled and boasts attractive tonal variations too.
This cotton and polyester rug is available in red, sage and blue, depending on your decor. There are four sizes too – we plumped for the 160cm x 230cm size. We immediately noticed how soft the rug felt to touch, and the faded aesthetic of its print contributed a classic vibe to our lounge. We sampled the warm red shade, and we found any dirt or marks didn’t show up easily. It was simple to machine wash, and air dry too. You can also buy a separate anti-slip mat (from £5, Dunelm.co.uk) to go underneath it.
This is a soft and fluffy deep-pile rug, made from 100 per cent polypropylene yarn, which is a man-made fibre that’s highly durable. In fact, the rug is both stain-resistant and doesn’t shed.
For a washable model, it’s surprisingly dense, but the buddy will happily take a 40C machine cycle. Its non-slip rubber backing means the tumble dryer needs to be avoided, but we found it dries in no time, thanks to its synthetic make-up. The plain rug comes in a huge range of sizes and colours, but we plumped for the least forgiving on stains – ivory – and were pleasantly surprised to find that it washed up really well.
There’s nothing like a traditional Persian-style rug to bring instant homeliness to a living space. This one offers a contemporary twist with its fresh, minty tones. The carpet boasts a soft but hardwearing chenille surface, while the underside is made from a mix of polyester and recycled cotton, which keeps it from slipping. It might be machine-made and digitally printed, but the rug has a worn, distressed finish, as if it’s been loved for years. The rug can be machine washed, but needs to be air dried flat. A light and bright take on a classic – and one that scrubs up well.
This thin, lightweight rug comes with an anti-slip mat, and we found it simple to connect the two together. The vibrant blue hue has a cracked marble-esque pattern, which we found added a quick refresh to our room. There’s a vast array of size options – from 55cm x 85cm to 295cm x 400cm – to suit every space. The rug can be machine washed at 30C, and we found this didn’t affect the finish. Plus, vacuum cleaning the rug made it look good as new.
This runner is an ideal washable option for small spaces and kids’ bedrooms. The grey geo pattern has a slightly thicker pile than some of the other washable rugs we tried, which makes for underfoot comfort. It looks and feels hardy, and we found the stain-resistant fabric practical. We tended to shake the rug outdoors, to remove any dust or dirt, but it can be easily spruced up with a vacuum cleaner too. The only downside is this rug can bunch up, but, to keep the runner flat, we’d just smooth it out from time to time. Which, given the £22 price point, we were more than happy to do.
Ruggable’s kamran coral rug is our best buy overall, for its clever two-part design, luxurious pattern and stain-resistant, water-resistant practicality. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a fluffy, deep-pile washable rug, we’d recommend Buddy’s washable plain rug. Finally, Next’s washable geo runner is an affordable buy for smaller spaces.
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