The Best Rug Ive Ever Purchased - (2 Year Update)
(2 Year Update)I still stand behind my original review written after a year of owning the rug. Sadly for the rug my home gets a lot of traffic and I placed it right in the middle of a "nexus" so you basically walk over it no matter where you are going and year 2 was not kind to it. So I'm looking for a replacement and hope to get the same again with perhaps a new design to freshen things up. As I mentioned in my original post (below) I tend to only get a year out of a rug but I got 2 good years out of this one and I'm happy with that.(Original Review)Don't listen to the negative reviews and complaints about thickness. These people clearly don't know what real oriental rugs look and feel like. Ill explain...Real oriental rugs are gorgeous but not in my price range and even if they were I would be so scared of it getting stained, dirty and/or damaged that I wouldn't let anyone actually near it - which doesn't work out well for a living room. So... I buy a "cheap" faux one and replace it when normal cleaning of the wear and tear can no longer keep it presentable. I find that 1 year is about the typical mileage i get from faux rugs (of course YMMV). I've purchased many of these faux rugs over the years and want to say this rug is the best one I've ever had.I'm writing this review after almost a year of already owning this rug and it's held up extremely well. No fraying, no shedding, no holes, no stretching, no curled up edges, no fading, and easy to keep clean with almost daily vacuuming (using "hardwood floor" setting to be gentle) and spot clean with Folex spray (best stain spray ever, get some, you wont be sorry, plus its cheap too). In fact, any other rug i would have easily have had a full shampooing by now and would contemplating a second shampooing versus if its time to replace. But after a year I'm just now at the point of needing a 1st shampooing and not anywhere near looking to replace yet. So 5 stars on durability and stain resistance.Now here is the best reason I love this rug so much - it looks real. A real oriental rug is more like a woven tapestry versus standard thick carpeting that a firm backing anda "pile" which is fine for wall-to-wall installation, however most cheap faux area rugs are simply cut from this same stiff and thick carpeting then a design is simply stamped on. This results in a cheap looking rug, especially if the resolution of the printing was low. This has always been my litmus test when choosing a rug - how fake/low res does the design print look. However even the nicest high-res print doesn't help hide that "just a piece of regular stiff carpeting with pile cut into a rug shape" look. But not this one because its chenille instead.The chenille used on this rug makes it look real and classy. It looks more like a tapestry like the real hand woven rugs do. I was worried about durability because of the chenille but in fact I find it MORE durable than a stiff carpet+pile type rug since there is no pile to wear down/flatten. The only issue is that my other carpet/pile style rugs look like cheap crap now compared to this one. Lol. I will definitely only buy this type of rug when those need replacing.One thing to note - since it is more tapestry like, don't skimp on a good and thick rug pad or it wont look right. Just like with a real rug, it gets its thickness from the pad. I went with a 1/2 inch felt pad and probably could have done 3/4 or even 1 inch tbh. I know the thick felt rug pads are pricey but its mandatory just like with a real rug.Sorry for the essay but I hope it helps clear up some of the misleading uneducated reviews on here