DON'T SETTLE FOR CHEAP KNOCK-OFF, CHAIN-STORE RUGS - YOU CAN HAVE AUTHENTIC WOOL ORIENTALS and PERSIANS FOR THE SAME PRICE

Pictures of Different Types of Rug Backings

(The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly)

*When we talk about an area rug backing's ability to Breathe- we are refering to it's ability to allow air, gases,

and most of all, Moisture, to pass through the rug and dissipate into the atmosphere.

#1 Fine Quality Wool Rug with Heat-Set Backing

This is a standard heat-set backing that we find on a fine quality machine-made wool area rug. This backing breathes. (allows gases and moisture to pass through the rug where they harmlessly dissipate). This type of backing will not damage other floors that it is covering. This is my favorite type of backing (aside from woven). It also adds a little weight to the rug and helps keep it in place.

This is the type of rug we feature in our selection

#2 This is an actual Wool Fleece.

You don't get more Natural than this. Note that the backing is the natural hide of the animal. Some hides are well prepared and are very soft and light-weight like this one. Some hides are very stiff and not as well prepared. These backings may need a heavier secondary backing added to them to prevent edge curl. (see my Blog for instructions on adding a secondary backing to a light-weight rug)

#3 Good Quality Nylon Rug with Heat-Set Backing

This is the same type of heat-set backing that is seen here on a decent quality nylon area rug. This backing also breathes and will not cause damage to the flooring that it covers

#4 Lower Quality Olefin (polypropylene) Rug with Woven Backing.

Even though this is a lower quality rug, the woven backing has less chance of doing damage to the floor it covers. It also breathes. Although this was a cheap shag rug that got ugly pretty fast, Many high quality hand-made wool rugs have this type of backing.

(It's hard to see in the picture, but there is no visible latex on the back of this rug, just woven fibers)

#5 This is a peice of Carpet with standard Heat-Set (Action Back).

Action Backing was invented to withstand the heat and moisture of hot water extraction cleaning methods (you may know it as Steam Cleaning). Suggestion: Never use a padding under wall-to-wall carpet that has a solid surface of plastic. It can cause some of the same problems as latex or rubber backed rugs. Yes... Even your pad or cushion needs to breathe.

Naturally we would expect this type of backing to breathe properly.

#6 This is the Demon of Rugs - This is a Cheap, Latex Backed, Polypropylene (Olefin), Fuzzy Bath room Rug.

This is the kind of rug that will damage other floors that it covers. Examples are linoleum, vinyl, harwood, even concrete problems. Note how the latex fully covers the bottom of the rug and does not allow it to breathe. It can cause yellowing of vinyl floors and hardwood and is also nototrious for drawing moisture and alkali up through a concrete slab, This can create expensive damage if there is moisture or alkali under your concrete slab sub-floor.