What is your Area Rug Made Of? Part Two.

The two main classifications of rug materials, namely natural and synthetic, are in some ways different and also similar from one another. Unlike natural materials that come from plant and animal fibers, synthetic materials are man-made fibers that resulted from many broad studies and researches done by experts to improve, or yet again replace, the process of obtaining fibers naturally.

People now-a-days are more practical and tend to buy products that are economically-wise. I don’t blame them. With the financial recession embracing the country, there is nothing else to do but to be thrifty and buy cheap yet high-quality products.  If you are one of these people, well you’ll probably prefer area rugs made of synthetic materials rather than the ones made of natural fibers. So read on!

Nylon, a commonly used material in rug production, is the first synthetic fiber to be produced. It is durable, elastic and soil resistant. Nylon made its first appearance in the US during the World War II as a substitute for silk in the military field. Though nylon fibers can also give an area rug the appearance and texture that wool possesses, rugs made of nylon don’t normally hold their worth longer than area rugs made of wool or silk.

Though some argue that Rayon is neither a natural nor synthetic fiber but an artificial one, it is still a man-made material derived from wood. Some also say it is considered semi-synthetic because it has the same characteristics of natural fibers. Rayon fibers have the resemblance of silk. And so it is used to give an area rug the look and feel similar to rugs made of silk. Thus, it is also considered as Faux silk or “False silk” also called art silk. Although it can imitate silk and even cotton or wool, Rayon fibers have a tendency to melt if exposed to fire.

Acrylic is another kind of synthetic material made from Polyacrylonitrile. Blended with other materials to give a rug the same feel that the wool possesses, Acrylic fibers are soft, elastic and works very well with dyes. Also, the cost of an area rug combined with acrylic is lower than that of the cost of rugs made with pure wool or silk.

Another affordable synthetic material, also called Polypropylene, is the Olefin. These fibers are durable, resistant to soil, mildew and stain, and, like Acrylic fibers, work well with dyes. More likely Olefin is similar to acrylic since both of them can give a rug a wool-like texture. Nonetheless, Olefin materials make a rug’s weight lighter giving it more possibility to shift and slide when placed in areas with very high foot activity. Olefin, a petroleum-based fiber, is most commonly used for machine-made rugs. And while having a low mass, Olefin fibers are of bulky and have low moisture absorption giving a rug a nice warm-feel.

Nylon, Rayon, Acrylic and Olefin are just some of the synthetic fibers used in the market today. These fibers are basically produced to somehow replace natural fibers allowing the finished products to be more affordable but also having almost the same quality as the natural-fibered area rugs. Hence it is safe to say, both natural and synthetic fibers have common characteristics. Thus, allowing substitution between the two producing cheaper high-end area rugs.