Sisal rugs: a stain nightmare?
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Anonymous
YES, this belongs in General Parenting, because the only reason I'd be asking about the stain- and cleanability of sisal rugs is because I got me two kids! 
So I'm considering sisal for our family room. But let's get real: I got kids, and kids spill stuff. All kinds of stuff. Is sisal easy to clean? Can I put Oxyclean on it and have everything magically disappear? If not, fuggedaboudit. Right now I've got a crazy-patterened wool, hand-knotted oriental carpet which hides stains very, very well and cleans up easily. But it's kind of old-fashioned red-and-blue, and I'd like something a bit more modern, 9X11 or bigger, to lighten up the space. The Pottery Barn admonition to wipe up spills "immediately" with a white cloth and periodically professional clean sets off alarm bells!
http://www.potterybarn.com/products/color-bound-sisal-rug-reindeer/?pkey=climited-rugs |
Anonymous
| That looks like the rug we have in our dining room. It has held up pretty well. We clean up and blot spills immediately. However, it has a rough texture that I wouldn't want in a family room. I think most kids wouldn't find it that comfortable to play on. |
Anonymous
OP here, yes, I was thinking about that, too. So there are other Dhurrie options from West Elm that look promising (and softer), like http://www.westelm.com/products/lattice-dhurrie-rust-b951/?pkey=cflooring-sale |
Anonymous
| yes, ours was a pain to clean, and it wasn't very comfortable! The cleaned areas were much lighter than the rest of the rug. |
Anonymous
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Hm, never owned one, but doesn't sound promising. A friend had this all over her house (she's renting) and bitched about the maintenance. And I found this informaton on Rugs Direct web site:
"You should avoid soaking a sisal rug since the fiber will likely display a watermark after cleaning. A specialized cleaning product is available for your sisal rug, which creates a water barrier across the surface of the rug." |
Anonymous
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This rug is not particularly good for kids or high-risk spill areas. It's not the most comfy surface, and will create some bad rug burns for little ones in the event of a fall or drag. If you spill coke or wine on it, I suppose blotting might help. If you spill yogurt or drop peanut butter or step on a blueberry on it, forget about it.
If it's the price point you find attractive, look at Ikea pile carpets or CB2 or the Surya brand at a rug website. All easy to clean, and on the cheaper side while still being attractive/functional. |
Anonymous
| You can't use OxyClean or Naure's Miracle on sisal. Look at wool sisal or the indoor/outdoor polypropylene rugs. Alos, don;t oreder from a catlog. Go to a rug store. They can do a custom size and came out to clean it when you do get a stain. |
Anonymous
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We have one and it's awful. Any time we've tried to clean up stains (mostly from cat puke), the stain lifts (mostly), but the water mark from the clean up effort remains.
Thankfully, we got ours for $50 on CraigsList. It's now in the basement, under our exercise equipment. The stains don't bother us there, and it actually warms up the space quite well. But I would NEVER want one in a main living space with kids. I'm curious if anyone's tried the faux sisal rugs -- the synthetic indoor/outdoor ones. I often see them in catalogues, but not in stores. Where can I go to see/feel them in person? |
Anonymous
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A few alternatives that are more current/modern and family friendly:
Flor Tiles: They clean easily and even better, can be replaced one at a time if you have a truly awful stain. Great patterns/stripes or mixed solids. Home Depot: Have them cut and bind regular wall-to-wall carpet into an area rug. Ridicuously inexpensive compared to true area rugs, endless options, and you can custom size it to fit your room. |
Anonymous
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We have a sisal rug in our dining room, of all places. So we dont have the issue of kids playing on it per se, because the table is over it, though its not all that rough. Its not that terrible for _hiding_ stains, but if you spill on it, its SO HARD to clean, I mean stuff basically just smooshes into the weave of the sisal. And its hard to sweep, because its hard to drag a broom over it. We basically realized this when our first son was young, but refuse to replace it until our second DC gets older because we are cheap I cant wait to get rid of it though.
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Anonymous
| DON'T DO IT! We have gotten rid of 2 because of stains. |
Anonymous
| I was never able to get puke out of all of the crevices. |
Anonymous
I have several huge water stains on my sisal rug that has been there a long time. How can I get the stains out? |
Anonymous
+1 we were happy to finally get rid of ours anyone kind of liquidy/smushy mess is a nightmare to clean. |
Anonymous
| Yes, sisal rugs are a nightmare to clean. I only use them in kid-free areas. |