If you’re anything like me, you’ve seen reviews for Ruggable rugs everywhere. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, actual TV, just about everywhere media is possible to be consumed through a screen. When my fiancé and I bought our house in December of 2021, we decided to purchase a few higher-quality items to start transitioning out of our college furniture.

Ruggable rugs were high on our list - with 2 dogs, the idea of a washable rug was more than a little appealing. It was something of a risk to purchase a Ruggable; they’re not cheap. As of this writing, an 8x10 (the size we got) runs between $489 and $599. For something that expensive, we probably should’ve done a bit more research. But now, about 18 months on from initial purchase, I have strong feelings about our Ruggable rug.

Pros of Ruggable Rugs

Ruggable rugs have some serious pros - they’re what drew me to purchase one in the first place! Two dogs plus a snowy climate means our rugs get a lot of wear-and-tear. Plus, they have lots of colors and sizes to choose from. They’re also surprisingly sturdy.

Pro #1: They’re washable

Ruggable rugs are thin and flexible and designed to be tossed and washed! Even our 8 foot by 10 foot rug fits into our (American) home washer easily. We’ve only washed it once (more on that later) and it came out beautifully. I’d take it out of the dryer quickly, though, to avoid wrinkling your rug.

Pro #2: There are tons of options to choose from

There are a truly staggering amount of designs to choose from to fit every taste level. In 8x10 rugs, alone, there are 1125 design options to choose from 🤯 They have outdoor rugs, bath mats, runners, round rugs, even faux hide rugs! You can get something to suit just about any room and aesthetic.

Pro #3: They retain color well

After 18 months and only one wash, our Ruggable’s colors have not faded a smidge. We bought one that was faux-antiqued, but the pattern of wear is exactly the same as the day we unboxed our rug. Our rug is in a very high traffic area (our living room, close to the front door), and after multiple Christmas parties, summer barbecues, girl’s nights, boy’s nights, and snowstorms, it looks just the same.

Cons of Ruggable Rugs

While Ruggable rugs have some obvious advantages, there are some pretty serious drawbacks as well. Due to the way the liner and top interact, assembly is quite hard. It’s actually not very practical to wash the rug as we use it. Also, the top is quite thin and doesn’t wear very well.

Con #1: Assembly is difficult

I am not exaggerating when I say I would rather assemble a dresser from IKEA (truly the most heinous piece of furniture to assemble) than than another Ruggable rug larger than 2x3. Ruggable rugs come with two components: a thin, washable top layer, and a bottom layer for comfort. The two sides stick together like velcro. Unrolling the top layer onto the bottom smoothly and as straight as possible took us nearly 2 hours (for a rug!). This is likely due to the fact that we got a large rug - a smaller one is likely not that difficult.

Con #2: Washing them is not practical

Here’s the crux of my issue with Ruggable rugs: for mine at least, they are not washable in a practical sense. Because it is a larger rug, it’s under quite a few pieces of furniture, and therefore we have to move all of our furniture in our (quite small) house in order to pull up the top. We also bought our ruggable for our pets, and the non-slip pad underneath is not washable. This is a problem for our senior dog whose house training is beginning to slip. Add in the issue of a terrible re-assembly to put it back in place, and the problems begin to mount.

Con #3: They don’t retain shape well

The top layer of Ruggable rugs is very, very thin. That’s what makes it washable, but it also means it can have trouble holding shape. Like other clothing, Ruggable rugs can easily get wrinkled if left in the dryer too long. As a punishingly detail-oriented person, I did in fact iron my Ruggable rug when it came out of the dryer, but that’s obviously not practical. Due to how thin the fabric is, it also has begun curling up at some of the edges, which I can only see growing worse with more washes (as with towels whose seams shrink).

Final Thoughts on Our Ruggable Rug

My final verdict? I likely would never purchase a Ruggable again. The large versions are no more practical than a traditional rug, and for nearly $600 I’d rather purchase a very nice rug and pay for it to be professionally cleaned. The runners and bath mats may be worth it, but they’re quite a splurge (bath mats are $129 as of this writing). While it’s a great idea in theory, in practice I haven’t found Ruggable rugs to be practical for our family or needs.

Do you have a Ruggable rug? What do you think of it?

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