Our Home | Where to Buy and How to Care For Seagrass, Jute and Sisal Look Alike Rugs

One of the most frequent questions I get about our home is where did we buy our seagrass rugs.  They are not fancy but they have held up incredibly well with kids, dirt, muddy paws, food, etc. I love natural fiber rugs!  For the texture they add, for the layered and cozy country home vibe they bring and their cost and practicality too. I've always been happy to share the source, but the problem is the website is so difficult to navigate. My girlfriend, Carrie (Hi Care!), and I were just talking about the frustration of shopping for rugs on Overstock because you can find one you like but not in the right size.  I have no idea why each is listed separately instead of with a drop down size feature.  We have the seagrass with grey banding in an 8 x 10 (which is linked below, along with other popular sizes), which I prefer to beige banding b/c it is more forgiving with dirt and stains.  We have the same rug in our dining room and living room.

We had a Jute and Wool rug in the playroom for years, which is softer under the feet, but Quincy had so many accidents on it when he was little and had a parasite infection.  No one even wanted to attempt to clean it up. I will link that one below too.  In general, I think Jute /Wool is comfier and Seagrass is harder wearing and easier to clean.  That's just based on our experience.    In our family room we used to have an Ikea jute rug, that came unraveled so we pitched it and bought a sisal look alike rug that is actually an indoor/ outdoor rug and virtually indestructible.  It has a subtle stripe and is a dream for children and pets. 

To answer some of your most common questions...

1.  How do you clean your seagrass rugs?

I have two products I could not live without.  One is a spray, called Folex.  It is linked below.  It is awesome for completely removing stains on the twill banding.  I've used it on upholstery too.  It's basically magic spray.  Even removed red Sharpie off of our our white slipcovers.

The other is a dry carpet cleaner, perfect for seagrass as well as wool or synthetic rugs.  It looks like a powder but it's really a bunch of mini sponges that you sprinkled over the stain and let sit to pull the stain and odor out, then you vacuum the powder up.  It is an amazing product.  Quincy also had terrible diarrhea all over our antique rug in the living room.  We thought it was beyond repair, but three applications of the Host powder and it removed every last stain and looked better than ever.  (He went on to chew the same rug exactly one week later, and sadly that is damage that the carpet cleaner cannot fix. Haha. Real life with pets and children is messy. )

2. Are they comfortable?

It's not plush carpet, but when you live with them all over your home (we have wall to wall seagrass in my office upstairs) you just kind of get used to the way they feel.  We are adding a seagrass runner to our staircase at some point this year and no one really knows any difference.  When Charlie was a baby I had a wool rug layered over the jute in our family room.  Honestly though, we only have hardwood floors throughout most of our home and those aren't comfy for babies learning to crawl either.  Maybe that's why Charlie was an early walker? ;)

3. Do they shed?

Yes, underneath the carpet. Seagrass less so than Jute. If you are very allergic, then it would not be a great choice.  I vacuum regularly and have never been bothered by this. I also use rug pads.

4. Do they get clean when you vacuum? 

Ok, I LOVE my vacuum cleaner.  It's been with me for 20 years! TWENTY.  My mom has had hers even longer, 30, 40?  I would put it right up there with my top 3 household purchases, maybe number 1.  Nothing else comes close in the floor cleaning department.  And no one is paying me to say this.  Miele vacuums are exceptional when it comes to bare floors and flat rugs.  We have the C3 Cat and Dog Vacuum but I also linked another less expensive model.  Yes, it's still an investment, but I wouldn't go with the cheaper $300 version, which I didn't even link.  It is missing some of the features that make mine so indispensable.  If you have pets and you have floors and rugs, you need one. Sorry, not glamour stuff here. And, yes, my rugs feel very clean when I vacuum.

5. Do they have a funny smell?

Not really.  Certainly not after they've been in your home for a few weeks.  I have read that with some reviews, but I have never experienced it.  They are a grass and do have an earthy smell at first, but not a chemical one.

6. Sisal vs Seagrass

I prefer seagrass. We had sisal in our first home and it stained very quickly. I have seen other sisal weaves that look exactly like seagrass and some vendors use the terms interchangeably so you sort of need to know what you are looking at.  This is the sisal we had and didn't love.

7. What kind of banding should I get?  

When working with clients my preference is to go the custom route and do a self serged edge instead of the twill. If going with twill, I like the neutral grey in the ones I've listed below.  Very forgiving.  I would avoid beige or ivory. 

I believe that covers the big topics.  I hope these links are helpful!  We have been super happy for many years with the items I'm sharing in this post!

**UPDATE - thanks to a reader for finding this rug on Amazon too, which is easier to shop than overstock.  Amazon link is included below. I have the natural/grey banding option.**