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Good Questions: Will this rug stop shedding?

12-6-ikeapsrug.jpgHello AT, I recently bought a red Ikea PS rug for my kids' room and it's shedding a lot. We've been vacuuming it every day for almost a week but it looks like there's no end in sight. Does anyone have experience with this rug? Will this go on forever or will it eventually calm down?

Thanks, Julie


Julie—We're not sure the rug pictured is the rug you have, but after a quick online search we're fairly certain. All the specs are on the IKEA site. We're hoping some of our readers have some answers/advice! Anyone?—aaron

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Comments (56)

I bought an oriental rug from ikea years ago and I had the same problem...I was convinced the thing was made of cat hair. It took several months of wear and vacuuming for it to get over itself. Stay strong, my sister!

posted by shady on 2006-12-06 12:04:02

We got a similar rug from Ikea. No, it never stopped shedding! =And our pets destroyed it before we could determine if it ever would.

posted by Mardi on 2006-12-06 12:06:55

I once bought a red rug from there. It bled onto my clothes. Socks, pants, even the bristles of my broom turned red. Took it right back.

posted by Lady J on 2006-12-06 12:08:01

You know, I'm having a similar issue with the Darrien rug from C&B... we've only had it a month or so but it's constantly shedding.. I hope there's an end in sight...

posted by Annemarie on 2006-12-06 12:11:55

Just so we don't bash Ikea only- my friend and I both had the same rug from Pottery Barn, and they also shed like crazy-filling up my vacuum completely after 2 years.

posted by Julia on 2006-12-06 12:12:13

we had a similar rug (not from IKEA) that shed for almost a year. we vacuumed it everyday, and almost got rid of it. Then, it finally stopped shedding when we got a Dyson.

posted by tree on 2006-12-06 12:12:41

I had an IKEA rug that shed so much it destroyed my hoover (which was always filling up with pink rug fur). Then I got a Dyson. Not to turn this into a Dyson commercial but - now the rug doesn't "shed" - I think the vacuum has a lot to do with it.

posted by Juliejulie on 2006-12-06 12:17:18

Just bought a zia rug from C&B, and the care instructions indicate that "shedding will always be present for the life of the rug"...

posted by cat on 2006-12-06 12:18:29

its an ikea rug. ikea is great, but it breaks/sheds/wears out/rubs off etc. just kind of goes with the territory. if you have the $ to buy a dyson i would reccomend buying a higher-quality rug.

posted by ikea on 2006-12-06 12:21:25

cat- maybe you should kill the rug then :)

posted by meow on 2006-12-06 12:22:42

isn't it pretty much common knowledge by now that "IKEA" is swedish for "get what you pay for"???

posted by me on 2006-12-06 12:27:11

i have a rug from calvin klein home that does the exact same thing... it makes my apt. look like i have some sort of beige cat whose going through chemotherapy rubbing on everything. tiresome.

posted by matt on 2006-12-06 12:29:21

I have had rugs from Pottery Barn, C&B and currently one from Room & Board and they all shed. It may let up a little but it will never completely stop! I have a Dyson and it's great but it hasn't stopped the shedding, if anything I have to clean the rollers underneath where a lot of the fibers clump onto the brushes!

posted by Kelly on 2006-12-06 12:31:08

I have a rug from ABC (cool shag rug, got it on a big sale) and it doesn't shed, never has. It was one of those purchases that at the time we weren't sure if it was worth spending that kind of money on a rug, but almost every day we now say it was one of the best purchases we made. You get what you pay for.

posted by Rusty on 2006-12-06 12:47:22

When a rug sheds, it's because it's slowly falling apart. Rugs from Pottey Barn, IKEA, C&B, etc. are falling apart because they are not made well, which is why they are cheap. They will continue to shed until eventually the fabric falls out, which granted, might take a while.

It's worth saving up the money that you'll spend buying 3 rugs over the next few years, and using that money to buy one good rug that will last a few generations.

I've found overstock.com to be a great place to find good quality rugs that are seriously discounted.

posted by jbh on 2006-12-06 12:51:42

Has any ever owned a mohair sweater? Those shed.
Lamb's wool pills. Wool rugs shed, regardless of how much(or little) you paid for them.

posted by nor on 2006-12-06 12:54:03

And I thought I was nuts for getting a flokati, which you KNOW will shed for the life of it ... at least it looks better and fluffier after each washing. It makes up for the little balls of fuzz that wind up elsewhere in the house.

Glad I saw this about the PS rug ... I was actually thinking of getting it for my niece's bedroom.

posted by ridge. on 2006-12-06 12:57:44

I've got a wool rug that coughs up hairballs, too. Not from IKEA, though. But it is soft & beautiful.
I read on the web that when wool rugs are new, they tend to shed & fuzz, but that they eventually cease.
My sweeper is no match for it - and if I sit on it in black, I get up covered in little fuzz balls.
I am now considering getting it a dog brush. :-)

posted by holly in dc on 2006-12-06 12:58:19

I have had two IKEA rugs and both shed like crazy for one year each. One was total garbage in no time and the other one is stilll standing strong after 4 years in my livingroom.

posted by carla on 2006-12-06 13:02:47

NoOOOOO!!! I had one of those. My room was eternally covered in pink fuzz. I had to throw it away after a while. It was making me sneeze.

posted by kelly on 2006-12-06 13:05:21

I have the "Spectrum" rug from room and board and it has not shed. (the term is loop pile i think)
had rug from pottery barn and ikea and they were a mess.

posted by tom on 2006-12-06 13:17:59

I owned that exact IKEA rug. It shed badly (I own a Hoover). The first month was really bad and then it was ok. I've had another IKEA rug for about 5-6 years now, still looks good. But it shed a lot at first, too.

I once owned a brushed jute rug from Crate & Barrel - total mess. What a piece of crap. (And I used the vacuum on the shag-rug setting and it still fell completely apart.)

posted by Desk on 2006-12-06 13:37:20

thanks everyone. does anyone know of a better quality round red rug? we got this one more b/c of the design than the price. It was $300, which I actually don't think is super cheap so I am disappointed that the quality is so poor.

posted by Julie Stark on 2006-12-06 13:39:11

I got a $90 Target rug for my little girl's room with butterflies and flowers on it. It's soft, colorful and hasn't shed a day in it's life. I think well see if we can make it to the one year mark without vacuuming, just to say we did.

posted by Pinkmohair on 2006-12-06 13:47:54

GoD!!! I bought a white rug from Ikea and it never stopped. I guess next time, just pull on the rug before you buy it to see if any strands come out. If they do, you'll know its a bad sign! Ikea!! Yuck!!

posted by lisa on 2006-12-06 13:52:14

so related to this, my rug also sheds but the pieces in the rug (it is jute and chenille) have started coming apart. Looks like my vacumm is not as gentle to this "fragile" rug and the chenille gets sucked and pulled up. Does anyone have a recommended way to clean a rug like this without resorting to buying a vacum cleaner?

posted by rug cleaner on 2006-12-06 13:56:48


quality loomed wool rugs do not shed. period. My wool carpets from Turkey and India are in fine shape, do not bleed or fall apart, and are nearly indestructible. They did not cost thousands of dollars, either. You shouldn't settle for rugs that ruin the rest of your furniture or choke your dog-- take it back!

posted by gretchen on 2006-12-06 14:15:02

We got a wool rug from IKEA 3 years ago, and IT IS STILL SHEDDING!!!!!!! It is the BANE of my existence, and why we vacuum 3 times a week!!!!

Don't let it happen to you too!!!!!!

posted by Monika on 2006-12-06 15:04:31

This is hilarious. I've also had a cheap Ikea rug that I got rid of after a few months because I got tired of shedding. Glad (?) to hear I'm not the only one. After I got my Dyson I wondered if I could brave another Ikea rug, but ended up getting the Shag Tan Woven Rug from Target which doesn't shed.

JBH, my Ikea rug was $60 and my Target rug was $80 - somehow doubt that you can get a quality rug to last generations for $180-240? It would be great if you could.

posted by Hazygrey on 2006-12-06 15:14:36

What's with the IKEA bashing in this thread? Sure, some of the stuff falls apart, but a lot of it is just fine (and looks great to boot); and there's PLENTY of stuff out there that you can pay a lot more for and that also falls apart or fails in some way. I had a rug years ago from Pottery Barn that wasn't anywhere near as cheap as IKEA would have been, and not only did it shed, but I had to get rid of it because it had a terrible mildew smell that I couldn't get rid of no matter what I did (I gave up trying after about two years). Turns out a lot of people have that problem with Pottery Barn rugs -- I think it's been a Good Question here on AT. And they ain't cheap, by my standards anyway.

posted by Holly on 2006-12-06 15:26:52

I have a rug from ikea that hasn't shed at all! It's a very short pile rug and not super soft, I imagine it depends on the material/texture?

posted by Laura on 2006-12-06 16:28:59

This is very discouraging, as I am in the market for a rug! Does anybody have suggestions of places that sell quality rugs that don't fall apart (suggestions other than Turkey or India, since I am not planning a shopping trip there anytime soon)?

posted by Jenny on 2006-12-06 16:47:40

I had this EXACT rug from Ikea for a year. It never stopped shedding. I gave up on it after a year.. and after half of it was gone, down to the plastic weaving.

posted by Derrick on 2006-12-06 17:03:15

IKEA rugs tend to be cheap, and they tend to shed. On the other hand, I have a pet, and I'm a klutz. So I refuse to spend a thousand dollars on a rug that I know is gonna end up stained and destroyed, anyhow.

IKEA rugs make great wall hangings, FWIW. The shedding tends not to be a problem in that application.

posted by Sunspot on 2006-12-06 17:41:23

I just bought the QUINN FELTED SHAG RUG from Pottery Barn. Does anyone have any thoughts about it? My sister had the HENLEY RUG-REDWOOD and it was the worst rug ever. It never stopped shedding then completely fell apart after a year. I spent more money and got two rugs from Safavieh in NYC and they did shed but not that much.

posted by MNNyc on 2006-12-06 19:38:06

I remembered I bought a rug from Target and it didn't shed either.. So maybe Target..

posted by Ivana on 2006-12-06 19:48:31

I had this exact rug for almost three years and it shed the entire time. I finally got sick of finding large clumps of red wool in random places and threw it out.

posted by Elizabeth on 2006-12-06 20:11:27

This is a horrible rug. We had it for at least 3 years because we couldn't afford anything better, and it shed the entire time...right up until the day we threw it out. Terrible.

posted by John From Velocity on 2006-12-06 22:49:37

Though I'd like to be able to invest in a high quality rug, I haven't been able to find anything that I love enough to sell my left kidney for. I've had good luck with CSN rugs -- www.csnrugs.com -- they have lots of ugly rugs but they carry a very large selection of affordable and non-shedding ones. So if you look hard enough, you're bound to find something that you like. I also like them because they sell irregular-sized rugs (e.g. 6x9 or round) that are difficult to find from C&B, Pottery Barn, etc..

posted by JDo on 2006-12-06 23:59:07

We have this exact rug, we sort of inherited it. It's probably about 10 years old at the most and we've lived with it for 3. I've never seen it shed or discolour anything, and it's still in quite good condition. You need to vaccuum vigorously though, dust likes to get nestled in around the ring pattern when its at this age. I live in Sweden, and noticed that a couple of Ikea products in Australia when visiting were of a different quality than here.

posted by Jaz on 2006-12-07 03:17:50

The Shedding-ness of a rug is partly determined by the fibre its made from and partly from how its put together - if its woven, like fabric, with no ends sticking out then its much less likely to shed - if its a cut-end rug then its much more likely to shed - if however the cut end rug is made such that the fibres are held securely in the backing then its less likley to shed - the quality of the fibre also makes a difference so it is worth paying a bit more if you want something really good quality

However, cut end rugs should never be vacuumed with any kind of hoover that has a rotating head or brushes as it will just destroy the fibres and pull out more fluff - thus agravating the shedding problem rather than improving it - in fact its best not to hoover a cut-end rug at all:

"Does anyone have a recommended way to clean a rug like this without resorting to buying a vacum cleaner?"

Yes, you beat it with a carpet beater to get the dirt and dust out

posted by Violetsrose on 2006-12-07 08:03:37

We have a Pottery Barn rug in our living room that we really love (it was on sale, too!) and it definitely sheds. I use our little dustbuster to pick up the shedding--cheaper than a vacuum cleaner, and easier than, god forbid, using carpet beaters. It's not perfect, but it's a pretty good, reasonably priced, time-efficient compromise.

And you know, we looked at the really expensive carpets from Turkey and India, and just couldn't justify spending that much, especially when we knew we might end up moving or changing our color scheme in a few years. I'm very pleased with our PB rug, especially for the price we paid, and while it might not be investment quality, it's perfect for us. High-end carpets are great, I'm sure, but they're not for everyone, nor should they be. There's nothing wrong with less expensive carpets!

posted by othergretchen on 2006-12-07 10:39:32

it will never stop!!! i bought that rug two years ago and it never stopped shedding -- would fill up the vacuum twice a week. finally got rid of it.

posted by marques on 2006-12-09 18:59:16

I also had a similar IKEA rug and even sent it out for steam cleaning, vaccumed it regularly with Dyson and got rid of it after 2 + years ... never stopped shedding.

you know what never sheds? chilewich! love it

posted by amanda on 2006-12-10 20:32:21

We started with a woven Jute rug from Pottery Barn, and that shed. It was impossible to live with. We replaced it with one of their wool rugs - it now leaves little clouds of burgundy fuzz everywhere!! I am returning it tomorrow. I should have listened to my husband! It is worth spending a little more on a quality rug. Everything which I have read seems to indicate that if the rug is good quality, it shouldn't shed - certainly not for 3 months!!

posted by Amanda on 2007-01-09 23:24:58

Just had to chime in here... I recently bought a felted wool rug from West Elm, for around $350 -- big money for a rug I thought (!)

Shedding like mad for a month. I've been using a great rug brush (thick rubber bristles) like crazy, but it's gonna be a while before I'm done. Damn hair is everywhere! Ruined many socks too...

posted by Chas Devlin on 2007-01-15 17:59:07

I swear my red rug from Ikea is HORRIBLE!! I have 3 dogs that all together don't shed as much as this rug does. It gets stuck in every crevis around and weaves its way into the carpet. They said it would subside after a few months...DON'T believe it. I have had this rug for about 5 and vacuum it with my Dyson every other day and red fibers are still evrywhere!

posted by Monica on 2007-01-21 14:57:20

I just purchased a red rug from Ikea which shed like crazy, so I found one for three times the price at overstock.com (supposedly originally valued at $800, hahaha), and it shed just as badly. i think half the rug is now in my vaccuum cleaner.

posted by ted on 2007-02-08 16:44:24

After I bought my white shag rug, little white puffballs started appearing in the most random places... like inside drawers or dangling from the ceiling over the stairs. Go figure...

posted by MMF on August 17th 2007 at 8:14am
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I bought a woolen rug from ABC carpet two years ago. I was told by the salesperson that it would shed for only a few months. However the sheep are still agrieved. I am tired of vaccuming. It is driving me mad. The living room is forever haunted by sheep droppings. I paid over $1000 for the rug on sale, so it was by no means cheap. I just checked and it was made in China. I have a Hoover vaccum and an old Kirby, should I now buy a Dyson???? Something is wrong!!! Help me somebody P..L..E..A..S..E..... I'm at my wits end with this rug.

posted by angora on November 4th 2007 at 11:52am
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wow, this is proof that you can find ANYTHING on the internet! I didn't really think I would find anything about this. I've never shopped at IKEA, but I purchased my beautiful rug at Pier 1. I first had it steamed, and then when I bought it home I ran the sweeper over it. poofballs immediately. Everytime I attempt to even look at the rug it sheds. After having the family over yesterday, the entire floor is blue. I'm thinking -should I buy a dog hair brush and treat it like that?

posted by MissVette on December 26th 2007 at 7:40am
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Lots of luck...I have owned a beautiful 100% wool pile rug for over a year, and it has never stopped shedding. The only time it looks great is when it's freshly vacuumed and you stare at it from afar; the moment you walk on it there is fuzz everywhere. It is embarrassing to have people over and use the room. This was not an inexpensive rug...from Horchow and approx. $800...so I think price/quality has nothing to do with it. This must be a natural occurrence with wool pile rugs. We've grown tired of high maintainance and low satisfaction, and are replacing it with a synthetic fiber rug.

posted by FEMABarbie on January 17th 2008 at 9:34am
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I just bought a wool rug from Ikea two days ago, which cost me almost $400. It is shedding all over the place. My new hardwood floors are covered, as are my children's clothing. I am hoping that Scotchguard might, at least ,help the problem. It really is a shame because it is beautiful and very soft....i wish i had done my homework. And i have to say, i love Ikea and have never had any problems with their stuff.

posted by mai on February 24th 2008 at 10:19am
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I have 2 of this exact same rug. We needed two for our living room and they only had one in stock. We bought the floor sample AND the one in stock. Floor sample has been a charm, no lint/fuzz/etc. Regular one from stock has been fuzzing non-stop.

Based on my mother (who says the same as a PP) who says that how a carpet is made determines how much fuzzing you have (not cheap or crappy made, how it was literally assembled). What kind of vacuum you have will determine how long you endure it. Some higher end shops are probably charging more for their rugs b/c they super-vac them before packaging them for retail.

Since the floor sample rug has been no problem whatsoever, I'm going to bet Ikea super-vacs all the floor sample rugs first. For us it's no sweat, one of the rugs is covered mainly by our table anyhow, so we're pretty much over it. We've only had the rug for a month now and expect this to last for a while. We have a Miele (live in Germany) and I'm satisfied with the whole situation.

posted by buzzybee on April 18th 2008 at 4:03am
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What is going on with my new carpet!! This shedding is ridiculous!! I don't want to have to vacuum my carpet 10x a day for 3 months.. I don't want to comb it with a fine tuned comb. I don't want to have to take it a groomer every week, I don't want to see carpet hair sticking to every horizontal surface in the house.. I don't want my baby to cough up carpet hair balls. I don't want to have to by the Dyson DC17 Vacuum Absolute Animal Model 103 to combat the copious shedding. I don't want to stuff 50 pillows with carpet hair. I don't want to understand the moods of my god damned carpet!!!! Will it stop shedding tomorrow, the next day, next month, next year? Now? When? I just want to step on it and see it, and think it looks nice. I just want it to be like every other friggin' inanimate object in my house.

AaaaaaarrrrrrGH.. This is making me crazy!!!!!

On another topic. I also need to get a shower curtain. Can anyone tell me.. am I going to need to buy it it's own electric tooth brush and sign it up for weekly waxing over at Pinkies?

posted by Lora Samara on April 11th 2009 at 4:14am
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I bought the Ikea Strib rub for $200 about 10 months ago and what a piece of trash. It looks good after it's vacumed and for all of five minutes before it starts to shed like crazy. I got it for my baby's room so she would have a soft, natural fiber rug to play on, but we had to take it out of her room when she started to eat the rainbow striped fuzzies. Ikea should be boycotted for selling garbage like this!

posted by Little_Otis on August 3rd 2009 at 9:48am
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