Consumer Guide to Genuine Sheepskin Rug
Genuine sheepskin rugs can add luxury to your home. The fur feels soft and smooth when you stroke your hand over it. Whether you put it on the floor or a couch, it will give you comfort and make you feel snug when you sit on it. You can also count on it to keep you warm during the winter. Though it is pricey, it is worth every penny because its durability means it will serve you for a long time.
How Does a Sheepskin Rug Looks Like?
A real sheep pelt has an odd shape, you’ll know when you see one, this is because it is cut from the sheep. It is small in size because the sheep where they harvest the fleece from are not large. Large sheepskin is made by sewing more than one small sheepskins together.
The fiber of the pelt can be curled, long hair like, or wavy depending on the sheep breed. Some pelts lost the curl texture after tanning but they will still feel fuzzy and silky when you touch it. Sheepskin don’t necessarily have to be white in color – it can have other colors too as there are sheep in colors like black, gray, cream, and brown.
Where to Put Sheepskin Rug?
So, after you buy the sheepskin rug, where should you put it? Given it has long fur, it should not be placed in areas exposed to water like kitchen, and bathroom. But, it should be placed in places where it can add comfort, for example, a couch. A small sheepskin rug work fine on a single seat sofa or armchair that do not have cushion including wooden, egg, and wire frame chair. It’d be perfect to put on a patio chair, so that you can enjoy the cool atmosphere when you are lazing in it in the morning or evening.
If you want to drape it on a 3 seater sofa, you will need to buy a double sheepskin rug to drape nicely over the back and the seats. It looks best when it is centered. If you have pet, the sheepskin will protect your sofa from being scratched or have urine stain. Large sheepskin rug can act as a noise insulation so it would be a good idea to put it in a room that need soundproof, for example, home theater.
Many people also like to put sheepskin on the side of their beds so that they can soothe their feet as soon as they get up in the morning. The sheepskin rug is also ideal for putting on the floor of a children’s bedroom. If you have throw pillows that feel hard and uncomfortable, you can wrap small sheepskins over them and put them on your bed.
If you want to use it to decorate your child’s bedroom, look for one that has a fun shape or color. You can get a single or double sheepskin to put beside the child’s bed. It feels good to step out of the bed on a soft and fluffy rug. You can put one or two sheepskin rugs in the private reading nook of your kid’s bedroom so that your kid will be persuaded to spend most of his time reading books during school holidays.
Sheepskin rug can be put near the hearth to increase warmness on your feet when you are near the fire. You can put it on a foot stool to soothe your feet. Its soft surface also makes it suitable for use on a seat in a home office or children’s study room. It will provide comfort to the person as he sits for a long period of time on the chair.
Sheepskin rug can be placed on the changing table in a nursery room. The soothing feeling of the rug will keep the baby happy while you are changing your baby’s diaper. If you don’t know where to put it, you can hang it on the wall as a decor.
You can use sheepskin to improvise old furniture that is wearing. For example, if you have an old bench with wearing cushion, you can wrap sheepskin over it to recover the same level of comfort it used to provide. If you have guest at home and you don’t have blanket, you can temporarily let him use the sheepskin as the blanket.
How to Know If It is a Genuine Sheepskin Rug?
Genuine sheepskin pelt looks similar with the faux version. Therefore, before buying, you must examine it carefully. The easiest way is to check the backing – if there is a grid pattern, it means it is made from synthetic material as this indicate a backing that is sewn onto the faux hide.
Another way is to pull the wool fibres and see if it come loose. Synthetic wool fibre will come loose easily when you pull it. On the other hand, if it is a genuine wool fibre, the fibre should be intact when you pull it. The color of the pelt should look closely with the wool. It should have an even texture, sometimes, you can observe a scar across it. Real wool feels fuzzy, spongy and silky to the touch. A faux wool has a coarser texture and do not feel as comfortable as real wool when you sit on it.
Wool has a good ability to absorb water and it ensures that the top layer, the layer where the skin comes in contact to it, is alway dry, and airy. It is the reason why you feel comfortable when lying on it with your body sweating heavily. The moisture absorption ability allows the wool rug to absorb dye without extra chemicals. To test if it is real sheepskin, pour some water on it. It should still feel dry with just a bit of moisture but that moisture will dry up in a few minutes too.
Sheepskin is naturally springy. if it stretch it, it will quickly recover back to the original shape. Fake wool is stiff and not stretchable. In addition, sheepskin is flame resistant – it can burn in fire but the fire will put off on its own quickly when the fire source is removed.
