Wool Rugs

What's the humidity level in the basement? Also, are you talking about machine made area rugs or hand made "oriental" rugs? There's a great deal of variation in the quality of wool and that affects propensity for static problems. A good hand made rug uses wool sheared from a live sheep, the wool is supple. A cheap rug can use wool from dead sheep that is coarse and more prone to static. Maybe it's the different lanolin levels in wool types that accounts for the difference? I've never felt a static charge from any of our oriental rugs, but have heard numerous reports of static from people scuffling along over wall to wall machine made wool carpet. That problem gets worse the drier the air is.

The humidity level is high enough that I use a large dehumidifier. The rugs I was looking at were made with wool from New Zealand in the Netherlands. I assume they are machine made. Hand made ones are beyond my budget. I supposed they are made from the wool of live sheep but it doesn't say. You remember the old joke, the salesman says" this product is made from virgin wool", the customer replies, " how do they know".

New Zealand is known for quality wool, you'll probably be fine. Their wool industry shears live animals from what I've seen. Just make sure the rugs you consider feel soft and velvety. If one feels coarse and scratchy like burlap, avoid that rug. By the way, decent hand make rugs don't have to cost a fortune. I've seen plenty of machine made New Zealand rugs that cost as much as a lower end, but still very nice, hand made rugs. Rugman.com sells very decent, well made rugs for quite reasonable prices. (Not affiliated in any way, just a satisfied customer.)

Before moving on to the rug I suggest you stop a future problem by laying down a plywood floor over 2x4's. While it will not stop a flood, it will give ample protection from small spills. You can put the vinyl over the plywood and still use the rug.

I have had many suspended wood floors and two concrete ones and the latter are much better sonically. I am taking other precautions against a recurrence.

I've just hung a Tibetan wool rug on my smaller (very smaller) listening room wall using an IKEA rod and rings with alligator clips so it's a couple of inches off the wall, ho ho... and my word, the glare took its hat and the door. Wool rugs sound like a very good idea to me.

Stan,

If you decide on a large area rug over tile or wood..I would suggest you look into a jute underlayment instead of the typical rebond foam pad. The jute/hair/wool has more surface area and will act as wider bandwidth filter less tuned to a specific frequency band unlike the foam pad.

Tom

A double thick layer of the best and thickest natural beaver felt laid atop sound absorbing composite from 3M. Or the nex time get a flokati rug with long hair. Shampoo and condition it the next time a flood occurs. Then blow dry it straight using an army of teen age girls from the nieghborhood armed with staightening brushes and blow dryers. Caution Use a surge protected power center with 12 outlets on dedicated lines and watch the total amperage for over doing it. It might get a bit hot too.

If you have a local estate auction house, try there for decent/cheap oriental rugs. Well-made oriental rugs will outlast anyone as long as you don't grind stuff into them. I've had a few of mine for 20-odd years and (they had 60-120 years on them before I bought them) and they all look identical to when i bought them, and probably have looked the same for 50-odd years. Buying them at estate auctions usually means you can get them cheap (they usually don't show up at yard sales but local/regional (not famous name brand) auctioneers are like institutionalized yard sales I find).

Photon46' comments on soft wool are spot on. Even coarse wool (like lightly spun goat hair which can be woven into (or used as the warps of) baluchi tribal rugs) will have a sheen to it. Stay away from any wool which feels "brittle."