Warm Rugs: How to Keep Your Feet Warm

It’s not just in rooms with cold floors that it’s important to know the best way to keep your feet warm. Room temperature and coziness are key factors in creating a comfortable atmosphere at home. The right rugs can go a long way toward ensuring that your feet always feel comfortable in the living room, bedroom, and other areas of your home. 

Contents

Benefits of Warm Rugs

Which fabrics keep you warm the best?  

Warm, Shag Carpets  

Warm Dog Rugs  

Insulation under the carpet  

Carpets Suitable for Radiant Floor Heating  

Checklist: The Most Important Tips

Rugs change the way a room feels. Because rugs made from the right fibers and materials retain heat longer, the perceived room temperature increases. Although the actual temperature doesn’t rise, the carpet creates a warming sensation on your feet and, subsequently, throughout your entire body. This phenomenon can be explained by the same principle behind a down jacket: Soft carpet materials trap air between the individual carpet fibers, which in turn creates a warming effect. The trapped air creates a sensation of greater warmth and a different experience compared to cold floor coverings. The advantages of warm carpets are thus obvious. They have a positive effect on well-being, increase the perceived room temperature, make rooms cozier, and—thanks to the adjusted sensation of warmth—are often the reason why the heat isn’t turned on until later during the transition from fall to winter.

Wool fibers, in particular, provide excellent thermal and sound insulation. Virgin wool carpets, with their naturally crimped fibers, are good at retaining heat and preventing heat loss. But other types of wool fibers also insulate room heat and trap warm air in the spaces between the carpet fibers. Shag carpets are often perceived as warmer than short-pile carpets. Shag carpets also generally outperform short-pile carpets in terms of impact sound insulation, which is a particularly important argument in favor of thicker carpets, especially for children’s rooms. Products with thermal insulation properties are often especially important when furnishing these spaces. 

Sheep’s wool rugs are cozy, soft, warm, and comfortable home furnishings. Sheep’s wool has many beneficial natural properties. It is warm, but also sound-absorbing, resilient, and springy. The fibers of this natural material are also quite easy to care for and low-maintenance, and they help create a healthy indoor environment. Rugs made from virgin sheep’s wool are equally popular in every room. Because wool rugs can trap large amounts of air, they’re ideal for cold floors. Discover our sheep’s wool rug collection!

Cotton rugs are very popular in interior design because of their beneficial properties, which are quite similar to those of sheep’s wool. Their characteristics include: Cotton rugs are cozy and feel comfortable underfoot. They have a positive effect on the indoor climate. Thanks to their exceptionally soft and comfortable texture, they are very popular in living rooms and children’s rooms. Compared to sheep’s wool rugs, cotton rugs do not retain quite as much heat, but they still contribute to a pleasant warmth in the home. Wool fibers have antistatic and impact-sound-absorbing properties, insulate heat, and regulate the indoor climate. Discover our cotton rug collection!

There are different types of synthetic fiber carpets. Polyacrylic is one of the most widely used synthetic fibers. Due to its wool-like properties, polyacrylic carpets are quite soft, warm, and insulating. The carpet fibers have a low density and are relatively lightweight. Polyacrylic is often blended with wool or cotton during processing. Polyester is a synthetic fiber characterized by durability, sturdiness, and lightfastness. Polyester has thermal insulation properties but is not exceptionally warm. Polypropylene is a versatile synthetic fiber with high impact sound insulation and thermal insulation properties. Polypropylene is often used in the manufacture of outdoor carpets. This synthetic fiber is harder and sturdier than wool but cannot be described as warm. Viscose and polyacrylic are other synthetic fibers. Viscose has properties similar to cotton and feels very soft. Polyacrylic has a wool-like, soft, and warm texture. Polyacrylic rugs provide thermal insulation and are characterized by high lightfastness and color quality. Discover our synthetic fiber carpet designs!

Shag rugs aren’t just ideal for their warming effect at home. They feature an exceptionally thick and soft pile that brings coziness and ambiance to any room. Shag rugs are very soft and keep our feet warm, especially in the fall and winter. In addition, shag rugs absorb footfall noise, making them popular must-haves in interior design. Just looking at these fluffy favorites makes us feel warm and creates a pleasant sense of comfort. That’s why shag rugs are such a popular and frequent choice. Discover our shag rugs!
 

Even our four-legged friends like to get cozy. Warm dog rugs provide a great place to retreat and invite them to linger. Warm dog rugs should be at least 1.5 to 2 cm thick. Rugs made of cotton, fleece, and polyester can provide warmth. Fluffy, plush rugs are particularly popular with dogs as their favorite spots.

Carpet underlays are practical aids that offer several benefits. For one thing, they provide sound and heat insulation and help keep the room warmer. They also help ensure safety in everyday life by preventing the carpet from slipping and minimizing creases.

There are various types of carpet underlays available on the market. You can use the following underlays for thermal insulation:
Nonwoven: Nonwoven underlays are not only slip-resistant; they can be used on both hard and soft floors.
Polyester: Polyester carpet underlays are suitable for use on dry, clean, and unpolished floors.
Vinyl: Vinyl carpet underlays can be used on hard and smooth floors such as tile or laminate.
Natural-fiber underlays: Carpet underlays made of latex, jute, or rubber are suitable for laminate, hardwood, stone, ceramic tile, cork, and PVC.

Underfloor heating can help with cold floors. However, make sure your rug is suitable for use with underfloor heating. Short-pile wool rugs, for example, are ideal. Many synthetic-fiber rugs are also great for use with underfloor heating. Natural-fiber rugs made of sisal and jute are always quite popular choices for use with underfloor heating. However, since they are highly heat-permeable, their fibers retain very little heat. The key factor in choosing the right carpet for underfloor heating is the flooring’s thermal resistance. Good thermal conductivity is the best foundation for the carpet-underfloor-heating combination. Additionally, the backing of the carpet should be compatible with underfloor heating systems.

Here's a quick overview of the key points on warm rugs and tips for keeping your feet warm:
 

• Floor coverings: Shag carpets, especially those made of wool, provide a pleasant, comfortable feeling underfoot.
   
• Insulation: Use carpet underlays that have good thermal insulation properties. This will help you create an even cozier atmosphere in the room.
   
• Underfloor Heating: Combining underfloor heating with the right rugs creates a real heat booster. Cold feet are a thing of the past.
   
• Think Warm: Psychological factors and perception play a key role in how people perceive warmth. The feeling of warmth created by cozy rugs underfoot carries over to the perceived atmosphere of a room and raises the perceived room temperature.

With warm rugs, you’ll never have cold feet at home again. Rugs not only create a pleasant indoor climate and a cozy atmosphere, but also turn your rooms into your favorite cozy spots. We offer a great selection of modern designer rugs and runners in trendy colors and patterns that retain heat. Be inspired by products from select brands at fair prices, and choose your personal favorite rug. After that, fall and winter won’t be able to get the better of you in your home.