DIY Shag Rug

Reader Contribution by Linda Holliday
Updated on April 12, 2023
article image
by Adobestock/na9179126124

DIY shag rugs made of old clothes are durable, attractive, easy to care for, and can be machine sewn in a few hours.

After years of looking for the most durable, yet simplest homemade rugs to wash, I have finally hit on a winner – shag throw rugs made of old T-shirts and towels. Besides being easy to make and care for, the rugs are fabricated from goods from the rag bag.

With animals inside and outside our homestead, a steady flow of boot traffic and abundance of rain, we go through a lot of rugs here. Rubber-backed store-bought rugs are OK on the back porch, but impossible to keep clean in the house.

Braided rag rugs, while lovely and comfortable to stand on, turned out to be too difficult to wash. To clean them, I’d wait for warm, breezy days and then scrub them in a tub outside. By the time I’d hoisted the wet, heavy rug onto the clothesline, it was as if I also took an outdoor bath. It also takes me at least two weeks to make a single rug.

Looking for a solution, I decided to try a simpler method of rug making. The result is an easy-to-make, inexpensive, attractive, cushy, sturdy and easy-to-clean rug. I used jersey T-shirts (100-percent cotton) for the shag, but any knit fabric that doesn’t unravel will work, such as from fleece blankets and sweatpants.

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368