I have a strong preference for olefin/polypropylene carpets. They are very easy to clean and absorb no moisture. They can be cleaned with dilute bleach or mineral spirits. They are also color fast so will not fade. I have had them as wall to wall and as area rugs and have been very happy with their performance....with 3 caveats.

1) they are very crushable, so they do not work well as a pile carpet unless the pile is very dense and short, or if they are a level loop

2) however, do not get a berber....we had a berber and due to the light color and the crush factor, it always looked nasty in high traffic areas, even after cleaning

3) they have a low melt point....leave it to DH to figure out how to destroy even an olefin carpet....he was working on something and put the drop light down on the rug, and the heat from the light bulb was enough to melt it.

In our house, I only have nylon rugs in the lowest use areas where I couldn't get what I wanted in olefin.

I love wool rugs but based on the description of your family's life style at the present, I would recommend an olefin or polypropylene rug. There are a lot of nice looking rugs in these materials in nice traditional patterns, but much cheaper and could be spot cleaned easier. I have seen nice ones for less than $300 and they wear like iron. You can always drag it out to the patio or driveway or porch and shampoo.

I have a couple of nice wool rugs and a man-made material rug in my DR. It was a JC Penney liquidation that I bought for $100 that was listed on their website for almost $300. I plan on replacing it with a wool rug, but it works for now. I have had it for 4 years and it looks as good as new.

I bought an indoor/outdoor rug made of polypropylene from Ballards Designs for our family room. I thought I would keep it short term until I found the perfect rug and then I would use it outside. It's not going anywhere, and when it wears out I plan to get another one just like it.

It is a lot softer than I expected.
I don't worry about things being spilled on it or the dogs playing on it because it is so easy to clean.

In our second house (the second house we lived in, not a vacation home) the PO had a red PLAID carpet in the family room. It was UGLY. Really, really ugly.

That room had the main door to the backyard and the dog door in it. We had 2 dogs, a beagle (who was house trained after we got him) and a big shaggy shep mix. By all rights, there should have been a dark brown wear pattern between the back door and the kitchen.

Every time I vacc'd that ugly rug, it looked like new. I hated it. When we finally tore it out (just before we sold the place) on the back it showed it was a rug meant to be used in hotel banquet facilities. I think it was nylon.

So my suggestion is to go to a carpet store (local one, not a big box store) and ask what carpets are hotels using for hallways, banquet rooms, etc. find one that isn't red plaid and have it bound to be a rug size you need.

Pick something you can live with for at least 5 years, though, because it seems that nothing can stain or damage that stuff ;)

Lol about the ugly plaid rug that wouldn't die.

Sounds like I am on the right track. Thank you all!

Yes, man-made material. I'm taking care of my sister's elderly cat who gets sick on a certain rug after eating. The rug cleans up like a dream. It was to be an inexpensive placeholder for a better quality rug, but it's turned out to be the best choice for my house having 4 animals and 3 kids.

I wish the vet had been able to pinpoint the problem with her. I think it's anxiety, LOL! She always hid at my sister's, but seems more sociable here. Still a little freaky, though, poor thing.

A wool oriental rug in a darker busy pattern won't show any stains. The main thing with any area rug is that you can lift the stained part up and basically rinse with water till the stain is gone. Blot dry as much as possible, then place a plastic bin or something similar under the rug to lift it up and allow air flow and the rug to dry more quickly. A fan pointed at the wet area will also speed up circulation and drying.

Alex, try the grain free foods if you haven't already. It could be food allergies which are very common in cats and can cause them to vomit like that. Probiotics are also available to add to their food.

I am very tempted to try one of those synthetics and indoor outdoor rugs after reading these reviews.

I think that a pattern is more important than the actual material. Having said that, I have wool Orientals that have survived little kids on bikes and dogs.

We solved the cat barf problem by feeding small amounts of wet food 5 or 6 times a day. I know as soon as I spoon a little too much food into his bowl I'm going to be hearing that hacking sound within 15 minutes.

His stomach just can't hold much at a time. I once read that you should feed a cat an amount the size of a small mouse (yuck).

Dee

I had a polypropelyne rug in our TV room for about 15 year. You could not wear that thing out. It looked as good as the day I bought it when I finally did a changeout of colors and switched it out.

Koolaid, dog "training", nothing caused any issues. Since polypro isn't porous, it cannot absorb anything.

I was SO sick of that rug and ready for a change after so long.

And wouldn't you know that the dog ripped up a spot on the new wool rug about a week after I had it.

Definitely not wool in an old house and in the South. I have two used to be beautiful wool rugs with moth holes, one with termite holes sigh. Add a few cats and hairballs and ...
Had to throw out the ones upstairs and these will be going soon once I find replacements..NOT wool :))

Thanks everyone! I will look for polypropylene and a pattern. May be after the holidays before I can find time to look at this point, but it's good to at least have a direction on material.

Hmm I disagree. I have a wool Oriental rug that is fantastic with stains. Probably because it is hand knotted and so dense that spills just sit on top and do not soak down in. It has been vomited on by my cats and is very easy to take of. A good wool rug will last many years and wears like iron!

I have wool and silk. I also have three cats, a 7 year old, a dog who is a nervous pooper, a monkey and fifteen ferrets. (I've never seen the monkey or the ferrets but the mess around here leads me to believe they are hiding somewhere in the house).

They are very easily cleaned and hold up extremely well. We actually got rid of the poly whatever they were rugs after a couple of months in the house because I just couldn't stand to walk on them. You can get good wool rugs on ebay from the 40's for cheap. They last a lifetime or three. In the dining room I do have a dark one, but I have lighter ones in other rooms, including a silk/wool blended carpet in a room we party in and they all take a beating and keep on ticking :)

I grew up with oriental rugs, and that's what I've had in my homes, so I'm not knowledgeable about the man made materials.
I like wool because it's a natural product and wears well. If I were to go with a man made product, I'd look into what is the safest health wise. I'm leery of all the chemicals that go into our furnishings these days, and I'm not a health nut at all.

We've had a tufted 100% wool rug in our living room for 10 years. We have two Newfoundland dogs who shed, drool, track in more mud than you can imagine and occasionally throw up on the rug. The cat doesn't mind a good barf there every once in a while either. And my husband and I have spilled at least 10 glasses of red wine on it over the years. Every single thing has cleaned up like a dream. Granted, it's a darker pattern (I wouldn't dare touch a white or light rug), but it's pretty impressive. We spot clean as necessary and have sent it out to be cleaned by a rug cleaner for about $100 each time (it's 6x9) and I think it's got many, many years left in it. And I wouldn't call it an heirloom-quality rug either. So wool works for me and I'm sticking with it.

CRL-- you got lots of good responses about wool vs synthetics already, so I thought I would chime in with my experience with Flor tiles. There are many different styles of Flor and some work fine in a traditional home. We have had it in our heavily used LR for years and it has survived band practise and wine and many other challenges . I have a small box of extra tiles hiding under the sofa which I probably someday will need. As for now, if a tile gets heavily soiled, I just pull it up and run it under water in my kitchen and wipe it with a microfiber cloth. We have been quite happy with it. The only downside is that it is not a sit on the floor type of rug because it has no padding. That works fine with us (and it is easier for my MIL's walker to navigate between our hardwood floor and the carpetted area). If you like to laze aroun on the floor, though, it isn't optimal.

Thank you all so much!