Not EVERY wool is a great wool. Many nylon fibers are far better.

Go to a very good broadloom store. Not to a big box. Look at the broadloom selections in wools and nylons. Create your own custom rug. Stay away from anything with viscose. or polysilk

Good sources? Antrim ....their wools are wonderful textures. You will need to vacuum any on suction only. . Masland......, also Fabrica. Rosecore nylon? Unbeatable! It will outlive you, and many look like wool. Couristan. has many as well.

Failing that.......? Your long term answer is handwoven, low pile.

Squishy? Well. give that up, and forget tufted altogether.

Price, quality , delivery . Pick two. The world is not a fair place.

This is fabulous.....to live for twenty years. NYLON. Rosecore by Stanton Mills. It IS thick and squishy.

Many colorways, PLUS........it is 15" wide and to any length you desire, cut and bound. It isn't cheap. Nothing great is cheap.

https://www.stantoncarpet.com/product/NEXUS%20DAZZLE/CHAMOIS

IMO do not use the beater bar type attachment for wool rugs when vacuuming and I would never put a wool rug at a mud room entry but thats just me I guess. As for good quaity look at oriental rugs if tyou ar elooking for a forever piece . I agree there is really not a good cheap wool rug.

Is polysilk the same as polyester? I have been looking and I haven’t been able to find something I like that is a woven wool rug for under $2000. I keep checking the fabric content when I find a rug that feels good to me and they are almost all polyester (or viscose but I know to avoid that). I did look at Rosecore but I didn’t realize they aren’t all nylon until I looked online later and of course the ones I like are Tencel or some kind of poly blend. I’ll probably go back to look again, though. I’m leaning towards having carpet bound. I want a monochromatic look but with some color variation and a minimalist pattern of some kind, and the blue needs to compliment the rug in the next room.

What size rug are we talking about? Anything of quality that is 8 x 10 or larger is going to be more $$ than $2000. I think area rugs are an investment and good quality 100% wool rugs will literally last a lifetime.

I need 9x12. I think I’ve decided against wool. Mostly because nothing will last a lifetime in my house, even if it’s good quality, so I can’t justify spending more than $2000 on a rug for a high traffic room with kids and a dog, knowing that it may still have to be replaced and that the quality may be questionable at a lower price point. I don’t need a rug to last forever, but I would like to find the best balance between cost and longevity. I can spend more if it will last more than 5 years, less if it won’t, and I want to bypass anything that won’t last at least 3 years if I can. My husband wanted to keep it under $1200 so I already cut other things to comprise and bring the budget up, but if I spend less I can work those things back into the room.

The wool rug in my mudroom is fantastic for that location. It’s thick and heavy and doesn’t move, it’s absorbent, and it’s even comfortable to sit down and put on shoes. But it wasn’t expensive, and the shedding and other downsides would bother me in my family room.

The quote I received to have carpet bound was well under budget, but it was either tencel or a wool viscose blend, I can’t remember which. I think that was for 8x10, but I realized I actually need 8 1/2 x 11 to keep all of the end table legs on it without crowding and I didn’t get a quote for 9x12. Maybe that’s a lot more, I hope not.