The Top 5 Outdoor Rugs

The great outdoors has long been a place to breathe in fresh air, watch your children play, exercise, and spend quality time with family and friends. We love hanging out on our deck, patio, and in the backyard year-round. The only problem? Walking on the floor outside is dirty, cold, and uncomfortable! One way to fix this is to get an outdoor rug for all your exterior surfaces. We went on the hunt for the best outdoor rugs and picked the top 5 for you to check out.

Nourison Aloha Indoor/Outdoor Floral Rug

Add a burst of color and texture to your patio or backyard

The Nourison Aloha Indoor/Outdoor Floral Rug is easy to clean because of the low-pile texture, but colors remain bright.

Best Overall

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The Nourison rug was crowned the best outdoor rug in our tests because it’s easy to keep clean, colorful, and comfortable to walk on. We appreciated that it was low pile at .25 inches because that means less dirt, leaves, and grime gets caught inside the fibers.

We felt like this rug did a great job of brightening up our space but still matching our existing decor. After a month of use, the colors are still as brilliant as the day we got the rug so we suspect the colors will stand up to the sunshine all year.

Pros:

Comes in 4 colors and 11 sizes
Doesn’t shed much
Easy to spot clean
Weather-resistant

Cons:

Slippery without using a rug pad

Unique Loom Trellis Collection Outdoor Rug

Keep it classy with this rug that comes in a lot of sizes, shapes, and colors

The Unique Loom Trellis Collection Outdoor Rug is very versatile because it comes in a ton of different options and can be put anywhere you need a soft surface to walk on.

Most Versatile

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The second place goes to this rug from Unique Loom, which comes in a variety of classy colors, sizes, shapes, and styles. It has a 1/6″ pile and seems to be of great quality.

We didn’t notice any shedding after a month of use, which is a relief for a rug that gets so much daily use. We picked the rust-red color which blended in well with our existing earthy decor on the patio.

Pros:

Comes in 30+ colors and shapes
Available in 15 sizes
Resistant to stains, water, mold, and mildew
Low pile
Doesn’t shed at all

Cons:

The cleaning procedure is a bit laborious
No grip on the back

Fab Habitat Reversible Outdoor Rug

Feel good about buying this rug because it's made of recycled plastic

The Fab Habitat Reversible Outdoor Rug is really cool because it offers a variety of different patterns, and can be reversed for an easy decor change.

Most Eco-Friendly

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We felt like this rug was the most durable and eco-friendly because it’s actually made out of recycled plastic straws. This was a rug I felt good about buying because of this, and because the company guarantees that these rugs are not made by children.

The patterns are really cool and remind me of foreign lands. Best of all, you can change up the pattern by just flipping it over. I chose the Serowe black rug, and it blended in great in my backyard.

Pros:

Easy to clean
Reversible
Comes in 5 sizes and 6 patterns
Made from recycled plastic & guaranteed child-labor-free
Resistant to moisture, mold, mildew, and UV light
Includes 1-year warranty

Cons:

Wrinkles easily
The texture is not very comfortable to walk on

Unique Loom Outdoor Modern Collection Outdoor Flatweave Rug

Natural shades of beige, tan, and burgundy accent a neutral colored patio

The Unique Loom Outdoor Modern Collection Outdoor Flatweave Rug will blend in with your landscaping seamlessly with its terracotta look.

Best Outdoor Rug for Neutral Decor

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Another winner from Unique Loom, this outdoor rug blends in beautifully with any desert landscape. The low pile of this rug make it seem like it will last for many years to come, and it seems to dry pretty quickly after getting wet.

I tried this on my patio, which gets a lot of foot traffic, and it still looked brand new after 3 weeks.

Pros:

Comes in dozens of shapes, sizes, and colors
Resists mold, mildew, water, and stains
We did not see any shedding after a month
Low pile – only 0.16″ thick

Cons:

Requires a few steps to clean
The backing is slippery and requires a rug

FH Home Indoor/Outdoor Recycled Plastic Rug

Durable for use by kids, dogs, cats, and the whole neighborhood

The FH Home Indoor/Outdoor Recycled Plastic Rug is easy to clean, colorful, and reversible for an all-around great outdoor rug.

Most Colorful

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We have two dogs, so durability is important when it comes to rugs. The FH Home rugs come in bright colors that are reversible to the inverse of each color pattern. This can help you change up your look easily.

The recycled materials are durable and clean off easily, much to the delight of this mom. After a month of use, the colors seem just as bright as when I first got this outdoor rug. I suspect this rug will last through many summers full of dripping popsicles and wet feet.

Pros:

Comes in 4 sizes and 11 colors
Reversible design
UV, mold, mildew, stain, and weather-resistant
Made from recycled materials
Easy to clean

Cons:

Requires a non-slip pad underneath
The plastic texture is uncomfortable on bare feet

Frequently Asked Questions

What are outdoor rugs made out of?

Most outdoor rugs are made of polypropylene plastic, which is an amazing thermoplastic polymer.

Here are some of the benefits of polypropylene:

It has a high melting point
It doesn’t break down from interactions with water, acids, bases, or detergents
It’s very durable and resists cracking and stress
It can be recycled

Can outdoor rugs get wet?

Most outdoor rugs are water-resistant and dry quickly in the sun.

Where should I put my outdoor rug?

Put a rug anywhere you want to protect the ground or want a soft spot to walk. For example your backyard, patio, deck, pool area, underneath couches, etc.

What should I look for in an outdoor rug?

A couple of characteristics you want to see in an outdoor rug are as follows: