Flokati Rug

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A Flokati rug is a plush, wool rug. They date back to 5th Century Greece, where they were used by Vlachs shepherds, near Samarina, Greece, which is the highest village in the Pindos mountains.

After the rug is hand-woven from 100% wool, each flokati rug is placed, for up to forty hours, in a soap-and–chemical-additive-free whirlpool bath filled with water from canal-channeled mountain streams from the Pindos river. It then emerges decadently thick because water pressure has caused its pile to swell. The flokati rug then is hung up to dry naturally, and “graded’ according to the weight of its wool. The heaviest, most luxurious flokati rugs weigh in at 4000 grams per square meter.

Even though these rugs have been a part of Greek tradition for centuries they are also a favorite of contemporary designers. Although many people prefer to them in their natural white, or off-white, state, flokati rugs are available in a variety of colors.

Flokati rugs became well-known as a prize on the 1980s TV game show Press Your Luck, where it often became the butt of jokes.