Flokati-Me-Not

I generally like to share good ideas and show pretty pictures of successful design / stagings / solutions, etc. but in this instance, I'm gonna tell you what NOT to do.

Let me start by saying we have a Flokati rug in our master bath.  It's warm, cozy, and withstands the wet feet as we pad across the bathroom from the shower.  Best of all, it's easy to care for with my dog's brush and the cold, hand-wash (light to no spin) cycle of our front loading washer.  What is a Flokati rug, you ask?  I'm glad you asked.  

The origin of the modern day Flokati was a serendipitous moment.  I won't go into all the history, but it is interesting, and you can read about it HERE.  But for those of you who like pretty pictures, here is a photo of the natural, white Greek rug:

Obviously, this isn't a photo of the rug in my bathroom.
This photo is courtesy of The Real Rug Company.

As I mentioned, I love our Flokati rug because it's cozy on the feet and easy to maintain.  Well...it's easy to maintain when you are paying attention.  

Here is what ours now looks like as it's drying in the sun after one of those "easy" washes:

Let me give you a better visual.  This is what it is supposed to look like up close:

Ooooohhhhh...FURRY!
Again, not our rug.  Photo courtesy of shag-arearugs.net.

Here is a close up of our sad Flokati.  It doesn't look quite as inviting to the bare bottoms of your feet, does it?  Sigh.

This is an even closer upper of the sadness:

What happened to cause such devastation?  Simply put, I washed it in hot water.  AND it got spun.  I wasn't thinking!  Oh, the depravity!  The Moose went tinkle on his furry Flokati friend and all I was thinking about was the sanitary aspects of walking across the rug in my bare feet...hence, the hot cycle.  Another deep sigh.  If I just woulda / coulda / shoulda just added some natural bleach to kill the ick and run it on a cold cycle with low or no spin, it would still be pretty.  

But how can you be mad at a pooch with a face like this:

This is his embarrassed look.
He knew he's was a bad boy.

So what items have you ruined by not paying attention to what you were doing at the time?  And have I told you about the sweater of my husband's that I shrank shortly after we were married?  I think it might have fit The Moose (aka "Maximuus") it was so small...which is a minor miracle since my hubs is 6'3" and not prone to being mistaken as skinny.