This rug is beautiful and really soft. I'm not just talking about the shag, which is long, but the fabric fibers are really silky feeling. It's similar to a new pair of Uggs and feeling that silky smooth fluff inside.This does make this rug slightly harder to clean than other shag rugs I've had. For stains, I've found what works best is a carpet pet stain remover foam, that you gently work in with a brush, let dry, then vacuum up.This has squished down and flattened in texture over the last month of high traffic but still looks and feels great.