Pile Height Explained: Low, Medium, Shag

Pile is the depth of the yarn standing up from the backing. It is measured in millimetres and it changes more about living with a rug than any other single specification.

The categories

• Flatweave — under 3 mm, essentially no pile. Kilims and rag rugs.
• Low pile — roughly 3–10 mm. Most washable rugs, most office carpet.
• Medium pile — 10–20 mm. The typical "plush" domestic rug.
• High pile / shag — 20 mm and up. Comfortable, difficult.

What low pile buys you

Doors clear it. Dining chairs slide instead of catching. Robot vacuums cross it. It dries in hours rather than days, which is what makes machine washing practical at all. And dirt sits nearer the surface where a vacuum can reach it, rather than migrating to the base.

What it costs you

Softness underfoot, mainly. A low-pile rug feels like a textile; a shag feels like a cushion. Low pile also shows the floor beneath more readily — it will not hide an uneven subfloor.

Where each belongs

Low pile for halls, kitchens, dining rooms, offices and anywhere with wheels or chairs. Medium or high pile for a bedroom you walk on barefoot, or a sitting room where nobody eats. If a room has to do both, low pile is the compromise that fails less often.