I made sure to allow some time for the rugs to air out just in case, but it wasn’t a horrible plastic smell, just the standard smell of a newout of factory type of smell that went away within a few days. It took about a week to flatten, but once it was down and situated, it is so fluffy! I added this to my daughters’ nursery, with the intention of being their “carpet”, so they had an extra layer of fluff while playing in their room. I do have an additional rug on top of it, and it doesn’t slide or anything which has been awesome. I wish I had been able to get a bigger size, but the dimensions would have made me need to cut some off, so I sized down, and I’m glad I did! I like the rug enough I would order a slightly smaller size to have it than choose another rug