I got a sheepskin rug at the farmer's market a while ago and we love it, it's very nice in front of the fireplace. I was told that it was perfectly fine to use the washer/dryer to clean it so long as there was no heat. So I washed it and the skin turned all slimy and grew so weak that fingers could easily poke through it, it also took a very long time to dry. Now it is finally dry but the skin is still weird feeling, not like leather but like dried-out icky skin. Does it sound like I ruined my rug, or like the skin was never properly cured in the first place?

When I was a kid we always had a sheepskin rug in front of the fire and I remember the skin on those feeling like soft leather, they were also washed time after time and lasted more than a decade. Why is mine so different? Is there any way to fix it?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!