Curious About Carpets?

By Laura Horwitz HIPhome Columnist December 31, 1969

The quiet, comfort, and variety of carpets that are available make it a popular choice for the majority of household rooms. With all of the options available today, how do you know what type of carpet is right for your home? Here's where to begin.

Three Main Types of Carpets

• Wool: the most durable and stain-resistant carpet choice, it's also washable. Wool releases dirt instead of absorbing it. It also bounces quickly back into shape in areas with heavy foot traffic.
• Nylon: after wool, this is the strongest fiber used for carpets, and newer versions are just as soil resistant. The color lasts a long time and nylon itself is extremely resilient and abrasion-resistant.
• Olefin: this type is mostly used in commercial buildings because it's practically impermeable to stains. It is easily cleaned as well because tough detergents do not destroy this material.

Once you factor in cost, however, the popularity of the above three types might surprise you. For the most commonly sold carpets, nylon ranks at 75%, olefin at 22%, and wool remains the elite and elusive choice at 3%.  

Carpet Versus Flooring

Although many types of flooring options exist, the range of styles and colors in carpeting is far wider, offering you more design choices for your home. New fiber technologies help all three types of carpet last longer, resist stains better, and retain their appearance over time.

Other advantages to carpet include:

• It's softer underfoot, especially on children's knees
• Carpet soundproofs rooms better and is quieter to walk on
• Generally, less expensive than installing new flooring

For all of these reasons, you may want to consider choosing carpet rather than other flooring when remodeling rooms in your home.

Sources

• Floor Facts: Carpet Guide
• HGTV: The Lowdown on Carpets

About the Author
Laura Horwitz has worked as a freelance writer and researcher for five years in both London and the US. She had a monthly landscaping and tips column for the Sussex County magazine RH Review, and her articles have also appeared in Film Focus, 6 Degrees Film, and BizBash magazine.


*Before you apply any of the advice described on the Hip-home.com website, you should consider if the advice is safe and suitable for your individual home situation and consult experts as necessary to evaluate the suitability for your circumstances.