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New carpet

(30 Posts)
kittylester Fri 06-Mar-20 17:16:42

We are looking for a new carpet for our redesigned lounge.

I always thought that 80% wool, 20% man made carpets were best. But, whilst out shopping today, we popped into a carpet shop where most were made of polypropylene even expensive ones.

Any comments or advice please.

watermeadow Tue 10-Mar-20 20:12:55

I’ve just had new carpet in sitting room, stairs and bedrooms, so a big investment.
I chose 80%wool/20% man made because this is a better quality, harder wearing and feels best underfoot.
I don’t wear polyester clothes and sleep in pure cotton. Natural fibres are so much nicer and don’t pollute the sea with microscopic residues.

NannyPT Tue 10-Mar-20 22:26:27

I found that the polyamide carpets are soft and hard wearing. I would not buy wool carpets again having learned the hard way that carpet moths rather like them too. I had no idea where the small moths were coming from until I found bare patches in the carpet as well as the white cast off husk things on the floor. I presume that the carpet moths were attracted to the wool blend carpet in the hall, stairs and landing, I didn't get any on the living room carpet that was a man made fibre base. The problem is though of course we are far too old by the time we find these things out!

Nannytopsy Tue 10-Mar-20 23:16:56

Just bought 100% wool Berber carpets for two rooms. Fingers crossed. Only problem so far is that our elderly cat gets his claws stuck and falls over ?

Callistemon Tue 10-Mar-20 23:55:40

kitty I have sent you a pm

Hetty58 Wed 11-Mar-20 00:00:18

I think that carpets are very old fashioned and unhygienic - whatever they're made from. Solid flooring and easily replaced area rugs are so much better.

Callistemon Wed 11-Mar-20 00:03:50

I would probably rather do that, with underfloor heating, but I doubt that we will change ours now.

kittylester Wed 11-Mar-20 07:25:32

I think I might like that too but it isn't practical in a largely open plan house with high ceilings - wed freeze to death!

Thank you all for your input. As I said above, I am of the generation who believed that 80% wool was the way to go but the polypropylene have a 20 year guarantee (so should see us out! grin) and feel much more luxurious than wool.

Topsy - I'd love a Berber but we have 3 cats. grin

The thought of moths is probably the decider though.shock

Curlywhirly Wed 11-Mar-20 08:18:25

In my experience I think stains are easier to remove from wool blend carpets; I think the manmade ones tend to 'hold' a stain ( a bit like clothes, I find it's easier to remove a stain from a natural fibre, than polyester).

dragonfly46 Wed 11-Mar-20 08:19:09

I find wool carpets do not stain like synthetic ones but it could be that the new synthetics are better.

Hetty58 Wed 11-Mar-20 08:40:48

My son was in a rented house where carpet moth larvae ate/destroyed all the edges. The house next door had them too!

Franbern Wed 11-Mar-20 08:49:07

Watching this thread with great interest. The flat I moved into few months back is fully carpeted. I was horrified at first as I had solid floor (Amtico) on ground floor of my house.
But now I am here I am rather taken with it. So cosy to walk about everywhere.
It is good quality carpet here, no idea what it is, but will want to change it out probably in about a years time - so will then have to make that decision of Amtico v carpet.
When people have had their living rooms done, how good have the fitters been about moving furniture around?

JuliaM Wed 11-Mar-20 09:02:15

Modern man made fibres in a good quality carpet are totally scrubable, they even withstand bleach if you look for those with this logo. Having said that though, choosing a colour that is practical and avoiding the very pale creams and beiges help a carpet to stay looking good for longer. Carpets with Bluetones are also prone to fading in strong sunlight, no matter what fibre they are made from. I agree regarding the latest trend for solid floors though, most of our downstairs bar the Lounge is now tiled in a very nice slate.effect that looks quite realistic, and reminds me of the Cornish cottages that traditionally use this material as a feature.

dragonfly46 Wed 11-Mar-20 09:03:18

Franburn we have always had amazing fitters who moved everything a bit at a time. It depends where you go. We used the old Fenwicks in Leicester who are no more.

JuliaM Wed 11-Mar-20 09:20:32

We had fitters from the Carpetright chain store and they were quite good regards moving some items of furniture such as our Sofa and my rather heavy reclining chair. However, l doubt that they would empty a full room for you, we boxed up and moved some.of the smaller pieces of furniture into the dining room ready for them, ifi remember rightly,the fitting fee included upto 5 pieces of furniture being lifted over onto the new carpet as it was being laid. They also requested that all orniments and valubles be removed from the room whilst they were fitting and stowed away safely, as they could not be held responsible for any breakages. We boght a Kosset branded carpet in a medium somkey grey colour to compliment the colour of the tiling, and are very pleased with it.

annsixty Wed 11-Mar-20 09:29:23

In 60 years of home owning, I have never encountered carpet moth.
In the early days our carpets were always all wool, now 80/20 mix.
I have never had a carpet wear out but after time they start to look shabby.
I agree about blue and green fading.
If I were renewing today it would be engineered wood for all the ground floor and carpet for landing and bedrooms.
I have open plan stairs with wooden treads but currently have carpet pads for safety reasons.
Good luck kitty you have to live with your choice for a long time.

kittylester Wed 11-Mar-20 09:37:23

I was going to come back and say that the synthetic carpets we have seen are bleach cleanable - is that word? - and incredibly soft, much softer than wool, but it is a bit of a leap for someone who 'believes' in wool carpets!!

Anyway, my main problem is getting DH to accept that my colour choice is the best option!

I loves Fenwicks top floor, Dragonfly. Well, to be fair, I loved the whole of Fenwicks!! sad

dragonfly46 Wed 11-Mar-20 09:53:35

Me too * kitty* really miss the whole store.

Bleach cleanable sounds a bit extreme! We have a very pale grey carpet which is 80/20 and it has had pasta, red wine and blue jeans dye and they have all come out. I admit not easily. However, I have not looked into carpets for a while so believe things have changed.

LadyGracie Wed 11-Mar-20 09:54:09

I’ve always had carpet until we moved into a bungalow 16 months ago, the master bedroom is carpeted the rest is wooden floors, next week I’m having carpet laid in the living room and hall, I couldn’t put up with wooden floors and rugs any longer.
The second and third bedrooms will still be wooden, kitchen and bathroom ceramic tiles and sunroom cushion floor.

glammanana Wed 11-Mar-20 10:20:09

I have just carpet in the bedroom for warmth under foot,the rest of the bungalow is wooden floored and so airy and easy to keep clean I would never swop back to fully carpeted.

lemongrove Wed 11-Mar-20 11:40:58

Having moved house many times and having had experience of wooden floors, slate floors etc and all kinds of carpets....
I now go for manmade fibre carpets as being the best all round.
These days they are excellent ( nothing like the first ones more than 60 years ago)? soft, easy to clean and no carpet moth worries.
Wooden floors and rugs look good and are ‘on trend’ but show dust easily, are hard on the feet, and create noise.

FlexibleFriend Wed 11-Mar-20 18:22:15

I've got a really soft and expensive bleach cleanable carpet in my lounge, and 80% wool carpet in my dining room, hall and stairs and of the two much prefer the bleach cleanable. I would always opt for it in the future and to be fair they were equally expensive but the lounge carpet can cope with anything unlike the wool carpet and as I have an elderly dog the carpet cleaner has earn't it's keep recently.

Magnolia62 Thu 12-Mar-20 18:53:30

All upstairs carpeted in man made fibres. Lounge and hallway have laminate and rugs. Easy to keep clean and ceramic tiles in kitchen diner. I would never have wool carpets as we found carpet moths in lounge carpet a few years after we moved in. Ugh! The man made ones are sctubbable and much preferable in my opinion.

watermeadow Thu 12-Mar-20 21:07:34

I like the look of wooden floors. My daughter’s house looked stunning with bare floors, no curtains and white walls but it was always cold and draughty and she’s now had the bedrooms carpeted and loves the difference.

GracesGranMK3 Fri 13-Mar-20 09:18:21

Following.