To think carpets are grim?

[flawedflooring]

I never gave much thought to carpets until a couple of years ago. We moved from a house with wooden floors to one with carpets and it grosses me out a bit.

I used to mop our floors once a week and the water would be pretty filthy. Now that we have carpets all that grossness is just sitting there in the carpet. Not to mention that I have been potty training DC too, which brings its own new level of grossness. Obviously I vacuum and could get it professionally cleaned, but in between times it'd still be pretty grim.

Also, with wool carpets there's a good chance you'll have some moths making themselves a nice home within, and now, knowing what we know about micro plastics, synthetic doesn't seem like the best plan either.

I'm just baffled, why do they exist? I know they're nice and warm underfoot, but so are slippers. We lived briefly in a country where carpets were nonexistent and now I understand why. Are we the only country that covers our houses in something that's pretty impossible to clean properly?!

YABU = carpets are the best thing ever
YANBU = carpets are grim

[Somethingkindaoooo]

I agree!
I have a tiny stretch of carpet at the top of the stairs. I would have flooring there too, but I'm worried people will slip
🙃

[HotCoffeeAndPorridge]

I love carpets! Cosy, soft, warm and you can hoover them you know!! :) I get your point though!

[OwlinaTree]

I like carpet in the bedroom and lounge. We have moved to a house with carpet in the dining room and after 9 months here it's pretty grim. I would never have carpet in a kitchen or bathroom.

[LaurieMarlow]

We have them upstairs. I wouldn’t be without them tbh.

I get why much warmer countries don’t have carpet, but given our climate and the amount of drafty, poorly insulated houses we have, I find carpets much cosier.

They should be hoovered and cleaned regularly obviously, but I can’t get too het up about dirt they harbour that I can’t see, because it makes no difference to our lives.

[kazza446]

I used to be a hard floor voter but we moved into a home with carpets and I’m now a convert. The home is warmer and I think more homely. Hard floors just feel sterile. Husband is pushing to replace some carpets with wood but I’m not too keen !

[SociallyDistantPenguin]

YABU.
I live in a flat. Wooden floors are noisy for people in the flat underneath, so apart from the hallway/kitchen/bathroom carpets are better. It does mean being a 'shoes off' household though.

[echt]

I agree. I have carpets where the original builders didn't lay hardwood floors. I've minimised carpets to stairs and upstairs bedrooms which are chipboard.

Most of the house is hardwood with rugs.

Having said that, I would have been concerned about my dog slipping on wooden stairs. Not to mention me.

[Studycast]

Same here op. Never gave them a second thought when I lived in the UK. Now I've lived abroad without any carpets at all for a number of years, I could never go back, especially as we have dogs.

To me now, having a carpet is tantamount to nailing down a large bit of fabric on your floor and not washing it properly for a number of years!

We have wooden floors throughout and they are so easy to keep clean.

The added yuck factor here is that most puppies are house- trained to puppy pads, so it would be tempting fate to put carpets or rugs down anyway.

[Rosebel]

I like carpets, much warmer feel to them than a house with wooden floors. I do think carpets are going out of fashion though. Can you not get rid of the carpets,if they bother you that much.

[Bellesavage]

They have their place. Never in a bathroom kitchen or dining room but living room and bedrooms need the soft feeling under your feet, noise reduction. I'd probably go for hard floor in my living room once my DC are older but sitting and playing on a wooden floor with them was torture in our old house.

[bettertimesarecomingnow]

We have carpets in the bedrooms but that's all.

It's too cold here for wooden floors in bedrooms!

[HaveYouSeenMyBones]

Much prefer carpet in all the cosier rooms tbh. They tend to get cleaned every three months or so but I still understand they hold dirt in between. But then, dirt is everywhere anyway.

I lived somewhere every hot for a couple of years with marble floors. Necessary in the dust and heat but hard in your feet, dangerous when wet and when you dropped something like a glass, the shards travelled 10m it more. Not for me.

[Alsohuman]

Our house is 400 years old and draughty, it would be like living in a barn without carpets.

[skylarkdescending]

I agree with you OP and when I move house I won't have any. For now though I'm stuck with them so I bought a carpet washer-hoover thing (a compact version). DP was visibly gipping at the grey stinky water that came out. They are so clean and fresh now though!

I highly recommend one!

[minipie]

If I lived in a modern house with good sound and heat insulation, or in a warm country, I wouldn’t have carpets.

Since I live in a Victorian house in the UK, and my kids sound like baby elephants, I have carpets upstairs and love them.

[LazyFace]

Not sure how... when I lived in a flat with lino all over the mopping water was never filthy even when we had a dog.
I love carpets but I have a carpet cleaner I use about every 3 months. It feels a lot cosier with carpets and they're not draughty as wooden floors.

[TheCatsHouse]

It depends. We have hard floors throughout the lower levels of our house and I like the fact I can mop etc. We also have carpet in bedrooms and I get a professional to come and properly clean it. I also have a good vacuum. The trouble with hard floors is they are not at all cosy and lets face it the UK is not warm all the time

[Hoppinggreen]

DH is from another EU country (not Med) and he can’t understand why we have carpets here. We only have them on the stairs
I hoover and mop daily (largely due to pets) and I can’t imagine how gross carpets would be. When we first moved in here there was actually carpet in the bathroom - despite it being a new build and us taking it up within months it was pretty rank. I think no carpets helps DDs asthma too
I do have to admit though that when we go to my Mums everyone tends to lie on the carpeted lounge floor.

[Justnot]

I love a carpet - They are dirty but that is good, they trap the dirt and the dust and the hair so it’s not floating around your house like tumbleweed and then you can hoover it up. Noise reduction, extra seating, good for babies and mobile phones.

[SimonJT]

I have original wood floors throughout my entire flat (old printworks). I do have a few rugs, one under my bed and one under one of the sofas, but they’re heavy cotton rugs so I can have them cleaned every three months and I steam clean them every two weeks. I also have a strict no shoe policy in my flat.

I really dislike carpets, when I had a rental flat I replaced all the flooring, the thought of living with someone elses carpets was gross. To me its no different to using the previous tenants bedding or towels.

[Northernsoullover]

I have voted YABU but you are right..if I stopped to think about it. I use my carpets to walk on and nothing else. I don't have pets or small children though.
I would hate to have a carpet free house it feels so cold. I lived in Spain previously and obviously didn't miss them one bit. But in the UK? Wall to wall please

[Justnot]

It does need to be a new clean carpet when you move in though, other people’s carpets are gross.....

[trappedsincesundaymorn]

I used to swear by hard floors..until the day I slipped, fell badly and broke my arm in 2 places. Carpets everywhere now apart from the kitchen and bathroom which both have heavy vinyl flooring with extra grip.

[BogRollBOGOF]

Carpets are warm, soft and give a gentler accoustic.

The previous occupant of our house was into crap laminate (the kitchen being dangerously slippery due to the wrong type, now vinyl). Within 6 months the lounge was redecorated including carpet and it is so much more relaxing and comfortable in there.

Hard floors are horrid in a bedroom. The dust skimming under the bed and gathering. I prefer carpet to hold it and it vacuums up. The bedroom couldn't be mopped anyway or it would damage the bed. Carpet doesn't show up every speck of dust or hair and except in cases of specific allergies, they are not harmful anyway.

Hard floors are fine for a kitchen/ bathroom/ utility.

[dancinguser]

If you'd have asked me this a week ago I would have totally disagreed with you as I love carpets for how homely they feel, however after discovering a moth infestation in our (rented) apartment this week I would much prefer wooden floors right now.