new carpets - wool or not?

[OneStepMoreFun]

We need new carpets. I would have gone for wool but have heard a lot recently that non-wool are more hypoallergenic. (I get asthma and DC and I get hayfever) Also heard that these days wool carpets can attract and harbour moths, or get eaten to shreds in months.

But aren't non wool carpets static and hard on the feet?
Haven't bought new carpets since 1997 as this house had ne wones when we moved in, so I haven't a clue where to start and would trust MN opinions more than blogs with possible paid content.

What's a good make to look out for (price up to around £30psm)?

Wool never stops shedding.

So on that basis i wouldnt entertain anything made of wool

I've never liked synthetic. My carpets are 80% wool, 20% synthetic. No moths so far!

I only have carpets upstairs; it's all hard floors (and a rug in the front room) downstairs.

Having never bought a carpet before, I looked in Carpetright etc. Hated the shops and the carpets. Then a colleague recommended me a local independent. Very unprepossesing to look at from the outside, but the best shopping experience. They explained the different weights etc, pulled out samples of underlay for me to jump on. They were brilliant and I am thoroughly happy with the carpets I chose

We got ours from an independent. 100% and bleachable! DS even at 7 is not completely reliable in the middle of the night and I’m a right clumsy clutz so it’s nice to have something so practical. They feel nice as well. At the carpet shop, they got us to take our shoes off to check for softness and we could the take the samples home to check the colour in the right light. Three years they have been down and they look like new.

That should say 100% synthetic

I’ve got synthetic as we needed to replace our wool carpet due to carpet moths! I’ve never found it hard.

I've got both. In living room it's 100% synthetic and bleachable. Feels very soft underfoot and has worn really well. From an independnpent shop.
Stairs and bedrooms all the same 80/20 wool/nylon. Bought from John Lewis, cost about £35/m sq, including fitting. Brilliant service, removed all old carpets, moved all furniture and cleared up behind themselves. Make sure you don't get a long pile carpet for the stairs!

We bought synthetic initially, on the advice of the salesperson. They didn't wear well at all and needed replacing within a couple of years, even after vacuuming they just looked flat and the pile was kind of clumpy.

When we could afford replacements we went to Carpet Right and asked about wool and the salesman was so insistent that we didn't buy wool that it made me suspicious.
I wondered if their business model was that they wanted you to buy the cheaper carpets and therefore replace them much more frequently. Purely because the salesman kept saying "Oh I know what you women are like, why would you want to pay all that money for wool when you'll want a different colour anyway in two years"

We went somewhere else, bought a 80/20 wool mix and they still look really good six or seven years later.

having had a pure wool carpet i would say look at the synthetic ones, mine where it got dirty in the main traffic areas slirped up the dirt and absorbed it and no amount of shampoo and carpet cleaner would get it back to totally clean again, i thought i was lucky that someone gave me this carpet (was about a £3000 carpet yes it was posh) but within a month of it being down i hated it

Thank you all so much for the replies. Lots of different opinions. issey I have that problem with current wool carpets - they just suck up stains and even if you treat the stains immediately and steam clean after, they don't leave.
Sounds like some people love synthetic, others think it ages quickly. No one's mention static build up. Is that not a problem anymore?
I like the osund of Display's wool/synthetic blend. Wonder if that would solve the problems.

Thanks for tips on using independent companies. I'll look into them. Was thinking John Lewis.

We've got a synthetic carpet called Dolce Moda Heathers. We fitted it in our living room 2 1/2 years ago and it looks like new. We like it so much we're now putting it throughout our upstairs too.

It's much easier to keep clean than wool in our experience. I drink raspberry tea and the kids knocked a full mug of dark red tea all over the carpet soon after we got it

It washed out without leaving a mark, and that never would have happened with our old wool carpet.

Had a mid range synthetic that aged very poorly and stained. Heavy traffic areas became completely flattened. An expensive, better quality synthetic might have worn better.

Went for wool a year ago and so far so good- had to clean off vomit recently (the joys) and no mark left. Shed a bit at first but stopped.

Should add carpet only in bedrooms, and no food or drink allowed in the kids' rooms! I would have gone for hard floors everywhere but DH was aghast at the thought.

No static build up here with our synthetics and no flattening of the pile either. Ours probably is mid range price wise.

We have used Tapi for the carpets throughout the house.
Very nice show room and staff.

Our living room carpet is mostly wool (I think 80/20).
We bought it 20 years ago, and then brought it with us when we moved house and had it re-fitted. We aren't a 'shoes off' house, and 2 of my 3 dc are very accident prone. We've had this since they were babies. It still looks as good as new. All other carpets have worn and been replace and worn and been replaced over a MUCH shorter lifespan.
In terms of money, if you can afford the initial outlay then wool is far more hard wearing and better quality.
All that said, the regularity some people decorate, you might prefer to have a carpet you can justify replacing 4 or 5 years down the line. It is more difficult to justify when your current carpet still looks so good.

I can't bear synthetic carpets, they feel slineg to me.

The ones in my previous house seemed to attract dirt too.
Mine are 80/20. I just prefer the feel. I'm hoping never to have to change them (like many, only in the stairs and in bedrooms).

I went to Tapi, I've used then twice and found them very good

*slimey!

I won't have wool carpets. You have to watch for carpet beetles and moths and they stink when you shampoo them, which you also have to be careful of as they can also shrink.

I was pleased when we moved that there are no carpets downstairs, and was planning on removing the upstairs ones completely as they just attract dust and grime.

Actually, on reflection I don't like carpets at all. Hard floors are much easier to keep clean.

@BackforGood - we're definitely not the type to change carpets every five years. This one is already about twenty years old. We'll be in this house for no more than about ten years, so I would like it to still be looking OK when we sell. Our current carpet has only started to look rubbish for the past year or so.