Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Wool vs man-made carpets

115 replies

Indecisivelurcher · 30/12/2020 20:14

Talk to me about your carpets! I would like to get a wool mix 80/20, it's natural, warm, hard wearing and long lasting 15yrs maybe. Apparently better for air quality and in a fire?! However, less easy to remove stains, apparently have to get at them quick, risk of moths.

Dh would prefer a polypropylene or nylon man-made carpet, which would be more stain proof - you can even bleach clean (although why on earth you'd need to!) Downsides are not as long lasting although looking at one that says 10yrs, not natural so made with oils and won't degrade after disposal.

This is to go up the stairs, hallway and 3 bedrooms. Kids aged 3 and 6, ddog who does not really go upstairs and dcat who sleeps up there. We plan to stay in this house at least primary school, may move when we've got huge teenagers.

Really appreciate any voices of experience to inform this costly purchase 🙏

OP posts:
Doodlepip23 · 30/12/2020 21:07

Yep, wool carpet in our dining room, after a few years we noticed moths and been battling them this year. Likely to replace the carpet next year. Wouldn’t go for wool again. The little blighters have been eating it and we’ve got threadbare patches.

bigbluebus · 30/12/2020 21:08

We've got 80/20 wool carpets in living and dining room. They've been down 15 years and their predecessors 13 years. We only changed them due to building work. We have never had a moth problem - didn't even know if was a thing with carpets. 2 of our bedrooms also have 80/20 which has been down for 28 years (rooms not used much) and are still in perfect condition.

lifestooshort123 · 30/12/2020 21:38

We have all-wool tartan carpets. We had them fitted 10 years ago and they look like new, warm underfoot and easy to clean (please don't tell the moth family where we live).

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Home improvement
Original poster
Indecisivelurcher · 30/12/2020 21:45

I genuinely don't know what to do now. Dh is more firmly synthetic.

OP posts:
TildaKauskumholm · 30/12/2020 22:18

Is there a fire risk with polypropylene carpets? Also wondering re new stairs carpet.

Original poster
Indecisivelurcher · 30/12/2020 22:23

I think when they measure, I'm going to ask what we've got now! If we've got wool then hopefully new wool no different...

OP posts:
jillypill · 30/12/2020 22:24

We have wool, love wool but have had fecking moths.
Next house I'm sticking to do floors & rugs.

Original poster
Indecisivelurcher · 30/12/2020 22:27

@TildaKauskumholm not a fire risk per se, I just got it off here www.britishwool.org.uk/carpets

OP posts:
FlaviaAlbiaWantsLangClegBack · 30/12/2020 22:27

There’s carpet beetles in the UK too, they can fly in your windows...

eurochick · 30/12/2020 22:27

My family's business was carpet and I would always go for wool on areas that will get a lot of wear. It is simply more springy and will look less worn. We have 80/20 or 100% wool in our living room and HSL, and cheaper man made carpets in the bedrooms.

We've suffered with clothes moths in this house but the little bastards don't seem to have munched the carpets yet. I think this is more of a problem than it used to be as certain treatment chemicals used on the fibres have been banned. I wouldn't let it deter me though.

Original poster
Indecisivelurcher · 30/12/2020 22:27

Loving all the biodiversity 😁

OP posts:
FlaviaAlbiaWantsLangClegBack · 30/12/2020 23:13

Yeah, just don't do what I did when I saw the woolly bears and go awwh a cute little caterpillar and gently escort it outside. Kill the little gits without mercy.

We got a couple under a window where a bird was nesting and didn't realise what they were initially. They're harmless in theory except to your belongings but I don't want to live them them.

DennisTMenace · 30/12/2020 23:36

Moths moths moths moths bastardy moths.

I had 50/50 which stained easily, was itchy to sit on and showed where people walked on it a lot in the part of the lounge that is used as a corridor. I have wooden floors there now and synthetic on the stairs. Tried getting in an exterminator and home treatments, but they came right back. I hope the 50% that was synthetic gave then indigestion!

Rosebuddydo · 30/12/2020 23:53

I love wool but watched moths destroy my mother in laws carpet and so I ended up avoiding it for myself.

ErrolTheDragon · 31/12/2020 00:01

Blimey... I'm nearly 60 and had no idea moths were a serious problem for carpets.Confused
We have wool nearly everywhere now. The bedrooms used to be artificial, not nearly as nice a feel. The one exception is the office, where we wanted something more compatible with the chairs... hardwearing office type of stuff.

AlwaysLatte · 31/12/2020 00:30

I have to say that although I prefer wool, mitts can be a problem as others have said. We had John Lewis out to measure and fit carpets all of downstairs except hall, bathroom, dining room and kitchen. Also fitted two flights of stairs and two landings. One of the rooms had to be treated for moth infestation and now a second room has eggs and moths. When we replaced our living room carpet I assumed we'd get wool but the salesman recommended against it with two boys and a dog. I reluctantly agreed to get cheaper man made carpet and it's incredibly hard wearing and easy to keep clean. A big surprise!

AlwaysLatte · 31/12/2020 00:36

Moths, not mitts!

QueenPawPaws · 31/12/2020 00:53

Mine are bleach/man made type as the cat likes to over groom and throw up as a hobby Hmm
Pics - beige one is 13 years old, grey is about 18 months

Wool vs man-made carpets
Wool vs man-made carpets
PegasusReturns · 31/12/2020 01:47

I’ve always had wool but was persuaded to buy PP for my hall stairs and landing 18mths ago. It wasn’t cheap but looks dreadful. Really flat and worn, with a sheen like a Top Man suit.

I’m replacing it with wool as soon as they can get out to do the fitting.

User9574 · 31/12/2020 02:19

I must have a mix as I had a few moths then discovered they had made a few holes under boxes. How they burrough into the carpet I don't know.

I have heard wool is more expensive or harder to deep clean.

I feel like newer made carpets must wear better as my carpet looks great five years on , apart from the hidden moth damage (£450 to Rentokil and £10 on a second hand freezer to freeze all clothes).

User9574 · 31/12/2020 02:21

And I have seen two bastard moths since.

Bluntness100 · 31/12/2020 07:06

I'm nearly 60 and had no idea moths were a serious problem for carpets

I’m fifty two and never experienced it thank goodness. A quick google says a really good Hoover, used regularly, and ensuring no food particles on the floor, goes a long way in preventing it, because that’s what they feed off.

Original poster
Indecisivelurcher · 31/12/2020 07:12

Trouble is in bedrooms you've got big pieces of furniture that won't be vacuumed under regularly, wardrobes and divans would have to be emptied and moved. I think I'm still camp wool but dh even more camp poly. Going to ask the carpet seller whether there is a big problem with moths, as kind of guessing more people with issues with wool drawn to comment on this thread. And also ask him what our existing carpet is made from. I suspect one is wool and the other poly. If we've got wool and no issues in 4yrs, seems a good sign.

OP posts:
Kpo58 · 31/12/2020 08:31

My carpets are synthetic as I have small children and a clothes moth problem.

You can get really nice wool underlay which is cheaper, warmer and nicer than the synthetic stuff off the internet.

Twobrews · 31/12/2020 09:19

I miss the wool carpets we had in our old house, although we also had a really good poly carpet in the front room too.

DH didn't want wool as he said it goes bobbly/hairy. He picked all the carpets in this house except one they're all poly and I don't rate any of them. They look really worn after a couple of years, our wool one was 9 years old when we moved and looked as good as new.