Wool vs man-made carpets

[Indecisivelurcher]

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 🙏

I buy all my carpets in Egypt (how helpful I know)...

Materials wise I have a wool/cotton blend hand made one. Very easy to clean, warm... so maybe a blend might be an option?

My other carpets from Egypt are all silk. They can go in the washing machine on the silk setting.

There are some good bargains to be had on eBay for Egyptian handmade rugs. Maybe take a gander?

Dazedandconfused - do you means rugs rather than carpet? I'm struggling with the picture of taking up carpet in a whole room and trying to fit it into a washing machine!

My cormar carpets look shit too

@GU24Mum

Dazedandconfused - do you means rugs rather than carpet? I'm struggling with the picture of taking up carpet in a whole room and trying to fit it into a washing machine!

I think in Egypt the term carpet and rug are used interchangeably. In the Uk a carpet is basically fitted and a rug is a loose fitting smaller square.

The carpet seller told me today that you can get moth resistant wool carpets...

@Bluntness100

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.

Sadly not always. We have a very heavy piano and dresser in two corners, can’t be easily moved unless our son is home to help. The moths love the dark behind them. We don’t eat in our sitting room and I Hoover almost daily.

DH worked for nearly 50 years in carpet - he says wool will keep it's shape better, won't flatten, but will stain from dye-based stains badly but will resist general soiling from dirt and dust, looking fresher longer than a man-made carpet. Wool carpets can be attacked by moths but DH has only seen one wool carpet damaged in all those years of having shops and warehouses full of them.
He says for stairs a 40oz wool carpet will last 5-7 years, 50oz 10-12, and 60+ will last 15 years plus. All will ofc last longer in bedrooms.

hope that helps.

Always had wool and never had a moth problem. Friends with the polypropylene ones find they go grubby really quickly, especially on the stairs. I have wool in my hallway and it still looks new.

@Indecisivelurcher

The carpet seller told me today that you can get moth resistant wool carpets...

I worked as a textile technologist for the International Wool Secretariat when it existed (the body responsible for quality assurance of Woolmark and WoolBlendMark trade marks). We had a whole lab devoted to testing mothproofness of carpets bearing the trade marks. If any fell below the standards, their entitlement to use the trademark was rescinded until they got their levels back up again.

Mothproofing agents should last for 20 years at least. If you have a Woolmark or WoolBlendMark carpet it should have come with a guarantee.

We have wool carpets. We have open fires and they cope with the odd spark very well. Just need to rub the burn bit with a brush and it disappears. They vary from 30 to 40 years old.

We do have a bit of a moth problem, but it is restricted to the dining room.

Wow @FamilyOfAliens thank you for coming to my thread!

Tell me that’s true @FamilyOfAliens! I really really want wool, but I really really hate moths, and our over-cluttered house is not conducive to the sort of weekly hoovering into every single corner that would be required to prevent them.

Do you promise me that modern mothproofing on new wool carpets works?

My wool bedroom carpet in my old flat was beautiful - wonderfully soft and just lovely. And got completely demolished by moths, the fuckers.

We've never (touch wood) had a moth problem. Wool carpets feel great and a good quality one should clean up well. Watch out for loop pile and pilling though, we got caught out with a cheap wool bedroom carpet.

@FindHungrySamurai

Tell me that’s true *@FamilyOfAliens*! I really really want wool, but I really really hate moths, and our over-cluttered house is not conducive to the sort of weekly hoovering into every single corner that would be required to prevent them.

Do you promise me that modern mothproofing on new wool carpets works?

It should do - that’s the whole point of mothprooofing agents!

But this was many years ago - the trademarks still exist but you may want to google what that means these days.

Buy a good quality wool carpet and get the woolmark.

I hate the thought of plastic carpets from all around the world in landfill, piling up forever. Horrible.

Synthetic carpets make my feet sweat. I hate standing on them, I can tell instantly.

I would never buy a wool carpet again. You either have to live in a house full of insecticide, or watch your carpet be steadily devoured by moths.
I replaced my moth eaten wool carpet with a good quality synthetic one, a few years ago. It looks and feels exactly like wool, but is a dream to clean, shrugs off spills without staining, and feels lovely and soft to walk on. The pile has not squashed with time, and there is no nasty plastic “sheen” to it. Nor does it generate static electricity, like early nylon synthetic carpets.

I would never have wool again after being plagued by moths for two years!

A lot will come down to quality anyway. I have really good quality wool carpets in some rooms as I found remnants that fitted, with cheaper elsewhere. The higher quality are wearing significantly better. Even though they are in heavily used areas there is very little sign of any wear. In the other rooms you can see a clear track around the room where most footfall is.

I'd always go with wool. It's warmer, more environmentally sound and, God forbid you have a fire, wool doesn't burn whereas polypropylene produces thick poisonous smoke.

No contest as far as I'm concerned

Weird - we have a moth problem but the wool carpets we have seem to be left alone.

Polypropylene carpets and rugs cut my feet. I think because the fibres don’t snap, if they get caught on dry skin they tug at it.

We recently had both put in: wool mix for the ‘nice’ areas and synthetic for the spare room.

I looove the synthetic it is so soft! My son rolls around on it and is sad his room doesn’t have it.

Next time, synthetic everywhere.

@Indecisivelurcher

The carpet seller told me today that you can get moth resistant wool carpets...

I think you can, one end of our house is riddled with moths....we think they must come from next door, always battling them. the lounge has a genuine wool Axminster, patterned never shows a mark or wear and we've had it 23+ years not a moth in sight

Carpet beetles, we have wool carpets and we got infested with them. Hardly any now due to changing to a Dyson vacuum and I suspect the dog that we've only had for a year finished off the others.

You either have to live in a house full of insecticide, or watch your carpet be steadily devoured by moths

I just don’t understand this, I have wool carpets, and like most folks posting here, neither f these scenarios apply to me.