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

And slippers are grim? Ok. I really do think carpets are gross, unhygienic and generally look horrible. You’ll note that’s what I think - it’s my opinion.

I'm really struggling to understand what is so grim about slippers. Are shoes grim as well? I also think that you have an unhealthy attitude towards cleanliness and am with Alsohuman and Zaphodsotherhead that people have lost sight of what normal, basic cleanliness should entail.

Unless you have serious health issues or allergies then the level to which some people go to keep their homes clean is unhealthy IMO.

For the record we have hard floors in the dining room, kitchen, loo and bathrooms.

Carpets are cosy, but I don’t like them.
They are just grim.
I particularly dislike carpets in the bathroom or toilet. I just think about all the urine and poo stains ingrained in the carpet. Yuck

I've got a cat. So far as I'm concerned, that means no carpets. Even if I didn't have the cat, I doubt I would want something that absorbs dirt the way a carpet does. Please nobody tell me you can wash them - you can't do this every week, as they won't dry out and will start to smell.

I've never really considered the hygiene issue comparison till I read this thread. I just refer the astetic of wooden or tiled floor.

@Gwenhwyfar but that's an individual allergy issue not an over all general hygiene issue. If I had cringe with dander allergies they likely wouldn't come round regardless of carpets as I have pets. Before I had pets there would be no dander in my carpets?!

I've got two pairs of slippers, they go in the wash with everything else.

I agree. I have wooden floors and regularly sweep and mop. Although shoes are taken off in the hallway, the water in the bucket goes brown very quickly with dirt. Carpets must hold so much dirt and grime. Yuk.

It’s one of those things that only bothers me if I sit and think about it. I love the cleanliness of hard floors but not the noise - my kids are bad enough with carpet! When we replace our carpets I think I’ll budget to have them cleaned every three months then they can’t get too bad.

"@Gwenhwyfar but that's an individual allergy issue not an over all general hygiene issue. If I had cringe with dander allergies they likely wouldn't come round regardless of carpets as I have pets. Before I had pets there would be no dander in my carpets?!"

LOADS of people have allergies. It's not and individual problem to me.
It is linked to hygiene. If you'd read my post above, you'd know that I can be in a place with a pet, but no carpets if it's been cleaned, but not in a place with a pet and a carpet even if it's been hoovered. So the problem is not just the pet, but also the carpets.

@Sadbridetobe

It’s one of those things that only bothers me if I sit and think about it. I love the cleanliness of hard floors but not the noise - my kids are bad enough with carpet! When we replace our carpets I think I’ll budget to have them cleaned every three months then they can’t get too bad.

If you have them cleaned that often they won’t last long. Why this obsession with them being “dirty”? You only walk on them when all’s said and done. Do you all disinfect your lawns?

Carpets are defo bogging sorry. Mt old dad has a theory that in days before fitted carpets and central heating hardly anyone suffered from asthma or more or less constant sniffles.
Just a theory of course. ...

Did you not see my point above about hoovers and carpets?

No, I’m not following this thread in forensic detail.

I have a good hoover. It deals with all visible hairs and dead skin. I can’t get worked up about the stuff I can’t see and doesn’t do me any harm.

My understanding is that allergies are often caused by living in overly fastidious environments, rather than low levels of dust and so on. Certainly not a problem for us.

I have arthritic feet so hate cold, hard floors. Carpets are much easier on my feet. YAB a bit U. Carpets can't be that bad or we'd all have been poisoned by now.

Ok sorry perhaps slipper aren't 'grim' they are just horrible.

I would hazard a guess that most carpet haters are at the younger end, have small children and/or have pets, or have allergies.

But to say that all carpets are horrible is a rather ridiculous statement. Wouldn't "I dislike carpets because xyz" make the poster sound less dramatic and reasonable?

No I am quite ancient, have adult children and no pets. Just ripped out too many old fitted carpets in my time

..also i am a terrible house keeper and since fitted carpets need daily hoovering to not be grim.....I would rather go for the bare floors and rug option.

That blows my theory out of the water then

But don't you have to sweep your floors every day then instead to get rid of the dust bunnies?

I don’t fit your trend either gin

I’m pro carpets (upstairs). I am in my 30s, young children. We have a strict no eating upstairs rule though.

My mother (70s) hates carpet with a passion.

Perhaps I’m just reacting against her.

Like I said..not the best housekeeper. ..about every other day normally. ...those dust bunnies are v satisfying to sweep up....

Love carpets (not in bathrooms, kitchen or halls). I've no pets and we are a shoe free household, so no problem with dirt. No allergies in our home. Good hoover and deep cleaned when needed.
Much cosier, warmer and quieter.

Love our soft bedroom carpet. So nice in bare feet. We just got a new shark hoover though and horrified at the amount it sucks out of the carpet and the rug in the sitting room.

I can't get her up about the 'unhygienic' nature of carpets - the obsession with places being clean enough to eat food off is in my opinion a bit weird (in this house plates will do)
As long as the house is vacuumed fairly regularly & doesn't smell (I know of houses with hard floors that smell - it's a general cleanliness thing not just a carpet thing) , floors which get lots of spills, water & dirt - should be mop-able for practicality but otherwise I'm fine with carpets. No-ones caught anything from them as far as we know.
I have a carpet washer (mainly for the upholstery after having a vomity child) and it gets used every now and then to freshen the carpets up. I might think differently if I had pets.
I've lived with both and they both have upsides and downsides.
My main bugbear with hard floors is slipping - I have broken all the toes in one foot trying to answer the phone in a rush and my eldest fell out of bed and cracked his head open (10stitches) on a tiled floor on holiday & I've been wary ever since.
I also hate laminate, vinyl or any type of plastic floor.
We now have porcelain, wood & a natural rubber floor and carpets - all have their place.

Carpets are grim!

We have children with respiratory issues, we were advised by specialists to remove carpets if possible which we promptly did.
We now have hard flooring and I have to sweep it repeatedly during the day. The amount of dirt I sweep up is crazy. Even with sweeping, if I don't mop it everyday our bare feet get gross from walking across it.
If that were carpet, all that dirt would be sat there and whilst I appreciate you have to chooser everyday and get the carpets cleaned, unless you're doing it every week I don't see how it's not gross.

DH and I disagree, he'd have fluffy carpets for days if he could.