To think UK should have moved on from carpeting by this stage

[Finlesswonder]

It's gross, it's ugly, it's high maintenance, and in a world of global warming, it increasingly feels like a dust and burning sun heat trap.
Why are people in this country still obsessed with carpeting?

Agreed. Carpets are disgusting. I've literally never understood them. I would be absolutely gutted if I had to rent somewhere with carpets..and I know that sounds OTT but it's the truth. I am SO much happier in my home with wooden flooring and laminate.

Just to add..in the past when I've had carpets, I've always had a decent hoover and always used it once every 3 days and I am a very clean and tidy person and even then when I would use a rug doctor once a year the water colour that came out would be absolutely RANK. There's no way that it's hygienic to have carpets. I don't know anything about buying more hygienic carpets because I am not a home owner.

(And that's with no pets!!!)

Carpet in your bathroom!!!! NOOOOO!!!!!

Agree.
Most uk is really badly built insulation wise, hence why every saying it’s cold in winter.

If you go to Sweden, Austria, the alps in January with piles of snow, it’s freezing outside, yet nobody has carpet. Nobody has has carpet ever really. And houses are nice and warm

It’s a midnight post, 🥱 ….. always the midnight posts.

Carpets insulate noise. They are essential in flats, terraces and semi detached to avoid neighbours killing each other just for walking to the toilets at 5am every morning.

Most houses in the UK are not detached.

Carpets insulate noise. They are essential in flats, terraces and semi detached to avoid neighbours killing each other just for walking to the toilets at 5am every morning.

Most houses in the UK are not detached.

You obviously don’t live in a flat - carpet is one of the main ways of making life tolerable for everyone, from a noise perspective, especially where there are young children running about. You do sound like a silly snob.

Homes with carpets make me sneeze, it doesn’t matter how much you clean there’s always dust trapped in there.

You’ve obviously never lived in a flat with thins walls and floors… carpets should be mandatory on those

We have carpets upstairs in bedroom's and landing. Hard stripped floors and tiles downstairs. I personally don't like carpets in lounges.

My flat would be cold without carpet, and I'm not in the UK. I fail to see what is wrong with carpet, and if I won Lotto would buy a house and have wool carpet all the way through it. Most people's carpet is not dirty, or disgusting - people do hoover once in a while! I also find it hard to imagine that the UK is too hot for carpet.

(Now I've written carpet too many times and it looks like a really weird word!)

Thank you for explaining. Makes total sense but blaming the EU seems not to go out of fashion…

Because one person with a house like that means that the entire country is 'obsessed with carpeting' OK then.

In any case, if people have laid good quality carpets, and looked after them, they last for years, so replacing them just because other types of flooring are now more popular is a waste of money and resources.

We still have the carpet that was in our bedroom when we moved in, and it has to be about 20 years old now and it doesn't look worn so we have no plans to replace it any time soon.

I didn't think that anyone had to justify their choice of home decor. I'm not keen on white painted walls but if you like it then it's fine, it's your choice. I like carpet because I live in a Victorian house, and it's a bit cold underfoot with anything else. I don't suppose you would like my toile de Jouy wallpaper either, but I'm not going to lose sleep over that.

How do you cope with hotels? Don’t they always have disgusting carpet, even outside of the UK?
We have hard floors downstairs and carpet upstairs. What do all the carpet haters do about the stairs? Ours are noisy enough as it is - would be unbearable without carpet.
We just clean ours pretty often, and avoid wearing shoes, and licking it. Then it’s ok, not aware of any carpet-relate illnesses that we’ve had.

Apples contain CYANIDE.

I hate carpet for myself, but other people have other preferences.

I remember falling downstairs as a kind a couple of times and in retrospect I’m glad those stairs were carpeted. Bare boards can be a real nuisance in flats for those living below and some blocks actually make having carpeting a condition of the lease for that reason.

We have carpet upstairs. I wouldn't have anything else in bedrooms. So much cosier than the alternatives. Why would I 'move on' from something that works well for me? 😵‍💫

I hate wooden flooring. Don’t like the noise it makes when walking on it. Also. Have bad feet. Walking on floor like that in my house would be murder. I have carpet everywhere.

I live in Scotland and most of the time it’s cold. Carpets are warmer. Presumably if we had wooden flooring everywhere we would need to crank up the heating.

We spend most of the year in cool weather, and very rarely get heatwaves, and most of our housing stock is not modern builds with great insulation. During this spell of hot weather my place has been very comfortable with its large rooms and high ceilings. In winter it rarely gets toasty warm - without carpets it's awful (I know, because it didn't have carpets when I moved in). I don't wear outdoor shoes indoors, so hygiene isn't a problem. And have you ever lived in a flat where the upstairs neighbours do NOT have carpets? Noise nightmare! YABVU.

I agree with you @Finlesswonder . My parents are obsessed with carpet. They still have carpet in their bathroom! They’ll never give it up. I hate it!