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?

My last experience of using carpet shapoo was that I had an allergic reaction to it which was pretty nasty. Despite not letting it into contact with my skin, any uncovered skin, like on my face, started to get bright red and sore all over within about 10 minutes of starting. It wasn't even a spray type. I have never used a carpet shampoo since, as I can't find out what constituent chemical caused it. When we moved here, the carpets needed chemical cleaning, I got a chap in to do it when I wasn't here.
It's nasty stuff. I use several solvents for work and I'm not a very allergic person, but I don't use house-cleaning chemicals for any cleaning more than I absolutely must.

Ahhh, have you ever entered the world of shoes on/shoes off in the home thread on here? It gets quite extraordinary.

I am dying …Child development delayed?! That’s the best load of BS I’ve heard in awhile. How many (hot) places in the world don’t have carpet! Not to mention nurseries that use laminate and such for hygiene purposes.

Because it counts as insulation so helps global warming by cutting down heating bills.

Our carpets are gross.. don’t come to our house OP.

Carpets make good neighbours. A lot of people in the UK live in flats. No carpets = a shit ton of noise. My new neighbours seem to have ripped up all the carpets and skimmed the doors because all I can hear day and night is slamming doors and loud footsteps. And I'm in a house, not a flat. Never heard a peep from my previous neighbours of 7 years. Not to mention the UK is very cold for several months a year, carpets help hugely with insulating your property.

Yes, we of older generations miss carpet in bathrooms, it was so nice to step out of a warm bath on a cold evening and not have to try to keep our footing on a small mat on a slippery floor.
Only on MN is carpet considered 'disgusting' 🤣

Sorry but this did make me laugh! What nonsense this is!

I don’t have carpets as I prefer a modern minimalist look. But I was only thinking the other day how much I’d like the cozy feel of carpets.

The great think about your own home is you can do whatever the fuck you like with it. It’s called being an adult.

But it's only this hot about 3 weeks of the year...

Carpets are great when it's cold, which is most of the time.

Also none of your business how anyone else chooses to decorate, can never understand why people get het up about this!

I’ve recently moved from a place with carpet in the bedrooms to a house with carpets downstairs as well (not in the kitchen). It feels significantly warmer and I’m in two minds whether to keep the carpets when we do the downstairs, or go to hard flooring.

people in this country
people of the UK
I'm assuming that these posters understand individual taste and choice? Not everyone has carpets. Or wall affirmations. Or grey walls. Or net curtains. Personal choice.

Well, that's them, not the whole country.

What a weird assumption. I have lived in several flats without carpet and didn’t have any problems with noise nor did I hear my neighbours and they were above and below me. I’ve also been to other people’s home that didn’t have carpet and didn’t hear their neighbours either. Granted, it was in a different country in a climate much colder than here.

I don’t like carpets and they are more of a nuisance for me with a special needs child.. My own parents got rid of their carpets after my mother’s elderly parents moved in because it was difficult for my grandmother to get around with her walker and with them both having accidents, it was easier for them to clean them up on non-carpeted floors than having to use carpet cleaner or hire a machine. It is much easier to have non- carpeted floors where you can easily clean up and sanitise areas.

Are people still obsessed?! I don’t think so. I like carpet in bedrooms tbh, it’s so much more pleasant in winter stepping into a carpet in the morning. Carpets or at least a runner on a lot of stair styles is also important for not slipping.

I don't see the problem.

We have carpet everywhere except the kitchen/utility/conservatory. Yes even in the bathroom.
Unlike obviously the OP, personally we use a toilet properly and don't get 'spillage'. We have a bathmat so the carpet doesn't get wet, we ventilate the room. The carpet stays clean.

All the people throwing up their hands shrieking 'unhygienic' must have very poor immune systems (maybe from over cleaning and living in a sterile environment?).

But I don't wash towels every time I touch them either.

What weird bollocks is this? Carpet is lovely. Our house has (fake) wood throughout and I'm thoroughly looking forward to replacing it in the bedrooms with carpet. Much cosier.

As for hygiene, eh? How many people have gotten sick from decently maintained carpets?

Carpets throughout here, except for the bathroom and kitchen. Wouldn't want hard floors, they are cold and noisy. Our neighbours had hard flooring put in throughout their house (we are semi-detached) and the noise from their kids was dreadful going up and down stairs! In the end they put carpet on the stairs and all the upstairs rooms which has helped a lot.

Also I'm now of a certain age where I am more prone to falls and on a hard floor I'd be more likely to injure myself, or trip on a rug if we had those. Our carpets aren't new apart from in a couple of rooms where we put new carpet tiles. We've always had cats - a good pet hair vacuum sorts the hairy carpets out! I plan on replacing the old carpet with new once we get to that stage of house re-decoration!

I can never understand people with dogs or young kids choosing to have a carpet in their living room. We only have a carpet in our bedroom since moving house and it grosses me out a bit that when I hoover all the wooden floors in the rest of the house I can see so much dirt and hair getting picked up but the same (or worse) must be on the carpet and yet you don’t see it. My friend’s have a baby and big dog and have just recarpeted their living room, I can’t understand it at all

YABVU. It may not be as needed in a warming country, but until a few decades ago Britain was properly FREEZING in winter, for months.

Many people still live in draughty houses that need carpet upstairs for warmth and sound proofing. We have it upstairs not in the bathrooms, obviously and in the sitting room. I got an 80% wool one, so it was expensive, but lovely underfoot and warm in winter- which we need because the rest of the downstairs is open plan.

Our house is much as it is when we bought it, and has those fake vinyl tiles in the hall, kitchen and play area. Practical, but cold in winter and noisy. I never feel warm or relaxed in houses which are tiled/wood floor throughout.

As for hygiene, eh? How many people have gotten sick from decently maintained carpets?

Exactly. My family are never sick, so what is it we're supposed to be worried about again?

Carpets are cosy in winter. Not all of us live in the warm south. I wouldn’t have synthetic carpets -always wool. 🙂

It's nice to have warmth and comfort.
It's nice to surround ourselves with decor that helps us relax. I don't know how people can live with so much grey that it's like being inside a battleship, but hey, their choice. Carpets are not the work of satan. You hoover them, they're probably ok.

People aren't 'obsessed' with carpets
It's maybe approaching obsession when people are even carpeting their gardens

I agree. Carpets just need a quick hoover and an occasional going over with the carpet shampooer, my laminate floors need sweeping and mopping. And the laminate in my kitchen is lethally slippery when wet.

Carpets are far more forgiving than hard floors when you drop something fragile, they deaden noise, and add an extra layer of insulation.