Are Carpets Really That Bad

[ElasticFirecracker]

I haven’t had carpets for a long time. Partly because of dust mites but mainly because I thought hard floors easy to keep clean with child/dog.

I have polished boards in my living room but they are a bit draughty. Also because of other work we’ve done I need to replace some boards, which seems like a hassle.

I’m thinking carpets would be nice and cosy, and don’t actually remember them being that much of a problem to keep clean. We have a dog but child away at university.

Should I consider carpet?

I would personally love carpet in my sitting room! We have oak floors throughout the ground floor and it's cold and a constant battle.

I'm a generally very clean and tidy house sort of person, however because you can see every speck sitting on top of a wooden/hard floor, I can never feel like the house is really clean for more than half an hour after mopping!

If dh eventually relents, it's carpets all the way for me! (Though not in the kitchen obviously)

We have laminate flooring throughout apart from the stairs and landing

We chose laminate as we have cats and thought laminate would be easier.

It is in some respects, but it’s actually quite hard to keep clean as we have high shine flooring so every single speck of dust or marks shows up really obviously. It’s also cold in the winter.

If we change, I will probably get carpet in more rooms

In my experience only people on mumsnet hate carpets. Nearly everyone I know has carpets in their houses.

Carpets all the way - except loos, bathrooms and kitchens. Inherited laminate in our bedroom when we moved in; I hate it and will replace when we next decorate. We had cats for years with carpets with no problems - other than slight tufting where they had scratched because they were on the wrong side! Get a great hoover and it’ll be fine

I find my carpets easier to clean than my hardwood floors. Or maybe it's just that it doesn't show up so much? Either way, I hoover about once a week but sweep the floor at least twice a day.

Also, everyone I know has carpet somewhere in their house. I had no idea that carpets were considered bad! Bizarre.

I’ve just had laminate laid through most of my house because having carpets was stressing me out. I do prefer the warmth and homely feel of carpet but with 4 scruffy young children (and a scruffier DH) I just want something I can wipe clean for the next few years.

I think in your situation, unless the cats sick or poo on the floor, I’d go for carpets

My carpeted rooms always look cleaner than my wooden floor rooms. Cosier and quieter too.

Currently we're rennovating and don't have money spare for carpets so have bare floorboards upstairs but generally we have carpets throughout upstairs (lino in bathroom), carpet on stairs and in lounge, laminate in kitchen diner and hallway

We also have two cats and used to have a dog with this set up. Worked fine for keeping clean

Sorry but I hate carpet

Looks (& smells) fab when it's first fitted

6 months later It's dirty & never lasts. Unless you buy the really good stuff £££

Most people have I guess for warmth & comfort, but I find real wood & a rug warm & comforting :)

Sunis I don't have small children or pets, and we don't wear shoes in the house, so our carpets don't get very dirty. I also have them cleaned regularly.

If you have no kids & no pets then obviously that is a different scenario. Pets are the main reason I don't like carpet, especially downstairs, as my dog sheds so much it was a constant battle trying to get the hairs out that had interwined. There used to be a shadow where he had lay of his fur!! And very small children weaning food/drinks etc it was just trashed.

Although my house would have to be husband free for anything to stay clean!!

Perhaps carpet upstairs & hard floor downstairs would be a happy medium?

We rent. The stairs and landing are the only carpeted floors. Tbh with three dc and two cats I prefer not to have carpets, but if they were not around I'd want carpet everywhere except the bathroom and kitchen. (Lived in a house with a carpeted bathroom once. Awful.)

Boots on house here.

Stairs and upstairs are thickly carpeted.
Bathrooms are bamboo floor.
Living rooms have tough short pile carpet.
Hall, kitchen, dining and utility have bamboo.

Best of all worlds.

Downstairs we are all exposed floor boards but I have a large rug covering about 80 percent of it in the living room, as it’s drafty and cold and hard on your feet.

Upstairs is all carpeted, and there is no doubt it’s warmer and softer under foot.

I also bought a carpet cleaner for about two hundred quid, and when our dog was with us gave it a going over every couple of weeks. Didn’t take long, but dealt with the hair. The rug and upstairs carpeting are cream so it just Kept it clean and smelling nice. If I didn’t live in an old listed building, I’d carpet everywhere, but thr floor boards are a bit of a feature and I feel guilty covering them up.

Thank you everyone. This is all really helpful. I had looked at costs to put down hardwood flooring on top of the boards, but the cost seemed so much higher than carpet, but I get the point that cheap carpet does not last well.

Thank you very much.

My old cats have just started pooing and puking- never on the laminate- always on the carpet. My new-ish carpet. I so wish we had wooden flooring but it's concrete underneath. Foul