Hard wearing carpet

[SunshineOutdoors]

Hi, we’re doing up the house and want to carpet all stairs, landing and bedrooms in the same carpet (hard floors downstairs). I would like something super hard wearing that is easy to clean and won’t feel dirty after a few months. I’ve been looking at sisal but worry it won’t be very nice feeling underfoot. Does anyone have this type of carpet and can advise, please? Or any other suggestions? I’ve also seen some very short looped herringbone pattern carpets that also look nice. Is so hard to tell from the 2 inch square bit of sample you get and I really don’t want to make an expensive mistake. Thanks in advance.

If it’s any use for advice we’re in a 1920s ish terrace but tacked onto Victorian ones so more Victorian in style. Tiled black and white original floor in hallway and floorboards in living room. Quite high skirting painted white and neutral-ish walls, sort of mushroomy colour.

Following with interest if you don't mind op, we need some new carpet and definitely needs to be hard wearing!

Sisal/sea grass etc is not recommended on stairs and is not easy to clean particularly if you have kids or pets - it stains if water spills on it. Why not go for a Berber loop type carpet, perhaps with a fleck? Look at Kersaint Cobb or Alternative flooring you get an idea and then go for cheaper brand!

Thanks @cloughie100 that’s really useful. Will look at Berber

Berber sheds a lot. We removed the Berber carpet that previous occupants had put on stairs, it had only been on a few years but was worn through and constantly shed and looked awful. I'd go fo a standard twist pile with a high wool content for comfort and bounce back but some artificial fibres to increase wear, our stair one has now been down 8 years and looks as good as new. Something medium brown /minkish with a fleck seems to not show any dirt.

Something like this:

www.johnlewis.com/brintons-bell-twist-carpet/wheatsheaf/p1899420

Our stairs and landing need doing and I'm going to look into polypropylene carpets. I've just purchased a rug made of the stuff and it is very stain resistant (we used to have an expensive wool rug with was the opposite of this).

The thing about non wool for carpets is that whilst they wear well (as in don't get holey) and I'd agree are probably more stain resistant, I think they go very flat and matted in higher wear areas and just don't have the same bounce (also can get carpet burns). I think they are fine for rugs but i'm not sure I'd particularly want them on stairs as ime you get a flat bit right up the middle. It's been many years since I've had one though so technology has probably moved on :)

I'm going for Ulster monaco

I prefer carpets which are 80% wool 20% synthetic (usually nylon or polypropylene). I find them the perfect combo of comfort, no static, and toughness. Not cheap, but an investment. The return is decades at beauty and comfort. Carpets are graded for wear in different areas, so make sure you get one with at least a high enough grade for the room it will be in. And don't skimp on the underlay, either. Good underlay not only enhances the comfort of the carpet, but extends its life, too.

The only disadvantages to a carpet with natural fibres are that it can stain (choose a flecked colour, mop up spills immediately and use stain treatments as soon as possible, if they are needed. Keep a bag of cat litter.) and that new carpets shed a lot, and need very frequent vacuuming in the first months.

We chose two different dark carpets in one part of our house, and a pale beige carpet for another part. We agonised for ages over which subtle shade of beige we would choose. Don't bother. When we shifted furniture around, we discovered that the pale carpet had become paler everywhere it was exposed to light (including a hallway with no direct natural light). The dark carpets OTOH have not changed colour at all. Also the pale carpet is slightly grey at all the skirting boards, because the vacuum cleaner doesn't quite get the edges. This doesn't show at all on the darker carpets.

I have seen polypropylene carpets that look as good as wool carpets, but I don't know what they are like to live with. Apparently they can even be cleaned with bleach.

Many years a go I worked for a commercial flooring company
I would suggest you go for an 80/20 wool with loop pile and a flecked pattern. That’s probably the most durable and will show the least marks.
However, if you have pets and the loops are likely to get caught by claws or similar go for a twist pile.

Thank you all, great advice here. Agree with going for a darker, flecked colour. We’ve lived here 7 years, and the cream, thicker pile carpets we got originally have had it now (and were fitted v badly but that’s another story). I would prefer to go wooden floors throughout but don’t think I could cope with the noise. Will look at some of the suggestions here, and when things ease up a bit and I’m able to I’m going to bring some samples home and try them out as best I can (maybe tip wine and kids snacks over them to see how they cope!)

I used to always have 80/20 wool/synthetic, but several months ago (and one puppy later) heard that polypropylene can be cleaned with diluted bleach. My new carpet is that now. Technology has really moved on since the early days of nylon carpets.