Can someone talk to me about carpets

[NeedAHoliday2021]

We need new carpets up the stairs, in the living room and one bedroom.

We went to the shop and I pointed out 2 I liked - lady said “oh. No you don’t want that, it’ll be a nightmare to clean because it’s 100% wool…” she was so critical suggesting all the carpets weren’t appropriate or had a pattern that’s hard to clean etc. I left wondering why they sell so many carpets that aren’t fit for purpose.

Anyway, I still need carpet and clearly an not going to get anywhere with that woman - she was like a dr receptionist stereotype saying “oh he’s really booked up so you’ll be lucky to get a fitting date”. We used this company for our Karndean and the owner is fab, just not his assistant. Can anyone here advise - what do we need to look for in carpet? Not ridiculously expensive but decent to last 10-15 years. Anyone have any tips?

Well she is never going to win sales woman of the month is she , how strange.
I am going through he process of getting a carpet fitted , its something I have only done before with someone else that knew what to ask so I was a bit daunted .

I found this pace from Which helpful as a starting point
www.which.co.uk/reviews/carpets/article/how-to-choose-a-carpet/types-of-carpet-aCiW30E4IPu5

Go to plenty of different shops to get a good idea of price and range , and ask for samples . The colour will look different in your home the lighting in carpet shops tends to be very bright !
I bought mine from a local independent shop rather than the likes of carpet right and got a great deal.

Remember you are going be spending a lot of money and going to see it every day ( all day ) so dont get pressured into buying something you dont like .

What area do you live ? perhaps the MN hive can recommend ( or avoid ) some shops

Wool is fine to clean most of the time if you clean it immediately. The modern synthetics can be bleached clean and are harder to stain.

Basic carpet is twist. Deep pile will leave those hoover lines that some people love and others hate. Loop looks lovely but bad with cats and dyson/shark spinney hoovers.

Underlay is what gives the new carpet bouncer feeling. You don't always need new underlay but big chains will tell you you do.

I'm about to replace my living room carpet with something similar. It is 80/20 wool and I think lasts longer than man-made, as well as coming up like new when professionally cleaned. It has been down 27 years.

Thank you. That’s really helpful. It was an independent shop and I’m going to try another independent that I walk by every day going to work. I knew it’ll look good when done but it’s so dull.