Help needed-what's the best carpet to buy?

[smitgla]

I am looking to finally replace the carpet in my lounge. Every salesman I have spoken too has recommended polypropene which is 100% stain proof. I still have 2 Young kids and pets so want to get a carpet that will look good and last the test of time. Should I buy wool or polypropene? All advice is welcome-thanks

i dont know as am just buying carpet for the first time but everyone on here seems to recomend "80/20" which I think is an 80% wool / 20% synthetic (polypropylene I guess) mix which is more hardwearing than 100% wool. The women in the shop says most carpets are this unless you want the loop pile ones. Or something.

Just did 2 bedrooms in 80/20 BUT I am worried about the staining! What I would say is that we got really good thick underlay, never having had it before, and it is AMAZING. Just get fab underlay - I was expecting to be able to tell that we'd spent more on the carpet, but honestly it's the underlay that's making me happy!

We had 80% wool downstairs which was lovely but dd got creative with a felt pen one day so the carpet went. We replaced it with those poly ones and we are meant to be able to pour bleach on it and not stain. However it is like walking on crispy brillo pad. The wool carpet is like velvet in comparison.

If I was to buy a new carpet again I would go for 80% wool

polypropylene is cheaper and very stain resistant. The newer ones have quite a nice texture. I don't recognise that brillo pad, feel before you buy.

I like the "heather twist"

heather means it has a speckly or mottled colouring so marks and wear don't show so much; twist means the fibres are crimped together to resist flattening (old synthetic carpets used to be bad for flattening in traffic lanes).

An 80/20 wool/nylon carpet is generally considered to be very good if you can afford it and are not expecting it to get particulartly dirty or need a lot of serious cleaning.

Good thick underlay really does make a huge difference to how luxurious it feels.

We put down polypropene on the basis that it would be pretty stain resistant - we have 3 young children. It is good, marks come off relatively easily but I don't anticipate it lasting more than 5 or so years with a young family. Not sure how long lasting any type of carpet would be, and if it does have a relatively short shelf life (less than 10 years) I'd be reluctant to buy a very expensive carpet.

Have you looked at velvet pile? I like velvet pile more than twist.

I'm sure it has it's drawbacks too though.

Shop around - carpet retailers will have always have special offers on. I have just laid 40oz 80/20 neutral shade wool carpet in 3 bedrooms with 10mm underlay and it feels absolutely luxurious. It's usually £20+ per m2 but on special offer, it was £12.99 per m2 and I got a further discount (just from asking) so I paid £11.99 per m2. The independents will offer better deals than the chains. Carpet Right make loads on the extras like underlay and the fitting/gripper rods, etc.

You can clean Polypropylene with bleach - but how do you rinse out the bleach? Polypropylene also feels rough and the pile flattens quicker than wool -definitely do not get a loop pile - ours fell within weeks...actually be careful with loop piles - you have to pay a lot to get one that doesn't fall. Try and become aware of the pile (threads per square inch) weight so you can judge quality on more that just finger feel.

If you don't want to do a wool mix then Nylon carpets are meant to be brilliant - try Kosset.

Find an independent retailer in a not-too-posh area (so that he's not passing on high shop rent to you!) and ask him what he thinks - he can probably recommend some carpets and find something to fit your budget.

I agree with a previous poster - Carpet Right etc pretend to have massive sales but make a fortune on fitting, underlay etc. The independent guy we've used was considerably cheaper, way quicker (carpet laid within the week from me first going into his shop every time) and much better service.