Whatever happen to sisal carpets in homes?

[KievLoverTwo]

They were everywhere in the early 2000s and I can't remember the last time I saw one.

Now everything is grey :(

I guess they were impractical to clean or something?

I think the runner in my hallway is sisal. It's practically impossible to hoover,I hate it.

@KievLoverTwo I'm sorry for your loss. That's awful! Having just had a pet pass, I rescued some more 2 weeks later, to fill the void, which helped.

(For relevance, yes I had a Sisal carpet once, but in 1998).

I had some for years and replaced it last year. I love it.

I was just thinking about this the other day! We had sisal in 1997… cheaper than carpet back then? Very hard wearing too… but also pretty penitential in bare feet.

I like it and it doesn't smell, but it is inevitably teaching the end of its life now.

I'm sure I can get something similar to replace it though!

Yes I remember this, a friend had it fitted, so uncomfortable, awful stuff.

There was some in the living room when we moved in here.

It went very quickly!

I'm so sorry about the loss of your cat that's absolutely awful

Because it's uncomfortable to walk on, literally painful to kneel on, difficult to hoover properly and somehow even spilling a glass of water on it stains it !

I rented a house with it in the hallway, it quickly looked grubby despite no shoes allowed in the house so I hired a carpet cleaner and it just seemed to absorb the water and hold onto it and stayed too wet.
I had to replace the whole thing.

I had some fitted in my first flat in the late 80s. It was a pale golden colour and looked amazing! I had a rug on it and marbled yellow walls. I thought it was the dog's bollocks style wise. There was a red wine incident though and I had to shift the rug slightly to hide it.

I looked up the flat a while ago and it was still there in the agents' photos in the early 2000s and looked surprisingly good. Maybe cleaning products or photoshopping had improved by then.

I think there are places that do sisal-look, maybe Alternative Flooring. I saved a load of options… somewhere deep in my Pinterest. It looks so good! It has no other redeeming qualities!

I remember this too. Wasn't it very uncomfortable to walk on, with dirt in the gaps and real risk of slipping on the stairs?

I loved sisal but worked in an office with it on the stairs, one of the girls slipped and fell all the way down. The injuries to the skin were horrific as the rough surface literally scraped her arms and legs.

I didn’t get sisal after that.

The house we bought has them. Hate them. They were eaten by moths in large parts (obviously not the carpet's fault). But they're also so difficult to clean and feel weird on the feet.

Oooh we still have ours! Hallway and stairs - I hate it but it's low on the list of things to replace at present. We can be trendy again!

I really like the look of sisal rugs, but I've come to the conclusion that with dog abx cat the only sensible option in my house (all hard floors) is those bloody expensive washable Ruggable rugs.

I had it my stairs in the noughties. Loved it.

We rented a Georgian house which had sisal carpets. I do remember a smell but it wasn’t unpleasant. I liked it to look at, not really a fan of carpet but it’s not practical with children or pets. We have wooden floors and quarry tiles now.

It didn’t go anywhere for us, it’s in 4 rooms in our house. We love it.

It was impossible to get the cat sick out of it. Also same texture as scratching post.

My ExH shrunk mine throughout the upstairs of the house by vomiting red wine the full length of the corridor and then steam cleaning it. It also shrunk anywhere water got on it and was uncomfortable to even walk on.

Had to Google it, looks bloody nightmare to keep clean!

Everyone got a dog or a cat, especially in lockdown. Not good with pets

Thanks to all for yanking me out of my romantic dream of perhaps having sisal. I can't say I like any of you for it, but it is what it is! :D

Thank you for the kind words about our cat. She had been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and pancreatitis in the last year. She had a thyroidectomy three months ago to fix the former. The latter is a very nasty thing in cats that can spiral out of control over time, we were never really sure when she was feeling ill as they are expert at hiding it. The farmer thinks she must have been ill, it was their third pass through the field, usually a cat would scarper at the first pass.

I can't say it's a relief to have lost her, she was a very good girl and we loved her dearly, but it was instant; we know she would have a lifetime of complex and painful health problems further down the line, and we neither found her nor needed to bury her (the farmer took care of that).

We rehomed her from a house with a tiny yard that she lived in for ten years two years ago, and she's had the run of farms or massive gardens with woods, horses, sheep, cow and pheasant neighbours, so her last two years were, unexpectedly for her, the best two years of her life.