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Original poster

Wool or polypropylene carpets?

28 replies

MissM · 18/05/2010 21:14

We're about to move into a new house and need to re-carpet. Now my mum always said wool is the best fibre as it cleans and wears well. But in Carpetright the guy rubbished that theory and suggested polypropylene. I just don't believe him - surely natural fibres are best? So can anyone help me out with advice/personal experiences? We need to carpet the kids rooms, the hallway and stairs and the playroom (converted cellar).

OP posts:
CarGirl · 18/05/2010 21:16

I love the 100% wool axminster carpet in the dd2 & 4 bedroom (was a baragin end of roll) dd3 has something synthetic it's not as nice.

However, moths are an increasing problem - they only like wool so

Original poster
MissM · 18/05/2010 21:20

Thanks Cargirl. Hadn't thought of moths...

OP posts:
thisisyesterday · 18/05/2010 21:21

natural all the way here!
guy in the independent place we got ours from said that it would wear better and stay looking good for longer (which it has so far) and is easier to clean (also true thus far!).
we try and be as eco-friendly as possible too, so natural fibres was important for us

it probably cost us double what it wold have been for synthetic though, but we felt it was worth it

Fayrazzled · 18/05/2010 21:22

I'd always go for natural fibres over man-made for carpet, but I'm not sure I can articulate why...

SuperBunny · 18/05/2010 21:23

John Lewis told me the same, MissM. I think wool feels nicer and prefer it for the reasons this is yesterday stated but I would buy polypropylene if money were an issue.

RubysReturn · 18/05/2010 21:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
MissM · 18/05/2010 21:26

You can get a wool/pp mix which is cheaper than straight wool so that's always a possibility. Money is an issue, but not to the extent that wool is completely out of reach (although some are - £60m anyone?)

OP posts:
artydeb · 18/05/2010 21:31

Very nearly bought the wool for the texture, bought a very similar looking poly though on the strength that I can bleach clean it and boy what a great decision that's been - survived ballet makeup, toddler wee, leaky old cat and not-very-good-at wiping-our-feet gasmen so far and still miraculously clean. Is a pale oatmeal colour and in most living areas too - so yay to the synthetic stuff if you have any real life stuff going on i'd say.

CarGirl · 18/05/2010 21:31

I have to say the axminster is 5 x nicer to walk on it's springy, feels lush. They were bought and laid at the same time with the same underlay etc.

Ponders · 18/05/2010 21:33

Wool is much nicer, but it wears out a lot quicker (look at poly-cotton shirt collars v pure cotton, & nylon/cotton socks v pure cotton).

We have a very expensive 100% wool stair carpet which was guaranteed for 10 years & started wearing through on edges exactly then

80/20 mixture probably your best compromise...

Quattrocento · 18/05/2010 21:34

Wood, that's what you need. Insanity to have a carpet in a playroom

thisisyesterday · 18/05/2010 21:37

i can bleach-clean my wool carpet too

BallpointPen · 18/05/2010 21:39

I have had wool and I now have polyprop. If something was spilt on the wool it soaked it up and was harder to clean off, on the polyprop it sits on top of the fibres and doesn't get absorbed. The polyprop is very soft, and still looks very clean (we've had it approx 18 months) even though I am in no way a good housewife.

If you have kids or animals then polyprop is a better option.

Ponders · 18/05/2010 21:41

We lifted the wool carpet in the hall after it became irretrievably manky & replaced it with laminate. Agree with Quattro, carpet is not ideal in a playroom either.

Carpet is cosier in a bedroom (but if they ever puke on it you'll wish you had laminate there too...)

MrsJohnDeere · 18/05/2010 21:46

Polyprop here, as recommended by helpful man in our local carpet shop because of boys and dog. Very easy to remove stains.
I wouldn't put carpet in a hallway though.

Original poster
MissM · 19/05/2010 08:39

All very helpful comments, thank you (but I'm no closer to deciding!) Thanks for the tip re. laminate/wood in a playroom. That actually makes a lot of sense, especially as it's a converted cellar - wood would make life a lot less expensive and messy if it floods.

Hallway is the upstairs hallway hence the carpet there. Downstairs hall and rooms are all laminate - no plans to carpet them.

OP posts:
Lilmo19 · 19/05/2017 18:37

We have just had Polypropylene grey shaggy carpet today on our stairs it has to be better than the one it replaced which was more nylon and our cat had it plucked to shreds i gave up cutting of the plucks in the hope hubby would notice and say its time for replacing. Im just hopibg this Polypropylene one wont pluck when he treads it. Our last one before that never had a pluck on it but that last stripy one was covered in them.

RandomlyGenerated · 19/05/2017 19:00

80/20 twist is a good mix - avoid anything with loops if you have a car.

namechangedtoday15 · 19/05/2017 19:27

Just be careful - we have an 80/20 stair and landing carpet that is beautiful but it has "piled" on the landing within weeks of putting it down - you know when a wool jumper gets a bit bobbly. Apparently it may be caused by the rotating brush in our Dyson hoover (we use the kind of small suction attachment on the actual treads which are still perfect). Really disappointing as it wasn't cheap & it doesn't look great already and its only been down about 6 months.

RandomlyGenerated · 19/05/2017 19:32

Car? Cat! I meant cat!

PlymouthMaid1 · 19/05/2017 19:41

Would always have said wool but have been looking myself recently and the polypropylene Carpets are pretty good. Moths are increasing as we get warmer and the poly carpets seem easy to care for. That said my 80% wool carpet did last 20 years.

MiladyThesaurus · 19/05/2017 19:50

We had (lovely) 80:20 wool:polypropylene mix carpets in our old house. But DH complained about them. He insisted that we had (good quality) polypropylene only in this house and I hate them. You end up being able to see footprints in polypropylene carpets and coukd practical create lawn-style stripes if you hoovered in the right way.

I think DH has realised that I was entirely correct that a mostly wool mix is considerably better.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 19/05/2017 21:00

A dd has put a polypropylene in a bedroom, and I have to say it looks and feels very nice. I think they've improved a lot, and one big advantage is that any spills can wash out easily,

I do like wool, but moths can be a real headache. We've had a few holes chewed in our nice downstairs carpet, and that's despite endless efforts to get rid of the little buggers - we've spent a bomb on various MothDeath products.

NennyNooNoo · 19/05/2017 22:39

Always had wool previously (before DC) and I do think the wool carpets look classier. However, kids' bedrooms, landing and stairs are now carpeted in polypropylene as it's more practical with kids. In the 4 years since we've carpeted throughout upstairs, every bedroom carpet bar one and the landing carpet has been puked on at least once. With polypropylene you can clean with bleach. Also, the last room to be recarpeted was done because we noticed a lot of moths in the house and discovered an infestation under a cupboard which we hadn't moved for a few years. Even though it wasn't that old, the wool carpet was threadbare in places due to moths and had to be ripped out.

engineersthumb · 19/05/2017 22:58

I would say that wool carpets are nicer but polypropylene are much more practical. Don't buy from carpet right though! Look in carpet right, find what you like then Google the name/code, our livingroom (about 35sqm) was half the price of carpet rights "sale" price!