What is the best carpet?

[Walt]

A good friend of mine asked for specific recommendations for his new carpet. I gave him the run down on carpet I like to clean and all. But he wants specific recommendations.

2 kids who spill stuff. Likes lighter colors and doesn't like berber. Middle class family.

What brand names and styles do you like. Thanks

 

[Mikey P]

White olefin Berber.


the whole damn world should be covered with it if you ask me.

 

[sweendogg]

Walt there are few factors to consider. Price and longetivity. How much does he want to spend and how long does he want it to last.

Wool carpet would be investment but if maintained properly would ugly out before it wears out.

Karastan it one of the highest quality domestic residential carpets and produces both wool and nylon goods. They produce a small amount of the smartstrand products but are predominantly nylon and wool based. Usually for a nylon karastan product you can expect 15 to 25 years if installed properly over a quality pad.

For general info on finding a decent carpet here are a few things to consider.

Stick with a nylon bcf yarn or bulk continuous filament. Quality nylon frieze (shorter than 5/8 inch) has replaced berbers predominantly because of their ability to hide traffic patterns and clean up well. But a cut and loop or any textured carpet will help hide traffic lanes and wear a little better than a saxony or plain cut pile. For color, if he want lighter colors I would suggest a flecked product. this would give the lighter color and still hide a little soiling.

Regardless of style and color invest in a good backing and a quality padding. The backing is what gives the carpet the dimensional stability and holds stretch. A good backign will have a high pick count. In other words the smaller the gaps between the crisscrossing wires the better. Avoid the felt back carpets. These were designed to benefet the installer only and usually hide a low pick back.

Here is an example of a low pick back on the right and a Karastan high pick back on the left:

For padding the very least that should be put under a carpet is an 8 lb bonded if you want atleast 10 years out of the carpet. One of the best pads availabe is a slab rubber with a 21-22 lb density. We use it under 95% of or jobs and in the 25 years we have been doing this we have had 0 claims on pad failure. Now if its a below grade install I would suggest the bonded from the ability to dry in place in case of moisture. But we leave that to the customer to decided. The pad is part of the whole system that sustains the life of the carpet. The better the pad, the less stress the carpet takes with every foot step or furniture leg.

If you want any more info let me know.

 

[Kevin. McCreary]

100% Nylon is the most proven synthetic carpet fiber, I would start there.

 

[redbird]

Mohawk's newest product . SMARTSTRAND. It just got certified as the newest fiber,,,,,,, the newest fiber certified in 56 years. We sell it and had a customer get red nail polish on it ,,, removed the polish without any color residue left behind. I use fingernail polish remover and then just rinsed it with clear water,

Dog vomit left on the carpet overnight cleaned with water and a white cloth, no staining left behind

Grease on a white carpet ,,,,, I know it cleans up well on the other fibers too...

It also has a matte and crush warranty.. IT WONT FLATTEN OUT
IN THE HIGH TRAFFIC AREAS.

Great stuff!

 

[Zee]

Mohawk's newest product . SMARTSTRAND. It just got certified as the newest fiber,,,,,,, the newest fiber certified in 56 years. We sell it and had a customer get red nail polish on it ,,, removed the polish without any color residue left behind. I use fingernail polish remover and then just rinsed it with clear water,

Dog vomit left on the carpet overnight cleaned with water and a white cloth, no staining left behind

Grease on a white carpet ,,,,, I know it cleans up well on the other fibers too...

It also has a matte and crush warranty.. IT WONT FLATTEN OUT
IN THE HIGH TRAFFIC AREAS.

Great stuff!

So how do they know that if it's so new? I'm just wondering...They sell olefin material with the same claims. I hate to always break the news to custys, that they have invested into a pos carpet two years ago, and I can cimex scrub it before hwe and still the traffic lanes are going to be there!

Zee

 

[Bill Soukoreff]

Carpet One Lees Nylon with their NO EXCLUSIONS Ultra25 Stain Warranty.

 

[Doug Cox]

White olefin Berber.


the whole damn world should be covered with it if you ask me.

No shit. I would be twice as rich if I cleaned berber all day.