The Five Basic Types of Carpet

When it comes to choosing a new carpet, you’ll find a wide, wild world of color, density, and other considerations for what goes underfoot. But the most important choices you’ll make have nothing to do with what colors go with your furniture or how squishy the floor is going to be. Your first choice will be what fiber your carpet is made of. The fiber you choose will have a big impact on how long your carpet lasts, how easy it will be to care for, and how long you can keep it looking factory fresh! Read on to learn more about the five basic types of carpet.

Wool

When you’re looking for carpet, nothing beats wool fibers. With natural fibers and woven construction, wool is a long-lasting, luxury carpet choice. You’ll find a wide range of options when it comes to design, detail, and color. Because wool has a natural layer of protective lanolin, the fibers resist staining from liquid spills and oils that come from the bottom of shoes and the natural oils produced by your skin and pets. You still want to clean up any spills or spots as soon as you see them, but wool offers the best stain resistance on the market. 

Nylon

Nylon is the most popular carpet fiber choice for its blend of affordability and performance. You’ll still find a wide range of styles and construction, including loop cut loop, shag, textured, and frieze! Nylon’s underfoot feel is comfortable, and you can choose from different densities and plushness for your preferred level of comfort. Because of its great stain and soil resistance and resilience, nylon carpeting makes a great choice for just about any room in the house! Nylon is a synthetic material that can generally be recycled, giving an added eco-friendly quality.

Polypropylene

Sometimes also referred to as olefin, polypropylene carpet is a synthetic material that is water- and stain-resistant. While polypropylene carpet is less resilient than wool or nylon, the solution-based dyeing process used in polypropylene means its color will not fade from sunlight or traffic over time. Its water-resistance coupled with fading resistance makes polypropylene carpet an excellent choice for both outside and inside – especially if you have traffic coming from a chlorinated pool!

Polyester

While not as resilient as nylon carpeting, polyester is noted for its extremely soft texture. These carpets make for ultimate comfort – especially when you choose a luxurious thick pile. Polyester is soil resistant and easy to care for, so it makes for a great choice in areas where comfort is paramount, like your bedrooms or playrooms. Polyester also combines highly affordable pricing with eco-friendly manufacturing. Some polyester carpets, for example, are made from recycled soda bottles or other recyclable materials. This lessens the impact on the environment – and your pocketbook!

Triexta (SmartStrand)

A relatively new fiber choice for carpets, triexta fibers are also called SmartStrand. Triexta is made with polymers that come from natural resources like corn. The high-tech manufacturing doesn’t stop there – triexta fibers also incorporate stain-resistance into the fibers of the carpet themselves. Rather than a protective coating, the stain-resistance is built into the construction of the fibers from the get-go! Triexta carpets are durable, stain and soil resistant, soft, fade-resistant, hold their color, and are easy to clean. Why not jump straight to triexta when choosing your carpet? Triexta fibers can sometimes crush, press down, or mat under long-term heavy traffic because they aren’t as resilient as nylon or wool. Consult with a carpet professional to choose a triexta fiber carpet that will keep its shape and plushness long-term.

Choose Your Perfect Carpet at The Carpet Center

When it’s time to choose new carpets for your home, trust the pros at The Carpet Center to help you make the best choice! Our team will help you fit the carpet to its purpose, considering the room where the carpet will be, how the space is used, and what the carpet will need to stand up against! Contact us or visit our showroom today!

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