Selecting Carpet For Your Lifestyle - February 23, 2010
Whenever you select carpet, you have to consider many aesthetic as well as technical areas. With well over
a hundred thousands styles and colors being released every year, selecting the right carpet to match your
needs can be a very challenging task indeed.
Carpet is available in several different textures, constructions, colors, and designs – which will open
the doors to virtually any interior design that you can imagine. The combination of texture and color
will complement the look of both formal and casual environments, while helping to bring continuity to
the overall room designs.
The most important thing to consider when you shop for carpet is the amount of traffic that will be
on the carpet that is going to be installed as well as the area you hope to use it in. The construction
and the texture are both key aspects when you select a carpet for a specified area and use.
Nylon, polyester, and olefin are the mosty widely used fibers with carpet manufacturing, with each
one displaying qualities that make themselves great with specific applications and uses. Even though
nylon is the most expensive type of fiber, it is also the softest and most resilient, which makes
it great for any room in your home, including those areas that have a high level of traffic.
Polyester fabric is less resilient than nylon, although it more cost efficient and offers a
high level of resistance to stains, which makes it a great choice for areas such as bedrooms or dining
rooms that are not subjet to a lot of traffic.
The fiber olefin is solution dyed, which results in a highly resistant stain carpet that can be
cleaned easily using a water and beach solution – without any loss to the color.
Unlike the other types of fibers, olefin is fade, mildew, and mold resistant, which results in a
carpet that performs well indoors and outdoors.
Keep in mind however, that olefin isn’t very resilient and as a result, it should only be
considered with berber construction.
You can get carpets in either plush or berber construction. The berber type of carpets are well
constructed with a continuous level loop, while plush carpets are constructed of loops that have
been sheared, which results in the strands standing upright.
Berber construction carpets don’t crush or matt, due to their high level loops. They are however
harder underfoot, uncomfortable to sit on or lay down on, and they can easily become damaged by
pets with long nails. Berber carpets are well suited for high traffic areas, which include walk
ways, living rooms, and entrance areas. They aren’t popular with bedrooms, as their hard texture makes
them a less than attractive option.
The plush type carpets are much softer to walk or lay on and they offer better sound and thermal
insulation. They tend to crush and matt though when they are subjected to high levels of foot
traffic.
The use of nylon fiber paired with a tight low pile construction will help to limit the amount of pile
and matt crushing, due to the high resilient nature of the nylon fiber and the added support that is
gained from tight construction.
The warranties for carpet ranges from 5 – 30 years, with the general rule being that you don’t cover
the stairs. Most carpet warranties will require the installation of new carpet padding as well at
the time of installation in order for the warranty to become valid.
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