Carpet

Carpet adds beauty and style. There are literally thousands of colors, textures and styles available in carpet today. This offers you the opportunity to be creative and make your own fashion statement. Carpet is a good foundation for any décor.

Carpet is warm, soft and luxurious. It has great insulating properties and has been known to actually hold in heat. Carpet’s natural softness is enhanced by added under cushion and in recent years by new softer fiber technology.

Carpet reduces noise through sound absorption. An inherent benefit for the home, in particular apartments and condos, as well as the work place. Carpet simply reduces noise better than any other floor.

Carpet is safer than hard surface floors in that it is less slippery in the first place and should a fall occur, it cushions the impact.

Carpet is a good filter. Contrary to early reports, carpet is beneficial in filtering out allergens and dust from the air we breathe. It remains for us to vacuum out these trapped allergens in some form of regular basis.

Carpet wears well. The truth is a good quality carpet will last for years if it is cared for properly and is not the victim of some form of calamity. Carpet and fibers today do not wear out. They ugly out. Probably due to poor maintenance and/or choosing the wrong carpet for the job in the first place.

Carpet will hide a lot of substrate irregularities. This saves in costly subfloor preparation.

Carpet represents value. It is still probably the most cost-effective floor covering you can buy. But that does not mean you should buy cheap carpet. It is important to match the “right” carpet with your traffic and lifestyle.

Carpet is easy to maintain. Usually weekly vacuuming is enough. Combined with professional steam cleaning once a year, it’s all you need to do! What’s easier than vacuuming? For spills and stains, a warm water/soap solution, and blotting (not rubbing) the stain usually works.

Carpet does not do well in the outdoors. It holds moisture and succumbs to mold and mildew. It fades or blackens when exposed to direct sunlight and heat.

Carpet is not recommended for hypoallergenic people. Besides the filtering of dust and allergens, highly sensitive people have to deal with that “new carpet” smell. The emission of low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air, which although less than most paints, usually dissipate within a few days or a few hours if the home is ventilated.

Carpet does not do well with wheelchairs or walkers. Usually, the wheels of the chair will crush and destroy the carpet yarn. Particularly, at pivot points where the chair turns. In office environments with roller chairs we strongly recommend the use of chair mats for this same reason.

Carpet is not recommended in high-soil traffic areas. The fact remains that carpet is basically a fabric, similar in nature to the clothes that we wear. Although constructed to perform under foot, it is not meant to perform in conditions of extreme soiling and traffic. Hard surface flooring would probably be a better choice. However, it should be noted that there are such things as entry mats specifically constructed for this purpose.

Shag is back with a vengeance. But it’s a lot more sophisticated than it was thirty years ago. This time it offers subtle earth tones and multi-tones in fibers that are both soft and durable.

Berbers remain strong. Patterned and multi-looped Berbers in multi-tone colors are still favored in high use areas of the home. Nylons are popular but low-luster olefin fiber still commands the dominant choice for this wool-look carpet. The fact is, Berber still gives you more bang for your buck.

Friezes are hot. A Frieze is a highly twisted cut pile carpet with short fibers that tend to curl in different directions, hiding footprints and vacuum marks. Friezes are good for high traffic situations, especially when tufted at higher densities.

Pattern-on-Pattern Saxony or CLC carpet give a three dimensional appearance to your floor while adding style and elegance. Usually tufted in dense constructions with premium fiber, these carpets have excellent traffic hiding abilities and will last for years.

Green fibers and technologies are slow in coming in the Carpet industry. P.E.T fiber recycled from pop bottles has been around for years, but performance concerns limit it’s popularity. Type 6 nylon can be recycled into new fiber but the facilities are still limited. And we have yet to see samples of carpets made from corn fiber?

Look for a carpet that is short, tight, well twisted and made from a premium fiber. Forget about the weight. It’s how they make the yarn and how densely they tuft the carpet that counts.

Look for multi-toning in your carpet. While solids are easier to decorate with, a multi-colored pattern will show less traffic and soiling.

Look for a good twist and density.