Understand Variations in Carpet Fiber
When you’re choosing your carpet, you’ve got a lot to think about. Much of installing carpet and the selection process is about personal preferences in relation to feel, comfort, design, color. Fibers play a big role not only in the feel of a carpet but the look and durability as well. Make sure you understand the fiber you’re buying when you choose a style of carpet for your home.
Nylon Carpet Fiber
Nylon has long been the most popular choice for homeowners looking to bring new carpet into their living space. Manufacturers love it as well, as nylon is used in about 70% of carpet styles and designs. Because nylon is such an easy material to work with the cost of carpets using nylon tend to be much lower. If you live in a home with common carpet, there’s a good chance you’re feet are touching nylon right now.
Nylon Tactesse Carpet Fiber
This fiber is manufactured in a slightly different format from traditional nylon carpet fibers. Not only is it softer to the touch but it’s far more durable than traditional nylon. This achieved by creating nylon fibers that are more densely packed and smaller than traditional nylon carpet. Tactesse is a popular choice for homeowners that want a cheaper carpet with slightly improved durability and softer feel.
Wool Carpet Fiber
Because wool is a natural fiber the price tag is a bit higher per square foot, and it’s more expensive than any other carpet fiber available. It is worth the investment if you like a plush carpet though, because wool is the softest and easily the most durable carpet on the market. The downside (other than the price tag of course) is that wool is the least stain resistant even when treated. Wool absorbs water easily and will soak up spills just like a sponge. This is definitely not the ideal carpet for a growing family or one with young children.
Olefin Carpet Fiber
Olefin is also known as Polypropylene. This carpet is traditionally used in commercial locations that have excessive traffic – from factor floors in the office to high-rise office environments. The texture of Olefin is extremely rough to the touch and isn’t meant to be walked on with bare feet. There are some companies that produce commercial grade Olefin carpet with a more plush feel to be used in casual office environments or for residential application.
The more plush versions of Olefin would be ideal for high traffic areas of the home where style is less of a concern, including workshops, play areas for children, a workout room, an all-season room, etc. It obviously comes down to a matter of preference in terms of feel. If shoes won’t be removed you can save a lot of money with traditional commercial Olefin.
Still having trouble deciding on the right carpet for your house? Scale back on fiber choice and remember to begin your search for new carpet by settling on the style first. From the style you can see what options fit your budget, your style preferences, and the overall design of your home.
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Home Remodeling Tips – How to Choose the Best Carpet Style
Think you’ve got a grasp on home improvement and you can tackle anything, including the carpet? For those attempting to install new carpet for the first time, you’re in for a treat. This can be an overwhelming experience because of the vast choices when it comes to carpet installation. Between, brand, style, color, length, padding, seam placement, etc. there’s a lot to choose from.
You can ease the process and rid the headache before it starts by beginning with the carpet style. You don’t necessarily have to settle on one style as it’s common for some homes to have more than 1 style throughout the house. To save money, incorporate a uniform style and to reduce stress however you may want to go with a single style installed throughout the home.
The primary benefit to choosing style is that you if choose a single style you get a very uniform design throughout your home. Not only will this give you the most comfortable ambiance from a design perspective – especially if you have an open floor plan – but using the same style and color helps to hide the seams where pieces of carpet join together.
Carpet Styles – Cut Pile
Cut pile has a wide range and includes everything from the standard simple texture you find in most apartments to the more luxurious plush carpet found in expensive and elegant homes. Cut pile is made of alternating lengths of fiber and works well to mask foot traffic as well as marks from vacuuming. For all intents and purposes cut pile is a fave and a terrific choice for any room in the home.
Formal plush is a popular form of cut pile because of the thinner fibers that are more level. While this style carpet does reveal foot traffic more heavily, especially vacuum marks, it’s soft and extremely comfortable to walk on. It’s not a high-traffic carpet, typically reserved for bedrooms or office spaces in the home.
Cable carpet is a step up from formal plush. The only difference is that cable cut pile carpet is fashioned from thicker fibers. With thicker fibers the carpet is noticeably heavier in terms of plush. This creates a much softer and more comfortable feel to the carpet and it masks footprints and other marks very well.
Carpet Styles – Berber
While a lot of people think that berber is a brand in itself, it’s really not. It’s merely a popular style of carpet where the fibers are fashioned into tight successive loops of similar length. These tightly wound loops give berber carpet a level of durability that goes beyond traditional cut-pile.
Berber is also available with multilevel fibers. The fibers are still woven into tight loops but the lengths and sizes of those loops vary. This method is used to create patterns and designs in the carpet such as marbling or floral patterns.
Carpet Styles – Frieze
Frieze is a design fashioned similar to cut pile carpet where the fibers have been crimped and twisted in various methods to make the carpet look a bit more wild and “squiggly”. The fibers wind up shifting and pointing in different directions. This method is used to improve the length of the carpet, because crimped fibers lay sideways forcing you to walk on the side of the fibers as opposed to the top. This hides footprints and vacuum marks as well. Of all the styles, frieze is one of the most durable carpets you can find for your home.
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Tips for Caring for your Carpet
Want that new carpet to last for years? One would hope so since carpet is a sizable investment. Even in a smaller home that’s about 1400 sq. ft., carpet in most of the home could run you in the range of $3600 for even cheaper brands and styles. To make sure your carpet lasts for years to come you need a maintenance plan that will help you care for that new carpet, and help it maintain its luster. Use these tips to develop a maintenance program and keep your carpet looking fresh.
1. At every entrance of the home you should put down protective mats. A walk-off mat will collect the majority of debris and moisture before it spreads to the carpet. As long as you regularly clean your matts outside the home you can keep the debris from building up and becoming a source of dirt themselves.
2. If you’re installing new carpet you need to opt for the better quality padding. If your home has stairs then higher quality padding is a must in these high traffic areas. A good durable carpet-pad provides better durability and will improve the longevity of your carpet. Keep in mind also that padding plays a role in your carpet warranty, and some manufacturers have minimum standards for pad quality in order to maintain a warranty.
3. When you clean your home, make sure you’re moving your furniture around to clean under it and let the carpet breathe. If furniture sits for extended period you end up with excessive pile c rushing. For those pieces of furniture that have legs such as tables or heavy chairs, put furniture coasters down – the broader surface area will prevent compact mashing in specific points of the carpet and it makes the furniture easier to move.
4. If you have heavy furniture such as buffets, wheeled pianos or other heavy wheeled furniture then you should put down mats, plywood or cardboard between the wheels and the carpet to avoid damage when moving these items.
5. Area rugs are a great way to accent your home in just about any room but they can’t simply be left to cover the carpet in your home. Your area rugs need to be lifted and moved on a regular basis. The rug itself must be cleaned and the carpet underneath must have time to breathe, for the pile to recover and you must take the time to clean the carpet underneath. If you steam clean your carpets, give the carpet time to dry completely before replacing your area rug.
6. Having a lot of natural sunlight in your home because of strategic window placement is a great bonus. Kudos if you had the benefit of a smart home designer. The downside is that a lot of natural sunlight on your carpet can reduce its longevity and bleach the color from the fibers. Make sure each of your windows has the appropriate covering to protect your carpet such as awnings, shades, blinds or some form of black out or light-reducing curtains.
Finally – if you spend the extra money on stain resistant carpets that are coated to resist staining and discoloration you need to keep in mind that those treatments only improve stain resistance; they don’t prevent stains. Any carpet you install requires maintenance if you want to maintain a beautiful plush carpet for a long time to come.
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