Do I buy 80% wool carpet, or the Polypropylene type?

[buzzer]

I need to do a few rooms in the house, a couple of bedrooms and the stairs and landing. I made the mistake about 5 years ago of buying a man made carpet, not sure what it was made of, but its crap. the pile on the stairs and the bedrooms is flat, it looks dirty and does not clean well.

I am told by the carpet salesman that the new type Polypropylene carpets are much better than the older man made stuff, and its about half the price of an 80% wool carpet, so not sure what to buy.... I am always sceptical on what the salesman tells me...

So anyone any comments and in particular experience about the new type of Polypropylene carpets?

[VinceFox]

JAYB!!

[Steffan]

Man made fibres wear well but do not look good are not easy to clean and flatten easily. Wool is a far more qluxurious carpet but wears less well. The 80/20 mix gives the best compromise over durability and comfort. Ignore the salesman fit wool.

[Steffan]

Man made fibres wear well but do not look good are not easy to clean and flatten easily. Wool is a far more qluxurious carpet but wears less well. The 80/20 mix gives the best compromise over durability and comfort. Ignore the salesman fit wool.

[MiniMan64]

A more expensive hard wearing wool in the heavily used areas like the hallway/landing, cheaper man made is the less regularly used rooms like bedrooms.

[Sticks.]

Re wool carpets, it might be worth noting that from @2009 formaledehyde was limited by EU. This is, according to an indy carpet suppier I was talking to, probably why carpet moth is again fairly common.

Not sure how accurate this is, but worth checking before you part with your money.

[OldSkoolRS]

Years ago I had a 100% wool carpet fitted but was told that it won't wear as well as an 80/20. I didn't stay long enough in that house to find out but it's always stuck in my mind to aim for 80/20 if it's a high traffic area. There are also some 80/15/5 carpets around these days but can't remember what the 15/5 bit is or whether they are more hard wearing than straight 80/20.

Just ordered an 80/20 Brintons carpet for a bedroom which is why I noticed the 80/15/5 option as well (but it wasn't a colour/design that we liked).

[ianrb]

Wool carpets are far nicer under bare feet than man made ones, so I'd put wool in the bedrooms.

[Mobile Chicane]

Polypropylene carpets build up a static charge on certain shoes, resulting in a small shock whenever you touch anything metal. It's annoying.

The salesman is right that artificial carpets have come a long way in recent years. I saw some Persian reproductions recently that were PP made to look like silk (OH is in the Oriental rug trade.) However I'd still go for wool on the basis of longevity and appearance.

[98elise]

I put polypropylene down when I first bought my house. It flattened in a couple of years, and never looked nice after that. 5 years ago we replaced it with a wool blend, and it looks great. It also seems easier to clean. The wool carpet is cream, and we just run a vax over it once per year. The are no stains or marks on it.

[Simpo Two]

It's nice to know that sometimes real products are the best. Wool for carpets, rubber for tyres!

[crackthatoff]

They put the 20% of poly prop into an 80/20 carpet to make it wear longer..... you do the maths.

The top end polyprop, polyester and recycled corn/plastic bottle are streets ahead of a normal 40 or 50 oz wool.
Mind you they can cost more than wool in some instances.

this is good stuff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ_z8qiELgE

[RC1]

We went the full on PP route this time after working to a tight budget. Its been down almost 2 years on a mixture of boards and concrete with 9mm cloud nine under it.

Tested out a new vax cleaner thing over the weekend and much to my surprise it worked really well.

Following the wash its bouncy and clean and has given the pile some much needed lift.

we do have strict no shoes on carpet and stains are dealt with swiftly. it was still surprising how dirty the water was following a couple of passes with the vax

I would think we get another 2/3 years out of this carpet before the pile gives up the ghost.

[Andehh]

We went for PP in bedrooms & lounge, speaking to a few carpet fitters (pretty neutral either way tbh) they reckoned man made would last for 10ish years whilst a good 80/20 wool would last for 15. Price was pretty similar either way so choice was ours.

We figured with the red wine and curries it was either wear vs stains in the lounge. After 10 years we either have a livable but stained wool or a clean but worn man made. The lounge we also went for a deep pile one, which feels phenominal under foot.

We went for PP and 4 months later still happy with it, we HAVE spilt wine on it and we HAVE split curry on it and both came out a dream, had we gone for the original flecked light creamish wool we first looked at I doubt we would have been so lucky! We even managed to spill white spirit on it and whilst it loosened a small patch or the carpet within a day or two it stretched it out - we got away with it.

For the stairs/hallway we will go 80/20 wool blend due to high traffic, but with just 2 of us and a family within a few years stain resistant > wear.