subject: How To Choose The Right Carpeting Flooring For Your New Home [print this page] The easiest way to turn your new home from a sterile space to a lived-in nest is as easy as introducing plush, new carpeting flooring. Nothing feels better or makes a room more inviting than the casual comfort of a well-chosen carpet. Before zeroing in on design elements like color schemes and patterns, tackle the basics by knowing the perfect fabric for your needs.
Most carpets are a blend of natural and synthetic fibers, with most weaving in one material more prominently than another. Choosing the right blend has everything to do with your carpeting flooring priorities. Is durability the most important characteristic to you? Prefer a soft fiber thats ideal for walking barefoot? Looking for a tough, stain-resistant blend? Start familiarizing yourself with the benefits of the most popular materials on the market:
Nylon Pros: The most popular (and strongest) material in carpet production, this yarn keeps its shape, is highly stain-resistant, and holds up to tumbling and foot traffic exceptionally well. Cons: An easy target for conducting static electricity.
Polypropylene Pros: A growing component of manufactured carpets, this fiber is affordable, ultra-durable and particularly good at deflecting signs of pizza accidents and other oil-based stains. It stands up heroically to bleaching and sunlight, too. Cons: Too much traffic shows up noticeably on this squash-prone fabric, and there isnt a large range of color options, as its commonly pre-dyed.
Polyester Pros: A high-performance fiber thats a champion stain resistorand allergy friendly, as it resists moisture and mildew more readily than nylon. One of the most versatile materials insofar as color options, brilliantly hued carpeting flooring is usually made of this popular choice. Its also highly likely to be green: polyester is increasingly made from recycled plastic bottles. Cons: Crushes easily and has a hard time bouncing back. Loosely twisted yarns have a tendency to unwind, blend, and flatten a carpets bed.
Acrylic Pros: One of the softest fibers of the bunch, acrylic is an affordable alternative to wool. Perfect for germ-phobes and those worried about stains. This material is a top pick for those allergic to mold, mildew, and moths. For those looking for color, acrylic is another formidable choice for color range. Cons: Not the toughest when it comes to durability, and likely to shed and pill upon constant treading.
Wool Pros: Pricey, but a bona-fide green and clean natural fiber. At twice the price of synthetic options, homeowners choose wool for its lush look, feel and warmth. Easy to clean and dye, wool is a top choice for its infamous texture. Youll usually see wool in Karastan area rugs as opposed to flooring carpeting. Cons: As a super-absorbent material, wool can play host to mildewand like your favorite sweater, is prone to shrink with ebbing moisture. Know that the suns rays do no favors for this degradable material, bleaching and weakening its fibers. Also prone to balding as a result of high traffic, wool rugs are best kept from your busiest rooms. When it comes down to picking the best carpeting flooring for your rooms, narrow down your options by evaluating your nooks lifestyle, first. You wouldnt throw a pricey wool rug as an entrance runner any more than youd choose polyester for your toddler-run living room. Not unlike a choosing a mate, knowing a rugs characteristics before you take it home can help you save time and frustration, when you realize its not your perfect match. Be honest with your needs, and youre sure to find one with the right personality. Happy rug hunting!
