subject: Why To Choose Nylon Carpeting For Your Kids And Pets [print this page] Michael Voorhees is the CEO of Capital Carpet Cleaning & Dye in Detroit, a carpet cleaning and flood restoration company that can find a solution to nearly any type of flooring issue. For people with pets or children, the best type of carpeting to choose is almost always going to be nylon, according to Voorhees.
I always recommend nylon carpeting to homeowners with kids and pets because nylon carpeting has a number of positive characteristics that some of the less expensive carpeting fibers do not have.
Nylon is a soft fiber.
When compared to other fibers such as olefin and acrylic, nylon is a much softer fiber to the touch. That means that if a child were to fall onto the carpeting with his bare knees exposed, he would be less likely to skin his knees on nylon carpeting than on olefin and acrylic fiber. In general, olefin and acrylic are much harder fibers, which is why they are not recommended for people with young children.
These days, the manufacturers of acrylic carpets have dramatically increased the looks of their product so much so that the acrylic carpets have gotten to the point where they are much softer than they used to be. Nonetheless, acrylic is still a much harder fiber than nylon, and it still has those basic negative characteristics that cause it to be a less desirable option.
Nylon can restore itself to its original shape.
For people who frequently move furniture around the home, the memory in a carpet can be important. If you have a large piece of furniture sitting on the carpet and you decide to move it to another location, then nylon is a fiber that will restore itself to its original shape. On the other hand, olefin and acrylic fibers do not have memory, which means that they will remain bent and indented even once the heavy furniture has been moved across the room.
Nylon can be re-dyed.
One of the biggest advantages of purchasing a nylon fiber carpet is that spots of the carpet can be re-dyed. Therefore, if a homeowner or a child were to spill bleach on the carpeting and the color were to somehow get damaged, then a carpet restoration company like Capital Carpet Cleaning & Dye could come back in and do color restoration on the nylon. This would not be a possibility with an olefin or acrylic carpet though, because those types of fibers cannot be re-dyed by a professional.
Nylon cleans up easier.
There is no doubt that nylon fiber just reacts better to professional carpet cleaning than polyester or acrylic fibers do. Whether the cause of the mess on the carpet is a child, a pet, or a natural disaster like a flood, carpet restoration is easier for homeowners in Detroit who have nylon carpeting than for those who have carpet made out of polyester or acrylic fibers. Nylon does clean up easier. It is a softer fiber, so it releases soil easier than acrylics or polyesters. In addition, a polyester or acrylic fiber becomes worn down in a heavy traffic area, so soil can get scratched into the fibers.
Nylon lasts longer.
So why do people continue to buy acrylic carpets if they dont stand up as well over time? It comes down to cost. In most cases, acrylic carpet averages between 30% and 40% cheaper than nylon carpet. People who walk into carpet stores without knowing anything about carpet will typically look at a plush acrylic carpet and see that it is $10 less expensive per yard than the plus nylon option. Despite the fact that the plush acrylic has a thick look to it, the product will wear down more quickly than nylon carpeting.
For the above reasons, I always recommend nylon to clients with small children or pets in the home. Even a lower-grade nylon carpeting is better than a top grade polyester or acrylic option. Most people who go with an acrylic carpet start out satisfied with their purchases, and they dont begin to notice the downsides until the carpet begins to age. When something like a major wine spill or even a flood happens to a homeowner in Detroit, the restoration of a nylon carpet is going to be a much easier process than the restoration of an acrylic carpet.
