I’ve done a search and the only previous thread I can find on here is about cleaning poo out of them 🤮

Anyway – new carpets time. I’m utterly bewildered by all the choices – polypropolene, wool blend, 100% wool, twist, loop, cut, uncut.. argh! I just want something that will stay looking nice and not cost any more than necessary.

(Jute/coir/seagrass out as I don’t want a carpet to exfoliate my feet)

Any advice please?

No carpets?

As speedy gonzales (sort of) used to say, underlay, underlay, arriba!

Yup underlay makes the difference, decent thick stuff will last and make walking a joy, cheap stuff will compress and make your every waking moment a living hell.

Agree with ads678 – good quality underlay will make a difference with feel and insulation. Choosing the carpet depends on where it goes in the house, for a hall you’d want something like a short length wool mix or even a polyprop because you want to hoover and clean it a lot but a front room (especially if its not a corridor room to another) would have something nicer like all wool. If you can afford ones with a stain resistance they are well worth it as we’ve got that in the front room and we’ve cleaned it by hand with spillages etc and it still looks in good nick.

We used to have a proper carpet shop in Prestwich with a lovely old fella who knew his stuff and a fitter who did a proper job but they closed last year 🙁

Area impacts type (I believe) so high traffic.impact areas like stairs you can go for a loop, bedrooms you might want softer cut stuff. But really I’ve only ever bought one carpet for my stairs so I’m guessing a bit. I spent lots on a nice looking one from John Lewis, it looks great and is just about surviving the dog.

No carpets would leave my very ratty drafty floorboards on show, and they really aren’t worth renovating.

Good quality underlay is a given (although what exactly that constitutes I don’t yet know).

Need stuff for halls, stairs and bedrooms so I presume the type will differ.

Helpful to know loop suits higher traffic areas at least 🙂 .

Surely there’s a carpet expert on STW somewhere 🙂

My two pence…

Buying underlay online is considerably cheaper than buying it from a carpet shop. You’ll likely be able to get better (thicker) stuff than they can supply too.

Wool is most hard wearing, but more expensive.

A twist or texture for a high traffic area.

We have done 3 houses in the last few years. My tip would be to go to a local independent carpet shop, talk to the owner/manager (not an underling) and ask their advice. Good advice, decent pricing and quality laying is what keeps them in business

Second (or third) finding a good family-owned local carpet shop and asking for advice.

For example, the one I used in Newton-le-Willows advised to get decent underlay and not to go mad on the actual carpets. Got some well-priced off-cuts for the kids’ bedrooms too.

We have a local chap / shop. We have erred towards as good quality as we can, usually wool. We have only a small house and so far every carpet has been a roll end / offcut / at least 30-40% saved. Of course we don’t get ‘the exact’ model of carpet – often a case of choosing the one that we like most or suits the decor.

The local shop has always been cheaper than the big companies around the corner, offer better advice, and fitters we pay direct and were recommended by the same shop/bloke.

Thanks all, I have got someone from the LCS coming round next week, and I will definitely defer to their expertise.

I did assume 100% wool would be more expensive, but there are 80/100% wool options that are almost as cheap as polypropolene ones, e.g.: https://www.tapi.co.uk/carpet/parsley

Avoid cream.

Avoid cream.

I was going to go brilliant white 😉

Nah – grey/brown/blue fleck for sure.

Avoid cream.

Goes off, will be wet underfoot, will smell, people will steal it for their pudding…Bad choice for carpet all round really.

Goes off, will be wet underfoot, will smell, people will steal it for their pudding…Bad choice for carpet all round really.

Good if you own cats though.

We needed new carpets throughout a couple of years ago, ended up in Tapi as we’d done the budget on a bathroom and some other building work and they offered 0%.

They were okay, I’ve no idea what type we got, but the Mrs wanted a deep pile, so deep you can leave footprints in it. We got the best Underlay and it’s lovely to walk on, but the deep pile was a mistake, unless you wanted run a cleaner over it every day it packs down, especially on the stairs.

Words of wisdom?
If you happen to get a lovely, new, light coloured carpet put down, don’t then walk oily boots through the house on said carpet.
However, if you do happen to do that, WD40 brings out said oil and leaves the carpets perfectly clean. You can then tell your other half that the smell is due to you sorting out a squeaky door.
Thank you to the sadly departed Trout for that little tip.

Overall though, I too suggest talking to your local independent carpet shop. The one I went to was super helpful about type of carpet and underlay, and also where to save or spend money.

Thanks all, I have got someone from the LCS coming round next week, and I will definitely defer to their expertise.

Yeah this, find a fitter and go from what they recommend.

Avoid wool. It’s sustainable and wonderful underfoot but once you get carpet moths you’ll NEVER get rid of them.

Must have spent £300 on harmful pesticides and days and days of precious weekends trying to. I’d rip the lot out if I could afford to. 😔

https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/24/pests-moths-carpets