Manmade vs wool carpets???

bootman

I had an 80/20 carpet laid a year ago. I had a nice kind moth lay some eggs what hatched behind the sofa, lava. They kindly munched little holes in my carpet.

When I called a specialist he said they love high content wool carpets, great! After a week or 2 I got them under control. But it was horrid to walk into my lounge to see a worm looking thing on the wall or ceiling!

Next time I don't think I would get 80/20 for this reason.

My house is hovered most days, I am really house proud and it's always tidy. This for me was awful.

Steve_xx

mjk wrote: »

Is this the "weight" of the carpet? I've seen 35oz, 45oz etc, is this determined by how many tufts per inch? If so what is a good weight? I've seen an 80/20 twist, 45 oz for £11.95 per metre, is this a good price?

The answer is, not really. The weight of the carpet pile is expressed in ounces per square yard. A carpet with a pile height of 2cm and a weight of 45oz will not be quite as dense as a carpet of the same weight, but with a pile height of 1cm. In the 1cm pile there are twice as many tufts per yard and therefore it will feel more robust and you would find it more difficult to part the pile and see the backing than with the 2cm piled carpet. Carpet pile is normally twisted, and the tighter the twist, the more robust the carpet will be. In time, the pile will untwist slightly and this give a fuller feel to the carpet.

What is a good weight? Well it depends a lot on pile height. The higher the pile, the higher the weight you will need in order to ensure that the tufts are jammed against one another nice and tightly. If the tufts are far apart then this allows for grit to collect at the base of the tufts and the sandpaper action of the grit reduces the life of the carpet. Quality carpet need not be expensive and there are many good bargains to be had, particularly with berbers which tend to look good and they are contemporary. I've seen a lot of expensive carpeting that in my view isn't that good quality wise, ie some Axminsters have very short piles and are not very dense and are rather expensive. People associate the Axminster brand with quality, a bit like Hoover, but we all know that Hoover are no better than its contenders these days.

stylus360

Also after a new carpet myself since my once beige living room has seen better days. Looking to get something again in a neutral colour but still have no idea quality wise ?
Wool.
Textured berber ?
or hardwearing twist..

Confusing

shown73

Sorry if this seems a daft question, but when 80/20 is referred to, does that mean 80% wool, and 20% synthetic? We're agonising over the same thing at the moment, synthetic, a la carpet right, or a wool mix from a local supplier, which I would prefer. Our hesitation and uncertainty is caused by the fact that we bought a medium priced, synthetic, American made carpet from Carpet-Right a few years ago, beautifully thick and dense, but all the traffic areas have faded so badly. Not through sunlight, not through lack of care, and not through heavy use, particularly. It's only about 7 years old now, but these problems surfaced quite early on. Such a shame, it's like walking on air when new, but we're now very skeptical with carpet. It's a small house, all the traffic is concentrated in certain areas, doorways and so on. We were thinking also of the synthetic, stain free, spill bleach on it, etc, but even that only says "fade resistant," a meaningless description. So, it's looking more and more like the kind of "salt and pepper," twist/berber type thingy, in order not to change so much in the traffic areas.
By the way, for anyone fed up with carpet care, I can still remember helping my mum every so often to lug the carpets out into the back garden, fling them over the washing line, and beat the s--t out of them with a bamboo paddle thingy. But then, I also had to help her with the laundry, at least with the drying. I turned the handle, and she fed it into the mangle. Totally irrelevant of course....

Steve_xx

80/20 would normally refer to wool/synthetic mix. But not necessarily. You should check the label to be certain.

Your idea of a wool berber in the heavy traffic areas is a sound one.

Ken68

Hi MJK and all......Just had a new carpet fitted, 80/20 40oz weight super maxime twist says the bill, looks good, but
annoyed at the impressions left by the furniture. Chair legs etc. Can anyone suggest a remedy? Notice that one armchair without castors is not movable except by lifting/ dragging but leaves no marks, whereas a recliner t'other way round.Got an idea I paid dear , but was recommended. £25 a sq metre.
Cloud 9 underlay.Regards Ken

Steve_xx

You can purchase small plastic cups to sit chair legs or castors in. his helps prevent crushing of the pile.