What is the Best Carpet for High Traffic Areas?
After moving into your new home or while updating your current home, your carpets are the most prominent factor of your renovations. Choosing the right carpet for each room will make your home easier to clean and look new for longer, especially in the places that are most often walked on. These high-traffic areas include hallways, entryways, and living rooms. When looking into the best carpets for the high-traffic areas of your home, there are certain materials and styles that are better than others.
Carpet Materials
Nylon: As the carpet built for busy areas, nylon is the most recommended material for high-traffic areas. It is a strong material, holding up against damage and fraying longer than most other materials, and it is resilient to compression. This carpet bounces back easily, looking newer for longer. While nylon is more expensive than other synthetic options, it proves its worth quickly. One note about nylon is to never use it in damp areas, like basements. It can retain constant moisture, making it more prone to mold.
Polyester: Built for stain resistance, polyester is great for the room you host your parties in. While it doesn’t bounce back as easily as nylon, it does resist compression in the high traffic areas, making it a good option for your home. Polyester is also a more budget-friendly option than nylon, and often made from recycled materials.
Wool: Wool is the all-natural option for carpets, giving it its own set of benefits and challenges. The natural stain resistance, durability, and comfort is one that isn’t matched by most synthetic carpets, making it a good option for high-traffic areas. The main downside of wool carpets is the upkeep and cost. Wool carpets need to be professionally cleaned regularly in order to stay soft and look clean.
Olefin: While nylon isn’t made for basements, olefin is. Olefin is made to be resistant to moisture and mildew. Because of this, it is not known for its softness or use in other places in a house.
Triexta: Triexta is a newer material in the carpet scene. It was made to be the best of all worlds. It’s soft, durable, and stain resistant. Because it is newer, there is less information about how it does over time, However, it is proving to be a great option for an all-around carpet material that bounces back, is easy to clean, and holds up with kids and pets.
Carpet Styles
Loop Pile: As the name suggests, a loop style, also called Berber, is when each strand of the carpet loops around back to the floor. This style helps the carpet bounce back easily after frequent pressure from walking. However, if you have pets, please be cautious with choosing this style. Claws can get easily stuck in the loops.
Cut Pile: Cut pile, which includes texture carpet, are carpets with fibers cut at the top. The strands are attached to the bottom and stand up, ending at the top. In the cut pile style, there are two different lengths. A low cut pile is a shorter length, which is great for high-traffic areas because it doesn’t compress very far and easily bounces back. A high cut pile is a longer length of carpet, which is not as ideal for high-traffic areas because it is much more difficult for the longer fibers to bounce back after compression.
Cut and Loop: The cut and loop style, including pattern carpet, is a combination of the loop pile and cut pile styles. The combination in a short style adds unique textures that is a great option for high-traffic areas of your home. It is often durable, and it can bounce back quickly from frequent compression. As is with the loop pile, you’ll want to think carefully about this option if you own pets.
Shag: Shag carpets are unique. It’s a type of long pile carpets that is made for style. These carpets are not recommended for high-traffic areas because they can easily become matted if not taken care of properly.
Carpets are meant to be loved and walked on. The best way to keep your carpets in the best shape and last long is to regularly vacuum and to schedule professional carpet cleanings every six months to a year. If it is time for your carpet cleaning, request a quote to get started.