stair runners

[Bonnie Jean]

I am going crazy trying to figure out what kind of carpet runner to buy for my stairs. I want an oriental pattern since it hides dirt better. But my main concern is the products resistance to matting and flattening.

Choices are wool (best), nylon (good synthetic with resistance to matting), and poly's (not good with matting).

In my area, the poly's look and feel is much denser which to me translates to good resistance with matting. The $25/ft wool and $18/ft nylon's I've seen aren't as dense. The exception to that are expensive wool's like Karastan which for about $65 per linear foot.

So do I go with what appears to be a dense poly which on sale will run me about $600 or a Karastan which will run me almost $1700.

I'd very much appreciate any input you can offer.

Bonnie in So. Jersey

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Depends on just how important that extra $1100 is to you to get the look you'd want. If you can afford it, go for it. I'd go with wood myself.

[Art]

We have a medium great low pile nylon on our stairs for 8 years and it is doing fine even with a cat tracking up kitty liter routinely.