Nylon Carpets

[andrewpreece]

Hello,

I'm trying to replace the old swirly wool carpet on my hallway/stairs/landing as it is now wearing on the treads, it's aeons old and still is ok except on the stairs. Wool seems to be the best fibre for carpets.

I wanted to go to a restrained pindot pattern ( grid of dots spaced at about

6" ) in wool, but have found out that for technological reasons, pindot wool carpets are only produced using woven Axminster or Wilton techniques, hence we're talking £30+/sq.metre which is a little steep for me. I could go to plain wool, but was really looking for at least a minimal pattern for interest and to hide dirt.

I'm thrown back to looking at nylon carpets. I've heard they're a lot better than they used to be, and was pleased to find that they don't all have that shiny synthetic look. All the same I am worried about pile-crushing and wear, and wondered if anyone has had nylon carpets installed in heavy wear areas ( particularly stairs ) and is pleased with their performance and appearance?

cheers,

Andy.

[[news]]

bzzzzzzzzzzzzzt CRACK !! (static discharge ahoy)

RT

[John Rumm]

I am pretty sure the stair carpet we have is a blend with at least some synthetic on a hessian back. Probably polyester rather than nylon. Been down 5 years or so, still looks pristine.

The key seems to be use a very good underlay since that makes the carpet last much longer, and also keeps the noise from foot falls on the stairs down.

[Rod]

"andrewpreece" wrote in news:42712316@212.67.96.135:

There are other fibres! We recently got a substantially polypropylene carpet - to my feet, much nicer than nylon.

[Mary Fisher]

Ah, the heady days of Cyril Lord! The bloomin' carpet we bought from him never wore out!

Mary

[andrewpreece]

The chap in the shop assured me that that was all a thing of the past now! Apparently conductive fibres are woven in with the main body of the carpet, so that's one thing I'm not worried about,

Andy.

[andrewpreece]

Aaah, but blended with what? I've been told that 80% wool: 20% nylon is actually better performing than pure wool, harder wearing, but you can't get 80:20 blends in pindot patterns unless you go for the expensive Axminster/Wilton woven carpets..

Andy.

[Mary Fisher]

Wilton always was expensive but I'm surprised to read that Axminster is ... Axminster was used for more than five colours.

Mary

[John Rumm]

I don't remember the exact composition but I do know the carpet cost about the same as the underlay (i.e. about 5/sq m) so that ought to eliminate a good many of the more exotic options!

[Chris Bacon]

What you want is an 80:20 mix of wool/(nylon|polypropylene), which you can get at less than £20/sqm if you look around. You want at least a heavy domestic grade, maybe a commercial grade if you can get it at the price. Use a quality felt underlay, and make sure the carpet is fitted with the pile in the right direction, and a fold where possible so that you can move it when wear becomes detectable.

Nylon or polyprop are OK, but probably won't quite last so long, and don't like hot things or strong sunlight much at all.

Try to teach people in your household to go up and down stairs without twisting their feet on the carpet, as that really wears it fast - especially on quarter landings, or the bottom few steps.

[andrewpreece]

You're right there, that's just where it has gone through!

Andy.

[David Lang]

Who told you that? Tufted carpets can be produced in any pattern you want, the process is actually more flexible and capable of detail than either Axminster or Wilton methods.

Dave