What's the Best Type of Carpet for My Home and Family?

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Finding the right carpet for your home involves more than choosing your favourite colour and texture. The type of carpet fibre you select for different spaces will have a big impact on its longevity, appearance and your budget, not to mention the maintenance involved. To streamline the decision-making process and for expert advice, we spoke to Andersens, which has more than 60 years’ experience supplying and installing different flooring types in Australian homes.

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Antiquity Loop Pile polypropylene carpet in Plato, from Andersens.

Polypropylene Carpet: Pros and Cons

Let’s begin with one of the most affordable carpet types on the market – polypropylene. If you need to carpet an area that will be subjected to stains and spills, polypropylene carpet might just be your new best friend.

The polypropylene fibres, which are made from synthetic material, are mostly stain-resistant, water-resistant and colourfast, so it makes easy work of maintenance. If you’re looking for flooring for children’s bedrooms, polypropylene carpet will easily stand up to the task.

It does, however, come with some caveats: Andersens explains that this type of carpet is not ideal for high-traffic areas, such as main entrances, busy hallways or living rooms.

Polypropylene carpet offers an array of textures, but the colours can be limited. However, if you like to anchor your interior with a neutral flooring scheme, you will still find plenty of shades to choose from.

Andersens

Kensington DuraTuft premium polyester carpet in Deep Grey, from Andersens.

Polyester Carpet: Pros and Cons

Just like polypropylene carpet, polyester carpet is an affordable option for your home and is made from synthetic fibres. It is also water-resistant, stain-resistant, colourfast and gives you plenty of tactile styles to browse from, particularly if you visit a large retailer that stocks a variety of brands, such as Andersens.

So what’s the difference between the two? Polyester carpet feels softer underfoot, sports a more lustrous look, comes in a richer array of colours, and is slightly more durable than its polypropylene cousins. Although it’s not as hardwearing as other carpet types, it is perfectly suited to playrooms, bedrooms, home offices and secondary living areas.

Andersens

Kasmir Solution Dyed nylon carpet in Aged Pearl, from Andersens.

Nylon Carpet: Pros and Cons

If durability is what you need, Andersens recommends nylon carpet – also known as solution dyed nylon (SDN) carpet – which is the most resilient of all synthetic carpet types. This means you can select it, carefree, for high-traffic areas including hallways, entrances and living areas, as well as for less-frequented rooms in the home.

And if you’re after carpet for a dining area, the increased stain-resistance of SDN carpet makes it an excellent, low-maintenance contender to combat spills and stains.

SDN carpet is also colourfast and presents a beautiful range of hues and tactile styles to choose from. Considered the ‘wool of synthetic carpets’, SDN carpet has the highest price point of all synthetic varieties, but is considerably more affordable than wool carpet.

Andersens

Northern Lights triexta carpet in Dark Platinum, from Andersens.

Triexta Carpet: Pros and Cons

Triexta carpet is the result of recent innovations in flooring technology. The synthetic fibres are made partially of corn, making it a more environmentally friendly option than other synthetic alternatives.

Soft and luxurious underfoot, triexta carpet has a matt appearance and comes in a broad range of colours, designs and textures. Andersens explains that in general, the average price point for triexta carpet commonly sits between nylon and wool carpet.

Triexta fibres are engineered to be highly stain-resistant. In fact, most spills and marks can usually be spot-cleaned using just water. As for the durability of triexta carpet, the jury is still out, as this material has only been on the market for several years. Time will tell, so in the meantime, it’s wise to err on the safe side and select triexta carpet for low-traffic areas such as bedrooms or studies.

Andersens

Barleystone 11 Wool Carpet in Linen weave, from Andersens.

Wool Carpet: Pros and Cons

The queen of carpet, wool is super-soft, represents the height of luxury and comes in almost every colour, style and texture imaginable.

This beautiful natural carpet is also the most sustainable soft-flooring option and can biodegrade when its long lifecycle draws to a close.
Wool carpet offers natural insulation for your home, especially in regions with chilly winters, and it is also highly durable.

So are there any drawbacks? For one, the high price point means other more affordable options may better suit your home; or you may decide to install wool carpet only in a select number of small spaces to cut costs.

Likewise, not all wool carpets are colourfast, stain- or spill-resistant, so maintenance is generally higher than with synthetic alternatives.

Andersens

Ribcord solution dyed nylon carpet in Stepping Stone, from Andersens.

What Else Is Helpful to Know?

After you’ve found the carpet fibre that’s right for your home, the next step is the fun part – selecting your favourite designs, colours and textures and narrowing down which ones will suit your home and budget.

Browse through different designs and note any preferences for cut pile, loop pile or cut-and-loop styles. Highly tactile carpet designs have risen in popularity in recent years, due to their sumptuous ‘touch me!’ textures.

Colours have also found a greater fan base lately, from soft earth-drawn tones to more striking shades that make a style statement. Timeless neutrals will always have a place in the home and, as an added benefit, they’ll never date.

Still feeling unsure? Andersens has professional design specialists who can help coordinate your carpet with your interior.

When you’ve narrowed down your options, it’s time to book a measure and quote with a flooring expert, who will visit your home and advise you on your preferences – as well as the best type of underlay for your carpet and space. Andersens offers a complimentary measure and quote service and, after an installation date has been arranged, most carpets can be laid within one day.

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Scenic Walk triexta carpet in Bright Day, from Andersens.

More: To find out more about different carpet fibres for your home and to see all available styles, colours and collections, visit the Andersens website.

This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.