Best Type of Carpet for High Traffic Areas in The Home

There are many benefits of a carpeted home, including style, insulation, softness, acoustics and safety. But for those busier areas – the hallway, living room or staircase –  durability, strength and longevity is what matters. If your floors endure a high level of foot traffic, you’ll want to consider your options when looking to install new carpet. The best type of carpet fibre for high traffic areas should boast slip-free and snag-free properties as well as have the ability to retain its shape over time.

Fortunately, modern carpets have been created with performance and longevity in mind to maintain their beauty, even under tough conditions. For homeowners today, the most commonly-installed carpet fibres include nylon, wool and polyester.

Common Types of Carpet Fibres

Carpets are constructed from thousands of fibres, which attach to a sturdy backing. The material of the fibres which make up a carpet will impact the way you undergo future maintenance and care for your carpet.  There are four common types of carpet fibres to choose from:

1. Wool

2. Polyester

3. Nylon

4. Polypropylene

To help you decide which type of fibre provides the best type of carpet for high traffic areas, we’ve taken a closer look at these categories and the pros and cons to be aware of.

What’s The Best Type of Carpet to Withstand High Traffic?

Pure Wool Carpet

Wool offers a statement of style and luxury to the home. Being a natural product, wool is sustainably sourced, biodegradable and is a renewable resource. It’s incredibly soft underfoot, yet tough as it can withstand high traffic conditions. Wool carpet resists dirt, is extremely resilient and is naturally flame-retardant. The composition of natural wool fibres has a crimping mechanism to give the carpet natural elasticity. This acts as a spring so the wool can stretch up to 30% and bounce back with no visual effect. As well as this, when cared for properly, wool can last a lifetime.

Nylon Carpet

Nylon is soft, highly-stain resistant and easy to clean, making it a great choice for homes with families and pets. The strength of nylon fibre helps it to resist abrasion and maintain its texture for long periods. Another great benefit of nylon is its ability to be crushed, bent and stretched up to 33% and still regain its original shape. One drawback of nylon carpet is that it doesn’t have the properties to regulate indoor temperature, meaning it can feel quite cool underfoot in winter, and hot in summer.

Polypropylene Carpet

Polypropylene, also known as olefin, is a synthetic fibre that is quite inexpensive for consumers. This type of fibre is stain resistant, moisture resistant, fade resistant and quite durable. Unfortunately, this fibre lacks resilience due to its inability to bounce back as other fibres do. In residential applications, polypropylene carpet is most suitable for low traffic areas in the home.

Polyester Carpet

Polyester carpet features beautiful colour clarity and exceptional softness, it’s fade resistant and often made from recycled PET plastics. Like olefin, polyester is a man-made material that is slightly less robust than nylon or wool when exposed to years of wear and tear. When used in stairs, halls or living areas, polyester carpeting tends to crush relatively quickly, giving polyester an average lifespan of 5-10 years.

Polyester balances performance with cost-efficiency and is generally recommended for medium to low levels of foot traffic.

Best Type of Carpet For High Traffic Placement

Thanks to technological innovations including waterproofing, non-slip surfacing and stain-proofing, all of the carpet types manufactured today offer a minimum level of comfort and quality. However, for busy households with high traffic areas, the focus remains on durability and longevity. Due to this, the best types of carpet for high traffic areas are:

• Wool carpet
• Nylon carpet

Contact Flooring Bathroom Interiors

Choosing the right flooring doesn’t need to be stressful. Simply chat with one of our flooring experts to determine the best type of carpet to suit your individual needs. We’ve got plenty of experience in home renovations and are always happy to help.