Pet Resistant Carpet
I am about to replace the carpeting on the main floor. A few years ago someone mentioned some sort of pet-resistent carpeting. It is supposed to not allow accidents to go through to the padding and stains are very easily removable. It sounds like a dream and I have no idea what it is. Can anyone recommend a carpet that would be well handled by lots of pets. It is a dream!!! But a very good marketing ploy! P.E.T. is a polyester face yarn carpet. Stains are easier removed, but the ugly out factor happens sooner then a nylon face yarn carpet, that stains are a little harder if not impossible to remove. Do you remember the polester carpets of the 70's? Same thing, only a little denser face weight, which does actually make it better then what was out in the 70's. Originally posted by Carpets Done Wright It is a dream!!! But a very good marketing ploy! P.E.T. is a polyester face yarn carpet. Stains are easier removed, but the ugly out factor happens sooner then a nylon face yarn carpet, that stains are a little harder if not impossible to remove. Do you remember the polester carpets of the 70's? Same thing, only a little denser face weight, which does actually make it better then what was out in the 70's. In that case, I'll scrap that idea. What sort of carpet is best for pets then? i.e. for cleaning up after them. The least expensive carpet you can find. If your running a kennel, carpet is the wrong choice of flooring!!! It is basically a sponge. Pets ruin carpets if they are allowed to urinate on them. Pet urine is a common cause of carpet delamination, which causes wrinkles. The cushion/padding is going to soak up and hold the smell and release it if you ever have it professionally cleaned!!! You may be better off with acid staining your concrete, then scoring it to look like tile, or any design you want. http://acid-stain.com/ http://www.deco-etch.com/ LOL!!!!!!!!!! My cats are my pets - all six! I will not live on concrete - nor will they. LOL! I just need to know what to look for and what not to buy when you have pets. You can learn about what the Carpet Rug Institute recommends at www.carpet-rug.com. Pet proofed carpet is a dream as is kid proof carpet, however there is fiber and pad in combination that will make the most of your funds$$$ The fiber is Olefin commonly found in berber style carpet. If you do not like the appearance of berber there is one other choice which I happen to have in my home. I have been a saleman, and measure for Sears, and Home Depot, and have personal experience with this fiber. There is no stain proof carpet, but olefin comes darn close. At last count there is only one carpet manufactured out of olefin in the typical textured appearance you think of when looking at carpet, and this is the one I have had in two homes. It is very stain resistant, you can actualy use bleach on it within reason to get stains out. No other carpet can make this claim! My dog has urinated on this fiber in various forms, even cheap berber of the rack at home centers is great carpet for the money when concerned with stains. A little seminar here on the different fibers. Nylon is the most popular fiber as it still retains the resilliance award, however the fiber itself is very pourous. When put under a microscope you will see the pores. This allows Nylon to be colored in any color the manufacture would care to use. This plus has a negative, it is the pores that allow this fiber to be easily stained, hard to clean, and tends to retain smells making it unsuitable for untrained pets, like mine. P.E.T or Polyester (The coke bottle carpet)has fewer pores, and is therefore a tad more stain resitant, and still allows bright coloring. However this fiber has been known in the past to be very unstable where matting and crushing is concerned. This fiber had, and still has in many minds, a bad reputation. It is less resiliant than Nylon, but with a good twist, and density, this carpet can be very good, and is much less expensive than Nylon. Also the quality of Polyester has improved immmensely over the years and is now a mainstream carpet used often. Now for the stain resistant winner of all time. Olefin has no pores. The color is extruded into the yarn as it is being made. No pores makes this carpet extremely hard to colorize hence it is also very hard to stain, there are no pores for the ink, urine, coffee, fruit punch etc. to soak into. This is not to say it is the fiber to end all fibers, but it is my favorite, as we have pets and are not the cleanest people ourselves. You know men, traipsing in this and that. You can stain this carpet, but if you clean stains soon after they appear you will most assuredly be able to remove them. This fiber has it's faults. Olefin is the least resiliant of all fibers, and therefore must be very dense with a tight twist in the yarn. Being hard to colorize you will find fewer, brighter colors than with the previous fibers, allthough as of late brighter colors are appearing. In berbers that are multi colored you will often find a mix of Olefin and Nylon. Usualy not more than a 90% Olefin / 10% Nylon blend. If you use bleach on such a carpet to get a stain out you will bleach the color out of the nylon portion which are the bright flecks in the carpet. This is why the mix, to get some color into the carpet. There are berbers with multi colors that are 100 percent Olefin avoiding the above problem. Avoid sculpted or patterned berber unless the pattern is not readily visable in the sculptured or the color itself makes the pattern appear. Because this fiber is not resilliant the sculpted Berber will eventualy flatten out in areas leaving the remaing pattern everywhere except the hall, entry, in front of the couch etc. Anywhere you walk on this type the pattern will matt down quickly. If the pattern is in the color you will not have this problem. Stairs are another area that can be a concern. Berber tends to open up when bending over a stair. Some Berbers are better than others in this respect, so bend them at the store to see how they look when bent. Most outdoor carpet, the fake lawn type, or tight low weave type are Olefin. People actualy use outdoor carpet indoors either glued directly to the floor, or if the carpet is suitable to being stretched, over pad. You must ask the salesman if an outdoor carpet can be installed over pad and stretched, as some cannot. Most commercial floors where there is low height, very dense carpet, you will find it is Olefin. There is one carpet made of Olefin that comes in 20 or so colors that is your typical textured non patterned carpet you normaly think of when looking at Nylon or Polyester. This is what I have, Tight twist, very dense, and sooooooo stain resistant. Wouldn't buy anything else for our needs, but you will have limited color choices. I would tend to stay away from most Berbers as they matt down very quickly, even the dense ones. A good berber in my mind is one that is very dense with a very low height. these are excellent for value, and longevity, but they will appear like commercial, industrial carpet. These reasons are why you find them in casinos, hotels, hospitals, etc. Allright, I think I have made my claim for Olefin. Fantastic fiber chosen with care. To answer the thread posters question about carpet not letting liquid soak through to the pad. There is currently a new carpet being made that has a membrane on the backing that will keep all spills in the carpet, however this carpet is made of Nylon, and I have heard of installers complaing about installing it. Not sure what you can expect, as I have not sold any yet, but the carpet is extremely rigid because of the backing with related possible install problems such as stretching, the carpet remaining stretched after install, scratching walls when carrying pieces in to the home for install because the installer can't bend it when in roll form, etc. Another option is the padding itself which has a coating not allowing any substance to soak into it. This pad will keep liquid on top of the pad allowing a steam cleaner to suck it out avoiding mildew, dust and such under the carpet. However if the carpet is very dense you will need a truck mounted steamer with lots of suction to remove the liquid. This holds true for any carpet, and some are so dense you will not be able to get anything under the carpet removed, and in really dense carpets once dirt has gotten into the depths of the carpet there is no machine strong enough to get it out. This is why people often say I just had my carpet cleaned, and now it's dirty again 3 months later, and in the same spots. The best solution for all this is to vacuum daily, and clean stains as soon as you see them. In the end, in any fiber choice, the tighter the twist, the amount of twist, the denser the carpet, the better performance, and longer life you will recieve for your money. Take care all Tom I have been a saleman, and measure for Sears, and Home DepotAvoid sculpted or patterned berber unless the pattern is not readily visable in the sculptured or the color itself makes the pattern appear. Because this fiber is not resilliant the sculpted Berber will eventualy flatten out in areas leaving the remaing pattern everywhere except the hall, entry, in front of the couch etc. Anywhere you walk on this type the pattern will matt down quickly.There is currently a new carpet being made that has a membrane on the backing that will keep all spills in the carpet, however this carpet is made of Nylon, and I have heard of installers complaing about installing it. Not sure what you can expect, as I have not sold any yet, but the carpet is extremely rigid because of the backing with related possible install problems such as stretching, the carpet remaining stretched after install, scratching walls when carrying pieces in to the home for install because the installer can't bend it when in roll form, etc. This holds true for any carpet, and some are so dense you will not be able to get anything under the carpet removed, and in really dense carpets once dirt has gotten into the depths of the carpet there is no machine strong enough to get it out. This is why people often say I just had my carpet cleaned, and now it's dirty again 3 months later, and in the same spots.In the end, in any fiber choice, the tighter the twist, the amount of twist, the denser the carpet, the better performance, and longer life you will recieve for your money. Great advise! I resent the Credibilty comment??? I did much research on my own, my installers for 4 years at sears were a father and Son run company who were also licensed inspectors in all aspects of insuance work/claims, and the father was a certified/lcensed flooring inspector. I gleaned quite a bit of info working with them as well. I am very knowledgable about fiber types, and could have gone into more depth, such as Olefin is a petroleum based product, and will have a thin film of oil on the carpet itself when you recieve it. Therefore Olefin will attract dirt, and such until it has a good cleaning. I would not steam a berber or Olefin carpet right off, just wait till its dirty, then have a good steem clean company clean it. For the purpose of obtaining a professional cleaning, ask what temperature the water in the truck is? On a cut pile texured or saxony/plush, the water should be around 180 degrees. The fiber twist is set at around this temperature at the factory, and this temperature will help reset the twist. Just like steel, the twist has a memory, and the ugly out factor the poster refers to invloves any aspect of the carpet that will not provide a lasting good appearance. Most salesmen will not inform you that the mills require you to have your carpet professionaly steamed once a year, but you can probably get away with every 15/16 months, in order to keep your warranty active! The main reason is to reset the twist! Fiber quality, bad/loose twist which will cause what they call tip bloom. This is where the twist has become untwisted to a degree hence the tips of the fibers will appear frayed, and ugly. There is no way to fix this once it has occured, just live with it till the next carpet purchase. You can see tip bloom at your local home center. Look for the least expensive texured carpet, and you will see tip bloom, it's allready ugly on the rack!! We in the biz call it appartment carpet. Let me state here, if you are on a budget as many of us are these days, take a look at the home center, then go to one of your local mom pop flooring stores. You will receive more for your investment, but may not get the sevice you will receive at a home center. Ask freinds for recomendations or simply ask around. Wool????? I must also state here that I am in California, and don't have the asphalt and related problems of living east. So my information is based on where I live, except where the fibers are concerned. Olefin is the best fiber you can buy for stain resistance by far!!! Nothing comes close, not Nylon, not Polyester, and certainly not wool!!! You mention wool?? How many of us readers can afford Wool??? I have never dealt with Wool so am not privy to it's benefits, but I do know Wool is $$$$$$$ hence you will not see it most places, you must go to a high end custom store to find it, and most cannot afford to shop these places, and hire decorators etc. When I win the Lotto I may look into Wool. As I said I don't have any info regarding Wool, but I do know that you will not find it at home centers, nor would you have found it at Sears. Sears has dropped out of the flooring business as of 01/01/2001 Sears used to be the leading retailer of flooring in the world, and were rated 2nd or 3rd when they decide to quite the business. THE BIG ORANGE home center now sells more flooring than any other company in the world by a large margin!!! They also have very good training in all aspects of flooring. I no longer work for them so have no aggenda here, but they do have knowledgable associates in all departments if you search them out. No, The carpet I refer to is not a glue down, but may be a hot melt, not sure. It's got a very thick backing, may be hot melt combined with the proper backing for stretching in, hence it is ssoooooooooooo thick, and heavy. This was brand new on the market around 06/2001 I went to a seminar regarding this carpet (paid my hourly rate by the home center to attend this as well as many other training classes) and the installers stated they were having trouble with it. Needless to say the mill was not happy with the bad feedback as most of us were in the sales end of flooring. I am not sure if this carpet ever took off or not. I will have to look for it next trip to the home center which will be today or tommorow, and will let all know what this carpet is, and who makes it. I must also clarify what I said about BERBER. The more expensive berbers tend to be very dense, and of a higher pile hight. These berbers will not hold up, or as the previous post stated, will ugly out early on. I would stay with as dense a berber you can find, with no pattern, and a low pile height. This style will matt just as fast, but you will not see the matting much as the pile height is allready low, so when matted it will be ever so slightly lower still. Try to stay with darker colors as these show less of the matting than lighter ones. Idealy, and less expensive, is the aforementioned very tight looped, vey low pile, commercial carpet. Very inexpensive, and will hold up like nothing you have ever experienced. However it will have that commercial appearance which most customers do not like, but it is nonetheless your best value!!! Other than this, the low pile, tight looped but not as tight as commercial, Berber would be a good choice as well. I have to disagree with the previous post on dirt getting stuck deep in the carpet fibers. Some of these carpets are so dense that the dirt on the surface that appears daily, if not vacuumed, will work it's way into the depths of the fiber, never to be seen again. This also causes the individual fibers to rub against the embeded dirt causing friction which will destroy the carpet affecting the twist of the yarn, this is not really a concern in berber, but will also cause friction here as well, which is not beneficial to the carpet. The best advice you will receive, and probably not heed (like most of us) is to vacuum, vacuum, vacuum!!!. This is not good for asthma sufferers either!!! Another point for asthmatics, you should purchase pad that is made of Urethane. This pad is inert, and will not cause asthma sufferers more problems than they have allready. Typically you will see Rebond, made of bits and pieces of either remanufactured or virgin foam. The virgin type rebond is better, but still not rated for indoor air quality standards. Urethane pad is more resiliant, hold it's resiliancy longer, and is rated under CSI (Carpet standards Institute, or is it CRI?? Been out of the biz for a year, and forget) for indoor air quality standards, no other type of pad meets these criteria unless it is rated under the standards mentioned.Here is where the previous poster may disagree with me. I think Urethane is by far the best quality pad you can put under your carpet for the reasons stated, but my installers, the father and son did not agree with me??? Who knows, Consummer reports tested all types of pads, and recomends Urethane, but most mills still recomend Rebond, stating that urethane is too spongy, and will cause breakdown of the backing structure. The newer urethanes at the Big Orange are denser, and not quite as spongy as older Urethanes, and have the spill proof coating on both sides of the pad protecting not only the top, but bottom as well. All cement floors have a certain amount of moisture seeping up through the floor, and raised floors have the same problem especialy if an older home. One thing to look for if you are concerned about seepage of spills through the carpet, and decide to purchase the Urethane/coated pad, I don't know why, but installers contracts do not call for them to tape the seams of the pad therfore negating the whole purpose of having the coating. You may want to tape the seams yourself. Pad comes in 6 ft rolls. Otherwise spills will seep into the cracks between the pad. I am pretty sure all carpets must meet the CSI standards as I have never seen one that wasn't rated under CSI, so this is an area you don't have to worry about, but look for the CSI on the sample to decern if you are concerned. I cannot possibly state all possible concerns on this post, between myself and the previous post we could fill up the storage capacity of this site in no time. If you have a concern or question I or the previous poster will be happy to answer any query you may have. Between the two of us, even though we may disagree on some points, you will be assured of an honest oppinion at the least. I don't see alot of the problems installers see, and installers don't see many of the customer related problems I see, so with all the knowledge in this thread on both sides we should be able to help one another. I could go on for 1000 more pages, but will wait for more posts. Tom I forgot to mention in the last post that Dupont does make a backing solution that is spill resistant, but not spill proof. I havn't seen this product on a carpet backing in awhile, and am not sure it is still on the market. I forget the trade name of the product, but it had Spill in the name I think. Take care all Tom
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