Carpets set to make comeback

During the past 20 years, hard surface flooring has become more popular than carpets, but this could be changing.

The pandemic has meant more people spending time at home. This has focused their minds on the need to make their homes more comfortable, and carpets make a room feel very warm and cosy.

One argument made against carpets is that they are difficult to keep clean. However, advancements in fibre technology have made carpets easier to clean and maintain.

According to Kevin Brasler, writing for The Washington Post, wall-to-wall carpets are making a comeback in the USA. Design trends that start in America tend to then influence Britain.

Brasler recognises that buying a carpet is a major decision, as:

“Unlike most redecorating projects, buying carpet is a major commitment. Because carpeting dramatically affects the look of a room, lasts a long time and can cost thousands of dollars.”

Brasler recommends taking time to choose the best carpet. There are important decisions to make about the style, pattern, colour and texture of the carpet.

For carpets in the Wrexham, Chester and North Wales area, visit a local carpet retailer and installer to see carpet samples and to find the one best suited for your home decor.

Many households are looking at ways to upgrade their homes to make them more comfortable and luxurious. A quality new carpet is a simple way to transform a room from an ordinary room to a luxurious one, fit for relaxing and feeling at home in.

Which floor choice is suited to kitchens – LVT or laminate?

Out of all the rooms in the house, kitchens can see a lot of action, requiring them to have robust floors. From family members of all ages to their four-legged friends, kitchen flooring has to handle some serious footfall. Fitted in what is often the hub of the home and is the dedicated room for cooking – and sometimes dining – kitchen floors must cope with spills and splatters from food, drink, oils and greases. This makes it vital that they’re easy to clean, and as kitchens are rooms with regular water use, they’re also required to hold up well when wet.

Two popular choices floor choices are luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and laminate, and in the following sections, we’ll look at how these two options measure up against each other for kitchen use.

Appearance and price

Both laminate and LVT can look like natural stone tiles or planks of hardwood, but at a fraction of the price. This ensures you can have a high-end and stylish appearance for your kitchen without it costing the earth. You’ll find both products available in a wealth of different styles, tones, textures and colours, so you can easily match them with your existing fittings and fixtures. Pricewise, these two high-quality products are roughly comparable, and as aforementioned, are far more affordable than the natural floor coverings they imitate.

Hygiene and maintenance

LVT is exceptionally easy to care for. Entirely waterproof, it can be washed using a mop, with no special cleaners required, and it’s also hardwearing, so you can also vacuum it when necessary. Any cleaner can be used on this flooring, making it easy to shop for supplies, and no waxes or polishes are ever required.

Laminate flooring requires slightly more care. Excess water is unwise, as it can cause damage like warping, and vacuuming with a soft brush attachment is recommended to avoid chipping the corners of planks and tiles. Laminate flooring can lose its lustre in time, but specifically designed cleaners are available that help restore their shine.

Pet friendliness

Both LVT and laminate are well-known for standing up well against the claws of cats and dogs, but where their mess is concerned, LVT has the edge. When pets that aren’t housebroken have an accident, it can seep into laminate, while the impermeable nature of LVT ensures no liquids can penetrate the floor’s surface. Being easier to clean than laminate, LVT is also better suited to mopping up after messy eaters and their muddy paw prints.

Durability

Laminate and LVT are designed to be durable and cope with a lot of traffic. However, based in a kitchen where water spills are a common occurrence, LVT is better able to cope and less likely to be damaged than laminate.

As you can see, LVT and laminate floor coverings can appear like the same product, and even have similar costs. While both are hardwearing solutions, when it comes to the kitchen, LVT may be the better option, as it’s waterproof and easier to clean.

Which is easier to care for: artificial or real grass?

If you’re looking to smarten up your outdoor area for the summer and are thinking of including a lawn, you’ll have a key decision to make. Will you choose real grass, or select from the wide range of artificial products available? In the past, this might have been an easy choice to make, as synthetic solutions weren’t always the most aesthetically pleasing option and could easily be distinguished from their authentic counterparts.

However, artificial grass has come a long way, with durable fibres providing a soft and hardwearing surface that can resemble a natural lawn. If you have a busy home and work life, you might be looking for a solution that’s simple to look after, and it might also be advantageous if your lawn care costs remain low.

In the following sections, we’ll compare looking after real and artificial grass to help you decide which type of lawn is best for your property.

Maintenance needs for real grass

A natural grass lawn may be authentic, but it will require serious upkeep. You’ll need to water and weed it, and you’ll need to keep it neat with regular mowing. This is a task you can tackle by yourself or leave to a professional gardener, but either way, it can be costly. If you hire a gardener, you’ll need to pay them, and if you decide to go it alone, you’ll need not only the time and inclination, but funds to invest in both a lawn mower and the fuel or energy to operate it.

Dealing with damage to natural grass

Real grass isn’t great at coping with serious footfall, so unless you want to carry out serious repairs, you may have to limit the traffic it experiences, or it will soon become worn. Additionally, if you have pets, you might find that their mess can burn or yellow your lawn, and in the hotter months of the year, your lawn may become sparse and patchy. In worst-case scenarios, certain areas of your lawn may benefit from reseeding.

Looking after your artificial grass

Artificial grass is far easier and less costly to care for. Simple sweeping of loose leaves and other debris periodically is all it takes to keep your synthetic lawn in good shape, a job easily managed by yourself.

Keeping synthetic grass clean and pristine

It is exceptionally easy to cope with mess from family pets with man-made grass, as it doesn’t stain and can be cleaned simply with a hose or cloth and a little detergent if necessary. Artificial grass manufacturers create products to withstand plenty of human interaction, and they include UV protection too, ensuring your lawn won’t discolour in natural sunlight, meaning it will look perfect all year round

In summary, while ultimately the decision is a personal one, you may find that for an easy-care option with fewer associated costs, and that can provide an ideal environment suited to people and pets, artificial grass is well worth considering for your home.

New recycling process developed for carpets

Many carpets in Chester and North Wales homes are made from polypropylene, which is a petroleum-based material. As polypropylene has not been recyclable, many worn carpets have ended up in landfills or have been incinerated – however, a recycling process has now been developed.

Researchers from the Technical University of Graz in Switzerland, in partnership with British Axion Recycling in the UK and Germany’s Fraunhofer IBP, have developed a recycling process that recovers polypropylene from carpets, which can then be used to make new carpets, along with a number of other industrial uses.

The new recycling process is cost effective. An economic analysis found that 99% of the polypropylene from the carpet is extracted. If the process was done on an industrial scale, it would achieve significant environmental savings.

Polypropylene is a widely used polymer base. As well as making carpets, it has many other uses, included in packaging, pipes and furnishings. As it’s an unsustainable, non-biodegradable material, waste polypropylene pollutes land and sea environments – therefore, the more that’s recycled, the better it is for the environment.

An alternative to carpets made from polypropylene is wool carpets. Wool is a natural product of sheep farming and is easily recycled. If wool is left on the ground, it decomposes, releasing nutrients into the soil that promote grass growth.

A quality wool carpet will generally be more expensive than a polypropylene one, but it should last a long time. Wool provides a luxury feel to a home and has insulating properties that make a room more energy efficient.

Why professional carpet cleaning is essential

Carpets make rooms look and feel cosy. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s vital to keep the home clean, and this includes carpets.

Carpets can accumulate debris and dust, which can affect allergy sufferers. Allergic rhinitis affects 30% of Britons. In workplaces that have carpets, the performance of staff with allergies can suffer.

Regular vacuuming is essential for carpets, but vacuuming alone does not always remove mites and mould that gets trapped in the pile. It’s unlikely that the Covid-19 virus is caught from touching a carpet, but deep cleaning will make sure that no virus traces remain on the carpet. A professional deep wash of the carpet eliminates all debris, bacteria, viruses and chemical hazards caused by perfume and insecticide residues.

Professional cleaning should be done at least once a year, and more frequently in a heavily used area. Professional carpet cleaners use specialised cleaning products that help keep the carpet fibres intact, and this can prolong the life of the carpet.

A thorough clean first removes dust, food residues, hair, skin flakes and other debris. A wet shampoo suitable for the carpet type is applied. This is rubbed in well with a machine to penetrate the whole of the carpet. Finally, the liquid and dirt are sucked out.

Some households try to clean their carpets themselves in Chester and North Wales, or they hire carpet cleaning machines. For deep-pile carpets, there is a damage risk if the best cleaning machine and solution is not used. Instead, hire a professional carpet cleaning company, which will make sure that the carpet is very clean and undamaged.