One of the most frequently asked questions by a homeowner looking for new carpeting for her home is why should I consider wool carpet. It is a great question. In fact only about 2% of the carpet sold in the United States is made from wool.
That isn't the case at Home Carpet One. Approximately half of the residential carpet purchased at our showroom is wool. Why? Wool is the most desirable carpet fiber from a performance, environmental and design standpoint. But what about the price? Contrary to common misperceptions, wool carpeting is also affordable especially if the carpet store you visit carries the carpet in stock. Let's dive a little deeper.
The Advantages
What makes wool a more desirable carpet fiber than nylon carpet, polyester carpet or olefin carpet? Of course, the right carpet for each individual situation differs and in some cases synthetic carpet might make more sense to install in your Chicago home.
The advantages of wool carpet start with its natural resiliency. What that means is that it will bounce back quicker than fibers like Sorona, Triexta, polyester or olefin. Have you ever noticed carpeting in a heavy traffic area matted down? Well, the natural spring in wool carpeting makes that less likely to happen after you have wool carpeting installed.
The softness and natural feel of wool carpeting separates it from synthetic fibers. Other fibers strive to imitate the feel of wool but cannot quite get there. Ask your sales associate to let you compare the Merino wool carpets to the softest synthetics and be the judge yourself.
Natural stain resistance is yet another advantage of wool carpeting. The wool from the sheep features a natural grease called lanolin that allows wool to naturally resist stains. In those instances where the installed carpet does stain, wool responds incredibly well to professional cleaning.
One of the distinguishing characteristics of wool carpet versus synthetic carpet is how long wool retains its original appearance. Most people think wool carpeting looks brand new after being cleaned. On the other hand, synthetic carpet loses a little bit of its appearance with each cleaning.
If staining is your primary concern there is now added protection available for wool carpeting installed in your Chicago home. Fabric sealing has long been offered for furniture; we are now utilizing that same technology to seal wool carpet after installation.
For a minimal charge, one of our carpet cleaning partners will come to your home to spray on a solvent that adds extra stain resistance to your wool carpeting. The same process can be used for viscose and sisal carpets as well. To give you additional piece of mind, if you can't get a stain out within two years of the wool carpet being sealed our cleaning partner will visit your home and spot clean your carpet. This is a great option for active households selecting lighter colored wool carpeting.
Eco-Friendly Carpeting
Wool carpet's insulating properties provide added energy efficiency to your home. Wool carpet can reduce energy costs from heating and cooling and feels more comfortable to walk on as the heat radiating from the human body is not absorbed into the floor.
Wool is the greenest flooring product on the market today both because of its natural properties and its long-life cycle. Simply put wool is the hair of the sheep and takes less energy to turn into carpeting than any other flooring product. It is made almost entirely from renewable resources. On the other end of the spectrum, wool will break down easily without leaving harmful chemicals as it decomposes into the soil.
Aside from its natural qualities, wool carpeting is the ultimate eco friendly flooring product because of its long lasting quality and ever lasting beauty. Simply put, if you buy a quality product like wool carpeting you are far less likely to replace it in a few years. There is no better way to care for our environment than buying quality products that last.
The founder of Patogonia expressed his commitment to sustainability in the following way: "We want people to feel like that jacket [purchased from Patagonia] is something that they are going to have the rest of their lives. . . We want to close the loop between consuming and discarding." March 2013 Inc. Magazine. Likewise, promoting quality wool carpeting products is our commitment at Home Carpet One to preserving our planet.
Styling Options
All the great qualities of wool carpeting wouldn't matter if it didn't offer the perfect characteristics to produce unique textures, styling and vibrant colors as compared to other carpet fibers. The range of styling available in wool products is immense.
From the undyed wool Berbers featuring natural heathered yarns to intricate wool Wiltons for the most design conscious of consumers. Designers often turn to wool carpeting because of the depth of color that wool can achieve. For the same reason the vast majority of custom carpeting options utilize wool rather than synthetic fibers.
In short, the best answer to "why wool" is why ever not.
