SmartStrand Silk vs TruSoft by Tuftex or Shaw?
12 years ago
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- 12 years ago
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Please help with carpet choice
Comments (5)SmartStrand's durability and stain resistance are unparalleled throughout the carpet industry- and far superior to nylon. SmartStrand carpet is your stair's best friend! SmartStrand Silk is the perfect premium carpet for your luxurious bedrooms and living rooms- with the same stain protection. When it comes to vacuums, with any soft carpet ie SmartStrand, especially a premium soft carpet like SmartStrand Silk, you need to take into consideration the plushness & weight of the carpet. You most definitely want to use a vacuum that is CRI (Carpet & Rug Institute) approved. Dyson Vacuums are not CRI approved and therefore not a good pairing for soft, plush carpets. If you have a premium soft carpet, you want to find a vacuum that has: -Beater bar with adjustable height -Wide wheels (this will keep the vacuum higher & more flexible) An investment like beautiful, soft carpet deserves proper maintenance- choose a vacuum that will allow for the best upkeep of your carpet! Here are some great models to check out: Standard Upright Vacuum Hoover UH70120 Hoover UH70205 Hoover U5780-950 Dirt Devil UD70115 Eureka AS5203A Lightweight/No Depth Adjustment Oreck Magnesium Oreck Magnesium RS Hoover Nano UH20020W Canister Vacuum Hoover Canister S3865 Oreck Quest Pro...See MoreBliss by Beaulieu; Mohawk -- any thoughts?
Comments (11)Finding carpet is a pretty horrible and confusing process. Here is what I've learned about the two: What carpet you get should depend on what type of wear and staining you typically experience in your house. For instance, Triexta (the stuff SmartStrand is made of) will stand up to water-based stains and bleach better than nylon, but is more susceptible to oil and grease stains. This has to do with the chemical nature of the fibers. So, if food stains are an issue for you, Triexta might not be a good choice, but if your teenager is clumsy with his acne cream you might not want nylon. Carpets usually get some kind of stain resistant coating that helps them in this area but since moat carpets get this, I think it's a moot point. As far as wear, crush and abrasive wear resistance is what you need to consider, especially in high traffic areas. Often people say carpet doesn't 'wear out' it 'uglies out' which means it gets matted and scratched up by dirt being ground into it making it looking like wet dog fur. Nylon is generally considered the hardiest of fibers with the best crush resistance and is tried and true because it has been around for so long. Triexta is a relatively new fiber that gets a lot of flack because it is chemically similar to a very crappy fiber: polyester, which had terrible crush resistance and is largely no longer used. The thing is, Triexta is supposed to be new and improved with better durability because of its structure (something to do with kinked strands or whatever which help keep its shape.) Still, there is a lot of trepidation about Triexta because it hasn't been time tested like nylon. Of course, wear is also down to how the carpet is designed: how densely the fibers are packed together; how twisted the fibers are; how short the pile is, and whether you're buying bulked continuous fiber (longer strands for less shedding.) More dense, more twist, shorter pile, BCF = better wear. Getting the appropriate carpet padding in the right thickness will also mean less wear. The saying generally goes: If you're trying to save money, skimp on the carpet but get good pad. And, vacuum the hell out of it at least weekly or that dirt will act like sandpaper on your carpet every time you walk on it. As far as professional carpet cleaning goes (which you need to do it every 12 or 18 months to maintain your warranty) more people know how to clean nylon than they do Triexta. I've read that there is some debate over whether we should clean Triexta like polyester or something altogether different. Some cleaners do not know what they're doing and clean it like nylon, which is bad because Triexta requires different detergents. Using the wrong one means residue and makes the carpet feel nasty. As an aside, you may have heard you can clean Triexta using only hot water extraction, but that is not true of oily stains since they bond to the fiber. Oh and speaking of warranties, they're all ridiculous. I invite you to read all the terms and exclusions listed in them and tell me whether you think carpet sales people aren't con artists. Don't buy a carpet based on warranty, because it's likely only applicable during a blue moon when a virgin's tear makes a rare Norwegian truffle bloom. There's also some impractical, luxury points to consider, like hand-feel. In my opinion, Triexta feels nicer to touch. I have touched a lot of different nylons and I think it's softer and less abrasive. Of course, I've read some reviewers who say you shouldn't touch it or walk on it barefoot because the oils in your skin stick to it and attract dirt. Make of that what you will, it sounds like an exaggeration to me. Style and color is also important to some. Nylon wins there because it's been produced longer and has more variety. That doesn't mean to say that your perfect Triexta carpet isn't out there, but if you want an unusual color or pattern they might not make it yet. Disclaimer: I picked carpet months ago so small details may be incorrect but the general gist of things should be true. We ended up with nylon because we needed our carpet to last. The current carpet we have has been here since the 80s and looks like roadkill -- that's how cheap we are! But we believe in quality so we picked carpet that was $5~6 per square foot so hopefully it'll hold up until we're dead....See MoreCarpet Questions, Choosing between Anso Nylons
Comments (5)Can't really comment on the Shaw, but I can comment on our carpet buying experience when it comes to this style of carpet. Our carpet guy tried to steer us toward the Shaw carpets that compete w/ Smartstrand when DH balked at the SS price (granted, DH hadn't done any research on the carpets or even touched the SS). After feeling the Shaw sample and comparing to the SS, I said absolutely not. Like you we had issues w/ the carpet we put in the last house not being comfortable and stains would reappear a couple days after a steam cleaning & I definitely did not want a repeat on either of those fronts. We went w/ Smartstand and have been very happy with it's performance so far. Super soft luxurious feeling & stains come right out with just a little plain tap water and a clean cloth (even blood splotches from when DS2 cut his foot and tracked quarter sized blood splotches into his bedroom, across the room to his bathroom and back across the beautiful white SS carpet)--AMAZING!! Can you go outside your builder's carpet guy? If you're looking for a better price on SS, try Lowe's. Their price is so low that the local dealers can't touch it--it may even come in less than the Shaw carpets you're looking at. Each dealer's SS has different names assigned to the different weights so you'll need to have the specs to compare apples to apples (i.e. the dealer's SS Intelligent Style is the same as Lowe's SS Lucky Star.) Remember too, that when you deal with the builder's preferred vendors, they like to talk about how you get a builders discount/builders pricing. What they really mean is that the builder will be getting a kickback/referral fee from the vendor for giving him the business. Additionally, the builder may pad the charges from the vendor. All in all, you may come out much better by going through the local Lowe's. Hope this helps!...See MoreCarpet help needed
Comments (7)You should be able to find a nice BCF nylon under your budget. Shaw makes many as Shaw is the current leader in Nylon products. Mohawk is know for its triexta and Polyesters and Beaulieu is still trying to get back market share. Many feel that Bliss is overpriced for what it is. Many polyesters in the line. Best valued Polys in today's world is from a company called Dream Weaver. They are capturing the polyester market share at a rapid rate. 4 year old niche company that is here to stay. You want nylon though I would guess and can stay under your budget easily. Shaw has many nylons that can get under that number and feel great and work well for you for a long time. HGTV by shaw has a product called simple texture that can be at your budget and it has a twenty year across the board from the manufacturer warranty. Not an inflated box store warranty that doesn't mean a whole lot. Just some food for thought....See MoreRelated Professionals
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