I have had my Smartstrand what will be 3 years in June. I didn't buy mine at Lowes - got mine through the same carpet place where we bought our original carpet 20 years ago. Anyway - about a month after it was installed, I was printing out some photos and you guessed it - the printer malfunctioned and the ink just sat on top of the paper and when it "shot" the paper out, the ink continued on - all tiny spots on my carpet. After a moment or two of panic - I got out my wet and dry vac and a pitcher of water. I started with a couple of spots and when the water hit it, the spots spread. Oh crap, I'm thinking but I recall reading that would happen and to just keep flushing and sucking up the water. It worked! After I got all the ink up, I just kept blotting up the area with plain white paper towels. Once it was dry - you couldn't tell where the ink had been. Now - I still don't take any chances. Anytime I print on photo paper, I put a plastic table cloth in the area where the printer is. And I don't use glossy paper anymore. I did just have the doorways restretched as I was having some "fraying" where the carpet met the tile. The original installer came back to do it and he admitted that his helper at the time had not done it correctly. I have a 3 year warranty from the carpet company on the install as well as the warranty from Mowhawk. Didn't cost me anything and the guy told me that my carpet looked like new. I was considering having it cleaned but he told me if it were in his house, he would wait as long as possible. I do have a few spots, mostly from my grandson, guess I will spot clean them. I have the Smartstrand pad - with moisture barrier. I was really impressed when it was installed - no odor from the pad or the carpet.

. . . and now it begins I had SPECIFICALLY insisted that the carpet be power stretched. It was written on my order. It was written on the installers' job sheet. So what do I find when I check on their progress? A stinger. Which punches holes in the carpet and is explicitly prohibited by the CRI. I took a picture of it and emailed it to Lowes, and told them that the installer had violated the Mohawk warranty requirements. And hopefully didn't take chunks out of my subfloor in the process, but probably did. The installation team manager called Mohawk to confirm what I told him, and they said yes, stingers are a no go. So, I told them they are going to have to do it all over again, with new fresh materials, and do it right. more fun.

With over 37 years cleaning carpets professionaly, I have found that the only fiber the stands the test of time well is Nylon. Polyester and all of the other "Smart Fibers" do not wear well at all. It's very uncommon to find a 10 year old non nylon carpet that looks decent after cleaning. It's very common to find a 30 year old Nylon that looks like new after cleaning. .. Nylon is about 25% more expensive but it's well worth it. The major advantage to non nylon is that it's more difficult to permanently affect the color due to bleaches or dyes. Personally I'd pay 200% more to have Nylon.

I'm getting ready to put new carpet in our guestroom and was doing online research before going to the carpet store. The Mohawk website isn't very user friendly IMO, but here's a page I found that has a lot of clickable links with more information About Mohawk Carpet From what I can tell, Perfect Passions II is made of nylon, not polyester (recycled plastic bottles). The above link will get you to a Weardated Allure brochure if that helps. I installed Mohawk carpet in our bedroom 6 years ago and it still looks great, but it's not a high-traffic area. I wanted to get more of the same for the guestroom, but my paperwork says we have Mohawk Voyager and I can't find that type anywhere on the internet, so I assume it has been discontinued. I'm pretty sure that the salesman told us it was made of corn. It's super soft. I have wall-to-wall carpet in my formal living room and all bedrooms. I like the way it looks and feels and it's soooooooo easy to take care of. I invested in a carpet cleaning machine and try to clean each room 2 or 3 times a year. That and weekly vacuuming is all it takes to keep it looking good. I use Bissell OXYgen2 for spot cleaning. Good luck with everything. ETA: Upon further research, I have learned that Wear-Dated Allure is indeed made of polyester fibers, not nylon. I'm sorry for the confusion. Apparently, the Wear-Dated line is made of nylon, but Allure is an exception. I hope someone from Mohawk is reading this. I find their website to be confusing and not user-friendly. It kills me that I gave incorrect information in this post, but I got the information from the manufacturer's website. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?