When shopping for a carpet, you can choose between two types of fibers – natural and synthetic. Natural fibers are made of materials like wool and cotton. Synthetic fibers, on the other hand, are made of various plastics.
You might be unsure which one you need for your Irvine home. You need to understand the carpet cleaning capacities of both. You also need to know their durability and price ranges. So what are the main differences between natural and synthetic carpets? And which one is better?
Natural Carpet Pros
The best quality that natural carpets have is their eco-friendliness. They’re made from sustainable materials instead of plastics, so they’re a much better choice for the environment.
They also tend to lack volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. These compounds can harm people’s lungs and tend to be found in various synthetic household products, including carpets.
Wool, the most common natural fiber, has its own advantages. It’s heat resistant, durable, and has a longer lifespan than synthetic fibers.
Natural Carpet Cons
Natural carpets tend to stain worse than synthetic carpets. They also tend to be harder to clean, as things like Irvine steam cleaning services can be rough on natural fibers. They require more maintenance than synthetic carpets, and you usually need to know how to take care of them. For example, they can be damaged by alkaline cleaning products.
Besides stains, pests like carpet beetles tend to be drawn to natural carpets more than synthetic carpets.
Natural carpets are also typically more expensive.
Synthetic Carpet Pros
Synthetic carpets tend to be easier to clean than natural carpets. You don’t need an expert Irvine carpet cleaning technician to remove stains, as many of these are built with stain resistance. Some are hydrophobic, meaning they don’t even absorb water.
Synthetic carpets are also much more budget-friendly than natural carpets. If you can’t spend too much on your Irvine home’s carpet, you should probably go for synthetic over natural.
Synthetic Carpet Cons
Synthetic carpets are not very good for the environment. Some are made of recycled plastics, but plastics don’t recycle as well as other materials, and many companies have found that it’s cheaper to just create new plastic. Many toxic substances are generated when synthetic carpets are made.
Synthetic carpets are also typically less durable than something like wool. They won’t last as long in heavy-traffic areas and will eventually start to wear out and not look nearly as good.
How To Choose Between The Two
When picking carpet material, you need to consider several factors.
If budget is your main concern, you should get a synthetic carpet. It’ll be hard to find relatively cheap natural materials.
If you want to reduce your environmental impact, buy a natural carpet fiber. These are much better than the harmful plastics that synthetic carpet fibers are made of.
If you’re likely to stain your carpet, synthetic fibers tend to have more stain resistance. A household with children and pets could benefit from that, and getting your carpet cleaned should be more manageable. Of course, no matter what you choose, you’ll still need to call a Irvine carpet cleaner every once in a while.
A wool carpet is probably the way to go if durability is your primary concern. They tend to be durable in several areas, from high-traffic and weather resistance to flame resistance.