One of the most common questions we’re asked is what type of carpet is best for hiding stains and other signs of wear. The truth of the matter is that there is no such thing as a completely stain-proof carpet. But, not to worry! There are quite a few stain-resistant carpets on the market today that excel at helping you hide the signs of a happy, busy, lived-in home.
Whether you live alone or with a partner, kids, or pets, choosing flooring can be tricky. Especially when the most comfortable flooring option—carpet—is the one that’s usually the toughest to keep looking nice. Unkempt carpet—stains from the usual accidents or mussed fibers from constant activity—can ruin the overall look of an otherwise tidy room.
Below, we’ll address different ways to tackle maintaining your carpet’s appearance by discussing the difference between stain-proof carpets, stain-resistant carpets, and even the best carpet colors to hide dirt and other stains.
When choosing the right carpet for your home, there are four main attributes to consider:
Some homes may need only one of those traits, while many homes—especially homes with pets or children—will benefit greatly from carpets that offer some degree of each of these features. Here is a closer look at how each type and style of carpet holds up to stains and wear marks.
When it comes to carpet, there is no single, perfect material that suits every need. We’re breaking down the details of the most sought-after carpet materials to help you decide which option aligns best with your design goals and lifestyle.
Polyester carpet provides some of the most beautiful color variations, because the fiber material is easier to dye. Polyester carpets are also usually solution-dyed, which means the color permeates the entire fiber, not just its surface. This makes polyester one of the best carpets for high-traffic areas.
Finished polyester fibers are hydrophobic. This means they won’t absorb liquids, making them one of the best stain-resistant carpet materials. Add to this the fact that polyester carpet is often made from recycled materials, and you’re looking at an eco-friendly, budget-friendly solution.
What’s the downside? Polyester is not as durable as other common carpet materials, which means it may begin to show wear earlier than nylon carpet. Therefore, if your top priority is choosing the best stain-resistant carpet and you’re less concerned about physical wear, polyester carpeting is a safe bet.
In addition to polyester, nylon is another popular carpet material. Nylon carpet shares many traits with polyester, including its overall soft feel and ability to be woven into many different styles of carpet. It’s crafted from durable elastic fibers that tend to bounce back into their shape. This trait gives it superior resistance to wearing and matting compared to polyester carpets.
Nylon fibers’ main downside is that they are absorbent, which means an untreated stain is more likely to stubbornly set in a nylon carpet. In short, the pros and cons of nylon carpet are almost exactly the opposite of those of polyester carpet. These features make nylon carpet the best carpet for those who are less concerned about stains than they are about long-term wear and minimizing marks from furniture and daily traffic.
Polypropylene, commonly known as olefin, is a material that’s growing in popularity for certain residential carpeting applications due to its affordability and high resistance to mold and mildew growth. Like polyester, olefin fibers repel moisture and dry quickly, which is what gives the carpet its mold and mildew resistance. Those same properties also make it resistant to liquid stains.
However, the polypropylene material can actually be more susceptible to oil-based soiling. So, if there’s potential for food to get dropped on a polypropylene carpet, it may not be the best option.
Olefin is also less durable than nylon, making it less ideal for high-traffic areas. Overall, polypropylene/olefin carpet is best suited for rooms like the basement or areas that get light to moderate traffic and where liquid spills are the greatest stain concern.
Despite the best of intentions, the reality for most homeowners is that accidents are going to happen. Sometimes a stain isn’t noticed until it’s settled in, and in high-traffic areas, the carpet may be introduced to so many elements it’s hard to keep up with the cleaning.
This is when turning to the color of carpeting can come in handy. Darker colors can help disguise stains so the occasional (or not-so-occasional) accident doesn’t ruin a room’s aesthetics.
When you know that stains are going to happen regularly and probably linger, a dark or multi-colored carpet can be the key to maintaining your sanity—along with your room’s appearance. The typical carpet stain will be much less visible on a darker carpet, like black, dark blue, or a deep brown. Of course, those hues may not match your home’s aesthetic. If that’s the case, we recommend a multi-color carpet design.
Multi-color patterns can have an overall lighter look, but with a mottled design that includes flecks of darker color throughout. With the help of powerful carpet cleaners and today’s stain-resistant carpets, you can get most stains out, but opting for a carpet that simply makes them less visible can save you a significant amount of stress.
Similar to multi-colored carpet, pattern carpet offers a visual range of shades of color that help make stains less visible. Pattern carpet is not to be confused with “patterned” carpet, which is just a multi-colored carpet dyed with different colors to form a pattern.
Pattern carpet is unique in that the patterns are not the result of dying the yarn in different colors. Instead, pattern carpet is made by varying the construction of the carpet fibers, which lets you see and feel the design elements. This style is sometimes referred to as “cut and loop carpet” because it uses both looped and cut fibers to create the resulting patterns.
Pattern carpet offers an easy-to-clean, low-pile carpet design. This is a good option where style is a driving factor, but you still need the practicality of carpet that can recover from the occasional spill.
One of the few downsides to pattern carpet is that the looped element of the design can get snagged on pet claws for those looking for the best pet-friendly option.
Now that we’ve discussed materials, colors, and patterns, let’s talk about the strengths of different styles of carpet. Each of the following has its own look, feel, and overall benefits for cleaning and lifestyle.
Plush carpet is known for its clean, classic look. Also often referred to as Saxony, velvet, or texture carpet, plush carpeting features a smooth, level surface that provides a blend of soft comfort and traditional style. This soft, springy construction helps hide footprints in high-traffic areas, while the dense, twisted fibers help keep dirt near the surface—making for easier cleanup. If you are looking for a great “whole house carpet,” a plush carpet can be the best choice due to its universal style and versatility.
Frieze carpeting is made by tightly twisting fibers together to create a casual, shaggy look. This shaggy style can do more than just give your home a fun look—it also makes frieze one of the best carpets for hiding stains and footprints. Many frieze carpets are multi-colored, so individual stain spots are less likely to be seen. And because frieze fibers are of varying length and look slightly disheveled by nature, footprints, vacuum marks, and other temporary impressions don’t stand out.
With frieze carpet, there’s just one catch: The same properties that make frieze great for disguising stains and footprints also make it more difficult to clean. If dirt does make it down into the depths of those shaggy fibers, you will probably have to use a powerful vacuum cleaner to reach deep enough into the carpet to get it fully clean.
Overall, frieze carpet is a great choice for common rooms that will see lots of activity and might face the occasional small spills that accompany daily life—but probably not in rooms that will see heavy amounts of crumbs, dirty shoes, or other solid contaminants.
The shaggy construction of Frieze carpets helps the design resist crushing and matting from foot traffic and moved furniture, while the multi-colored fibers of this particular model can help disguise minor stains.
Berber carpet’s low profile and dense construction make it the best carpet type for all-around resistance to stains, wear, and footprints. Because its fibers are short, thick, and tightly packed, it resists matting and compacting better than high-pile carpets.
That means furniture marks and footprints are less likely to linger. This dense construction also keeps stains near the surface, making for easier cleanup. Berber’s main downside, however, is that its resilient build provides less underfoot cushioning than other carpet styles.
Overall, Berber carpet is a great choice for practical performance in rooms that see the most activity in your home.
With commercial-grade carpet and carpet tile, the top priority is durability. Commercial-grade carpet is a dense, low-profile, looped carpet made specifically for high-traffic spots where you still want the style and design of a nice carpet.
Carpet tiles share the same characteristics as commercial-grade while adding the flexibility of mixing and matching designs to create your own patterns, inserting tiles of different colors as you please.
If durability, stain resistance, and flexible design elements are your top priorities, this is worth considering. If comfort and traditional style options are important to you, Berber or other types of carpet are probably more fitting for your home. However, commercial-grade and carpet tile might be the perfect choice for a basement or recreation room.
If there is a single carpet that can come close to ticking every single box in one’s wishlist, it would be indoor/outdoor carpet.
You might be able to guess by the name: Indoor/outdoor carpet is designed to allow you to have carpeting even in an outdoor environment. This type of carpet is used in covered and uncovered porches and sunrooms and can be used wherever you’d want carpet inside as well, though it is most often used in more casual rooms and basements.
So, what’s the downside? Indoor/outdoor carpet isn’t as soft or luxurious-feeling as more expensive indoor-only carpet. You will notice you are walking on a more firm surface designed for practicality over comfort. You can almost think of this kind of carpet as a very nice welcome mat. But, it is a great choice for extending your carpet options to areas of your house where you may not have realized carpet could be an option.
When searching for a carpet that hides stains and footprints, there are quite a few variables to consider. Like any subjective choice in home renovation, there’s not really one “best” carpet for all situations—rather you’ll have to find the best carpet for your particular needs. That’s where Empire Today® comes in.
We’re here to guide you through the carpet shopping experience and ensure you end up with floors that fit all the requirements of your life.
Schedule a FREE Empire® In-Home Estimate today to find out which carpet type is the right one for your home.
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