Carpet and rugs: construction, cushion, cleaning and safety underfoot

Judge a carpet by how it is built rather than by its fiber alone, match the cushion, set a vacuuming and professional-cleaning rhythm, and secure or remove any rug someone could trip on.

Construction before fiber Understand

Most carpet shopping starts with fiber: nylon or polyester, wool or not. The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), the carpet industry's trade association, starts somewhere else. Its answer to which carpet lasts is that construction makes a carpet durable, whatever the fiber (CRI, Frequently Asked Questions). Fiber still matters for cleaning and feel, and the rug section below covers it. For wear, look at how the carpet is built first. Convention

Pile types

The pile is the yarn that stands up from the carpet's backing, the part you walk on. The backing is the base the yarn is tufted into. CRI sorts residential carpet by how the pile is finished (CRI, Selecting the Right Carpet):

Saxony, frieze and plush are names for styles of cut pile, and Berber is the name CRI gives many level loop carpets. The names describe a look. CRI's page uses them for how each hides or shows marks, and it does not rank them for durability.

The three signs of construction

CRI's FAQ names three things to check, and none of them is the fiber:

• Density. Density is how closely the tufts are packed. CRI's test is that in a dense carpet you cannot easily see or feel the backing when you push the pile apart. A sample you can bend back to show rows of backing between the tufts is less dense.
• Pile height. For heavy traffic, CRI points to a pile of 1/2 in. or less.
• Twist. In cut pile, twist is how tightly each tuft's yarn is wound. CRI's sign of durability is a tighter twist; tufts that look loose and splayed at the tip are less tightly twisted.

These are rules of thumb from one trade association, not a test you can score. Convention They give you something to compare across two samples on the same table: push your fingers into each, look at the tips, and measure the pile with a ruler. Write what you see on the comparison sheet next to the price.

Fiber, briefly

CRI names five main pile fibers sold in the US: nylon, polyester, polypropylene (also called olefin), triexta and wool. It says synthetics make up the large majority of carpet sold. It does not rate the fibers against each other, and it sends shoppers to each maker for performance claims. We found no extension service or agency page that rates carpet fibers either, so this manual does not rank them. Product-specific If a salesperson says one fiber will not stain, CRI's own cleaning page says no carpet is completely stain proof (CRI, Cleaning and Maintenance). Ask instead what the stain warranty excludes and what cleaning it requires; Samples, ratings, labels and warranties shows how to read one. Fibers in fabric, which behave the same way in a sofa, are in Upholstery fabric.

Life figures

The life figure most often quoted for carpet is 8 to 10 years. It comes from a 2007 survey by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) of makers and associations, and it assumes "appropriate maintenance and normal traffic" (NAHB, Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components, PDF). InterNACHI's chart for home inspectors repeats the same range (InterNACHI, life expectancy chart). Both call their figures guidelines. Use one as your own assumption in the cost per year calculator and write down where it came from; How to compare finishes explains why the manual does not prefill it.

Cushion, installation and the first days

Cushion (also called pad or underlay) is the layer between wall-to-wall carpet and the subfloor. It is not an extra. CRI says the wrong cushion may void a carpet's warranty, so check it even though it sits out of sight (CRI, Selecting the Right Carpet). Product-specific

CRI's rule of thumb

Thicker is not better: the range has a top as well as a bottom. CRI calls this a rule of thumb; the carpet maker's own cushion requirement comes first, and it is usually in the warranty or the installation instructions. Product-specific Ask the seller to write the cushion's thickness and density on the quote, and compare them to the maker's sheet before the installer arrives. If the house has radiant floor heat, tell the seller and ask which cushion the carpet maker allows over it.

What the installer does, and what to ask

This manual does not teach installation. CRI's installation tips say what a homeowner can ask for (CRI, Installation Tips):

• An installer who follows CRI 105, the residential installation standard. It calls for carpet to be power-stretched (pulled tight across the room with a tool that braces against the far wall) and for seam edges to be sealed with adhesive so they do not fray.
• Seams placed where they will be least visible. CRI says not to expect seams to be invisible.
• Ventilation during installation: open windows, an exhaust fan or the system fan.
• A look at the carpet's texture, color and style for defects before it goes down.

Wall-to-wall carpet comes in wide rolls. CRI's Carpet Primer describes 12 ft goods, with 6 ft goods used where a 12 ft roll is hard to move and "careful planning" is needed to limit seams (CRI, The Carpet Primer, PDF). Because seams depend on the roll width and the room's shape, the installer plans the layout and the order quantity. The quantity calculator gives a carpeted room's area only, so you can check that a quote is in the right range; it does not plan seams or a cut list. Ask the installer

Carpet is dyed in batches called dye lots, and two lots of the same color can differ slightly. The Primer's installation checklist includes checking that the delivered style, color, pattern and dye lot are correct. Write the lot on the installed register, with any remnant you keep for repairs.

What is normal in the first weeks

CRI lists several things new carpet does that are not defects:

• Smell. CRI's installation page says the new-carpet smell usually clears in less than 72 hours with ventilation, and its FAQ says most emissions happen in the first 24 hours or so and advises ventilating for 48 to 72 hours.
• Shedding. Loose fibers left from manufacturing come up in the vacuum for a while.
• Sprouting. A single tuft that rises above the rest. CRI says to clip it level with scissors, not to pull it.
• Shading or pile reversal. Patches of plush that look lighter or darker depending on which way the pile lies. CRI calls this a characteristic of plush carpet, not a defect.

Wrinkles or ripples are different: CRI says they may need a professional to restretch the carpet. A wrinkle is also a trip edge, so treat it the way the falls section treats a curled rug until it is fixed.

The emission label most carpet carries is CRI's Green Label Plus. It is a test of listed chemical emissions from carpet, cushion and adhesive in a lab chamber (CRI, Green Label Plus). It does not test stain treatments, flame retardants or what cleaning adds, and it is not a health rating. Samples, ratings, labels and warranties reads it beside the other emission labels; the criteria are under Go deeper.

Vacuuming, spots and professional cleaning

Vacuuming is the main care CRI and the carpet makers describe. CRI and the carpet makers differ on how often and with which setting. The default here is CRI's consumer page, with your carpet maker's sheet first wherever you have it. The comparison is under Go deeper.

Vacuuming

• How often. CRI's cleaning page says to vacuum at least once a week, more where people walk most (CRI, Cleaning and Maintenance). Entries, halls and the path from the kitchen are the usual traffic lanes. Convention
• The bag or bin. CRI says to empty the bag when it is one-half to two-thirds full; a full bag picks up less.
• The brush. Use the setting the carpet maker names. Shaw, one large maker, says a rotating brush or beater bar suits most of its styles and that shag needs suction only or a raised brush (Shaw Floors, Carpet Care). For wool, CRI's FAQ says suction only. Product-specific
• Furniture. Shaw suggests moving furniture now and then and putting protectors under heavy legs, so the pile under them is not crushed in one spot.

Spots

The first minutes matter most. CRI's spot steps are to blot with a white cloth rather than scrub or brush, test any cleaner on a hidden spot first, work from the edge of the spot toward the center so it does not spread, and rinse with clear water. Convention

For pet urine, CRI's page says not to use a steam cleaner, because the heat can set the stain and the smell. It says to extract with a wet vacuum and rinse with cool water instead. Product-specific The full first-minutes routine for every surface is in Stains, damage and older homes, and the cleaners each surface tolerates are in Cleaning by surface.

Professional cleaning

CRI says to have carpet professionally deep cleaned every 12 to 18 months. Shaw's own page gives a wider range, every 6 to 18 months depending on traffic. Use your maker's figure if its warranty states one, because a carpet warranty can require it; otherwise CRI's 12 to 18 months is the default on the care schedule. Product-specific

Two questions for the cleaner come from CRI's pages:

• Do you use products and equipment with CRI's Seal of Approval? The Seal of Approval is CRI's lab program for cleaning products and machines; it tests whether they remove soil without harming the carpet's look or performance (CRI, Seal of Approval Program). It is about the cleaning, not the carpet. CRI says some carpet makers require Seal of Approval cleaning for their warranty, so read yours.
• How long will it take to dry? CRI's FAQ says wet-cleaned carpet should dry within 12 hours. Ask how the cleaner will get it there (fans, open windows) and plan the day around it.

Many professional cleaners hold the IICRC's Carpet Cleaning Technician certification. The IICRC is a certifying body for cleaning and restoration trades, and its carpet certification covers fiber identification, construction and cleaning methods for installed carpet (IICRC, Carpet Cleaning Technician). A certification shows what the technician was trained in; it does not settle how a particular job goes, so you still ask the questions above. Ask the cleaner

A wet or flooded carpet

A spill is a cleaning job. Water that soaks through to the cushion is not. CRI's FAQ gives the outline: extract the water and start drying fans within 24 hours, a soaked cushion generally needs replacing, and carpet soaked by sewage should not be saved. Those are a restoration professional's steps, not a homeowner's.

Rugs: fiber, labels and falls

An area rug is a loose rug laid on top of a finished floor or carpet. A throw rug is a small one: a bath mat, a runner, a mat by the bed. Rugs differ from carpet in three ways that matter at home: their fiber is often natural and more delicate, federal flammability rules treat small ones differently, and their edges are a common place to trip.

Rug fibers and their care

Rug makers' care pages are short, and they agree that the fiber decides the cleaning. Kaleen, a rug maker, gives this (Kaleen Rugs, Rug Cleaning and Care): Product-specific

CRI's consumer page adds three rules for rugs: wash a machine-washable rug in warm water (90 to 105 degrees) with mild detergent, vacuum a fringed rug from the center toward the fringe with gentle suction, and send an heirloom Oriental rug to a professional (CRI, Cleaning and Maintenance). The rug's own label, if it has one, comes first. Write the rug's fiber and its maker's care line on the installed register, even though a rug is not installed; it is the place you will look when something spills.

The flammability label on a small rug

Every carpet and rug made, imported or sold in the US has to meet a federal flammability test. The rules are 16 CFR Part 1630 for large carpets and Part 1631 for small ones (16 CFR 1630, eCFR; 16 CFR 1631, eCFR). A small rug under the rule has no side longer than 6 ft and an area no greater than 24 sq ft; anything bigger on both counts is a large carpet. The test sets a small burning tablet in the middle of the sample and checks how far the char spreads; at least seven of eight samples must keep it more than 1 in. from the edge of the test hole. Convention

The difference between the two rules is the label. The CPSC's guidance page says a small rug that fails the test may still be sold if it carries a permanent label saying it is flammable and fails the standard; a large carpet has no such allowance. The same page says untreated shag or fluffy rugs and rugs with a polyurethane foam layer typically fail, and that a rug treated to pass carries a "T" label (CPSC, Carpets and Rugs FAQ). So turn a small rug over before you buy it. A flammable label is the maker telling you the rug failed. Check the label

The test measures how a flame spreads across the surface from a small source. It is not a test of a cigarette, a smoldering fire or a room fire, so a passing rug is not fire-proof. Keep rugs as far from heaters and fireplaces as the heater's manual says.

Rugs and falls

Falls are the reason rugs get their own section. The CPSC's home safety checklist for older consumers says falls are tied to more than half of product-related emergency visits among adults 65 to 74 and more than three-quarters among those 75 and older, and that tripping over loose carpets, cords or other things on the floor is a common way they happen (CPSC, Safety for Older Consumers: Home Safety Checklist, PDF). The CDC's fall facts page says more than one out of four older people falls each year (CDC, Older Adult Falls Data).

The CDC's home checklist for older adults asks one question about floors: are there throw rugs? Its fix is to remove the rugs, or to use double-sided tape or a non-slip backing so they do not slip (CDC, Check for Safety, PDF). This manual uses that as the default: secured or removed. Convention The CPSC checklist adds what to look for in carpet that stays: low pile, flat, with no tears, holes or worn spots, and slip-resistant surfaces in places that get wet, such as bathrooms, kitchens and entries.

Walk each rug with these questions:

• Does it slide? Push the edge sideways with a foot. If it moves, it is loose.
• Do the edges or corners curl? A curl of any height is a place for a toe or a cane tip to catch.
• Is it on a path? The route from bed to bathroom, the hall, the top or bottom of stairs, an entry.
• Who walks there? Someone who uses a cane or walker, has fallen before, or gets up at night.

Securing means a non-slip backing or double-sided tape, as the CDC names. Before you put tape or a pad on a wood, vinyl or laminate floor, check what that floor's maker allows. Several vinyl and laminate makers tell owners to avoid rubber-backed mats on their floors (Vinyl, laminate, linoleum and cork and Wood floors cover the floors). We found no maker or agency source that tests rug pads on wood or vinyl, so test the pad in a corner first and look under it after a week. Test it If the edges still curl after that, or the person would rather not have it, the rug goes.

On stairs, the CDC says carpet should be firmly attached to every step, or removed and replaced with non-slip treads. The CPSC calls for dense, low-pile carpet or slip-resistant strips, securely attached. CRI's FAQ adds that stair carpet should be installed with the pile running up the stairs. A loose or worn stair runner is a job for an installer, not for tape.

Rugs are one part of the floor of a room. Learn Space Planning's Safety in the layout covers rugs and cords on walking paths as part of a room's layout, with a safety checklist for one room.

See it: Harold's wool rug See it

Free pages that show the checks in this chapter:

• CDC, Check for Safety (PDF): the room-by-room fall checklist, with the throw rug and stair items.
• CPSC, Home Safety Checklist for older consumers (PDF): floors, rugs and stairs, with the reasons.
• CRI, Selecting the Right Carpet: pile types and the cushion rule of thumb.
• CRI, Cleaning and Maintenance: spot steps, the pet urine warning and rug washing.

Practice: read the carpet, set the care, walk the rugs Practice

Minimum: the care schedule's weekly and yearly carpet items filled for one room, and every rug in that room checked and either secured or removed. Time: about 30 minutes, plus a week's wait if you test a pad. Materials: a ruler, the carpet's receipt, label or warranty if you have them, double-sided rug tape or a rug pad if you decide to secure a rug, and the care schedule and installed register (or paper).

1. Find what you can about the carpet. Look for a receipt, a warranty, a label on a remnant or a closet edge. Write the maker, style and dye lot on the installed register; blanks stay blank.
2. Read its construction. Push the pile apart in a closet corner: can you see or feel the backing? Measure the pile height. For cut pile, look at the tuft tips: tight or splayed? Write what you see in the notes column.
3. Set the care. On the care schedule, tick weekly vacuuming (more in traffic lanes) and the yearly professional cleaning, and write your maker's own figures in "What my maker says" if you found them. Note the brush setting, and suction only for wool.
4. Walk every rug. Push each edge with a foot, look at the corners, and ask whether it is on a path and who walks there.
5. Secure or remove. For each rug that slides or curls, decide with the person most at risk: secure it with a non-slip backing or tape the floor allows, or take it up. Tick the yearly rug check on the care schedule.

Your home Your home

Check your work Check your work

Criteria

• Does the installed register say what you know about each carpet (maker, style, dye lot), with unknowns left blank rather than guessed?
• Did you look at density, pile height and twist, not only the fiber?
• If a new carpet is coming, is the cushion's thickness and density on the quote and checked against the maker's requirement?
• Does the care schedule have weekly vacuuming and a professional cleaning interval, with the source of each figure?
• Is every rug that slid or curled now secured or gone, and did the person at risk take part in the decision?

Worked example

Harold's care schedule has weekly vacuuming with suction only on the wool rug, the yearly rug check, and a bedroom carpet cleaning at CRI's 12 to 18 months, with "maker unknown" beside it. The rug is secured with a pad and tape at the corners while one corner is watched for marks on the floor. Harold made the decision with June, and the question about his own fall risk is on the list for his clinician. It passes the criteria. It does not show that the floor tolerates the pad, which waits on the week's test and the floor's maker, and it says nothing about Harold's risk, which is his clinician's to assess.

Common mistakes

• Buying on fiber alone. CRI ties durability to density, pile height and twist. Check those on the sample.
• Choosing the thickest cushion. CRI's range has a top, and the wrong cushion may void the carpet's warranty.
• Scrubbing a spot. Blot from the edge in; a brush untwists the pile.
• Steam cleaning pet urine. CRI says heat can set the stain and the smell.
• Taping a rug down on a floor whose maker forbids rubber backings. Check the floor's sheet and test a corner first.
• Deciding for someone else. A rug in another person's home is theirs to keep or remove; bring them the checklist, not the verdict.

What is still unresolved

Which carpet to buy, if any, is your own comparison on the comparison sheet, with the method in How to compare finishes. How long a carpet lasts in your home is not settled by any rating or by the published life figures. The layout and seams of a new carpet are the installer's. Water damage is a restoration professional's. A particular person's fall risk is theirs and their clinician's to judge.

Knowledge check and scenario

Checklist

• The care schedule has the carpet's weekly and yearly items, and every loose rug is secured or gone.
• The installed register lists each carpet and rug with what I know about maker, lot and fiber.
• I checked the carpet's density, pile height and twist, not only its fiber.
• The person most at risk of falling took part in the decision about each rug.
• I compared two samples' construction and the quoted cushion against the maker's range, and checked small rugs for a flammability label. (Go deeper; optional)