Ever wondered why your carpet looks dull and
extra dirty at the entrance to doors and why dull looking paths appear on your
carpet. The answer is that the carpet is actually wearing away and is called a
wear pattern. What creates this? People tend to drag their feet when they walk
which creates wear. Especially at doorways where carpet and a hard surface meet.
This is because the carpet is typically higher than the hard surface. Not only
do we drag our feet a little more here but the carpet is also cleaning the dirt from our
feet that accumulated from the hard surface.
The reason wear patterns appear through
rooms is that we tend to go the same way through a room. The walking and the
dragging of our feet create the resulting wear. This becomes very apparent in
rooms with lots of activities such as dens. Another factor that contributes to premature
wear is dirt in your carpet. When we walk, the dirt grinds against the sides of
the carpet fibers like sand paper and weakens the fibers. The result, at these high
use areas, is that the carpet fibers get physically worn away and create a dull
appearance. Also, because the fibers are frayed, they will absorb dirt, spills
and such easier than the non-worn fibers.
We live in our homes and carpet wear is natural.
However, there are things that can be done to help reduce the affect. The biggest
and best thing you can do is vacuum regularly. More than 70% of dirt in your
carpet is dry particulate which vacuuming can remove. You can also look at
buying higher grades of carpet which have a higher fiber count (more material
per square inch just like “thread count” in linen). This can actually be a cost
savings in the long run if you properly maintain the carpets. They will
maintain their appearance and last longer than a lesser grade carpet. Also, avoid
textured carpets in high use areas. While they look beautiful new, the textured
carpets have high and low spots. The high spots will wear away quicker because
there is less material to support them. The result is that traffic patterns
stand out sooner. Finally, non-slip walk off mats at entrances to carpets help
by capturing dirt before it hits the carpet. This will help reduce the doorway
wear described above.
