I had a very short nylon frieze that hid footprints pretty well. It was short and dense. That was years ago and it has been discontinued. Most people don't like the feel of a carpet like this. All carpets will mat over time, especially if you install them on stairs, but I have been very pleased with my Smartstrand carpet by Mohawk. It is not nylon.

What may help in in your search is googling "frieze carpet", "discount frieze carpet", "buy frieze carpet". You might find the color you are looking for but will need to get samples to make sure it's what you want. Online retailers will send samples of what you would like to see. That might help get you started in the right direction. Jbranch is right. Stay with a shorter, more dense product to help with footprints and matting/crushing.

The frieze - I had in mind is a little over a half inch long. Do you think that is considered short? The brand is anso-nylon by Shaw - the traffic rating is only 3.5 out of 5. I think I'm getting a good deal but I'm concerned about the rating. Any more advise would be appreciated.

Anso nylon is known for it's durability.

The Anso warranty is not prorated like most nylon warranties. Therefore you get 100% coverage for the life of the warranty.

A 3.5 wear rating for a frieze is not bad at all. Density has a lot to do with wear ratings, and since most frieze carpets are not very dense due to their construction, their respective wear ratings will rarely go higher than 4.

The truth in regards to wear though is that your carpet will never 'wear' out with regards to the warranty. If you read the actual wear warranty it will state that the carpet must lose 10% of the face weight of the yarn, meaning that every 10th yarn must be missing for it to fall under the wear warranty.

Carpets will generally 'ugly' out over a period of years. Meaning they will get stained, lose twist and mat down.

Therefore you should pay attention to 'Texture Retention' and 'Stain Resistance' warranties as much as 'Wear' warranties.

Another HUGE factor in regards to wear is the use of proper padding, and installation methods.

Be sure that your pad is no thicker than 7/16' thick, and a minimum of 6lb density. This is the minimum standard acceptible for warranty purposes. 8lb or 10lb density cushion will help your carpet retain it's appearance.

For the ultimate floor I would suggest using Shaw's Triple Touch carpet pad. By using their pad along with their carpet, you will double the warranty of your carpet.

Be sure the installer uses a 'Power Stretcher' in every room. This is NOT the hand held 'Kicker' which is used to position carpet in the room. A power stretcher will have several poles connected together reaching from one wall to the other. It will usually be in a large case, or cases looking somewaht like large suitcases.

I hope this information helps. Please feel free to email me with any further questions you may have.

Doug

look at Smartstrand by Mohawk. Its soft and looks great. You can't buy carpet by looking at ratings as they are created by the mfctr and mean very little. A well constructed Frieze will look good for many yrs and won't show 'wear' as your walking on the sides of the yarn. There are some nice short frieze styles made by Mohawk.

Hmm...sounds like someone is trying to sell Mohawk Smartstrand.

Smartstrand is Mohawk's version of what is called PTT POLYESTER. It has 2 main advantages over PET polyester which are stain resistance, and not shedding. However, it is still polyester and will tend to mat down in heavy traffic areas and is not "soft".

For one of the best unbiased evaluations of carpet fibers see the following link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Carpet Fibers

Doug
Thanks for all the help. I'm still confused on how short the pile should be. Do you think that will make a big difference on it matting down. I tried to measure and it looks like it is a little over an inch. I'm driving myself crazy!
Lenagirl

I just want you to realize the warranty on carpet means nothing. No matter what brand. Short story, we purchased a Shaw product for our entire house, not from a discount place. The install was awful - seams in 3 room had blue tinting line - installers said it was awful. The carpet store of course said it was an install issue - install guys said it was carpet issue. Etc. After about 5 months with 3 rooms looking like there was a zipper and independent carpet guy had the store order and install more carpet with a different crew. Guess what - worse looking. Store said now was a warranty issue with Shaw (who could have cared less) installer said was carpet issue and carpet store said was installer issue. We'd charged 1/2 of the carpet and disputed it with credit card company and won - 5 times we had to do that and won. However, the carpet store guy was such a toot he then sued us because he installed "faulty" carpet. We had to hire an attorney and of course won the suit, the judge just laughed at the carpet store guy. He was to take the carpet (we'd put it in a storage building paying monthly for 14 months while this was going on)pay our attorney and pay us (which we didn't ask for but the judge ordered) $5000. To this day we've received nothing and we paid his attorney $500 so he'd stop calling us.

And that was the short version. Just we forewarned warranty means as much as the paper its written on. The carpet stores (wood also) sell you what they want. We still think the second carpet that was installed was removed from another job - doesn't that make your blood boil. Proceed with caution.

Smartstrand is not a pet polyester, it is soft and has performed very well for over 4 yrs in my house.

This has probably all been rectified, but I have to comment on Mr. Owen's post. PTT polyester, also knows as Triexta, has a number of benefits over PET polyester...

1) Softness - one touch will tell you that, you don't need me to and it is softer than 90% of nylons too

2) Durability - PETs do have less resilience and are less durable overall.

3) Stain and soil resistance - Just about all PETs still have topical protectants added to them for stain and soil resistance. Triexta does not.

4) Improved resistance to peroxides and even bleaches. PETs are ok with benzoyl peroxides, but stop short of resisting bleach. Triexta more resistant to both.

Your "unbiased" link says the following:

TRIEXTA
Also, in the Polyester family is its superior cousin PTT. This fiber is known as SMARTSTRAND (trademark) when marketed by Mohawk. Mohawk recently received FTC approval to market this fiber under its onwn class. This PTT fiber will now be know as TRIEXTA. In the future you will see more about this name change. This fiber is even stronger than PET polyester, and has better colorfastness and cleanability features than PET. PTT is as colorfast as solution dyed nylon. This fiber is extremely soft, and yet behaves better than staple nylon, especially in a shag construction. If you have kids and pets, and are going to be in the home more than 10 years, PTT is a good choice; especially the 3GT Sorona Dupont Polymer offered in some Mohawk carpets. I have not had a consumer complaint on this fiber in the four years I have been selling it. By the way, PTT is just one step away chemically from 4GT polyester that is used to make tough auto parts. Triexta will indeed be a fiber for the future. Lookout Stainmaster!

So sounds like everyone is selling Mohawk SmartStrand...

CG

Can you blame them for trying to sell Smartstrand? I have it too and I've decided in replacing other carpet in my house, I wouldn't have anything else. It's tops!

Carpetgirl, you have sold me on the Mohawk Smartstrand. We are considering a Mohawk frieze (style
1160 Mission Fulfilled). It feels very nice but I'm concerned about it's weight. I think it is a 48 but I'm not 100% sure. We have 2 young children and this will go in the living room so there will be moderate to heavy traffic. Softness is key since we like to lay on the floor and play board games. Is a 48 weight ok or do you know of another Smartstrand frieze style that is as soft and a heavier weight. Thank you for all of your great advice!!

On warranty,I hate to read what eaglemom100 stated. She's right, Shaw isn't going to want to here about seams, either would Mohawk, or Beaulieu. It is not a manufacturer issue. Almost sounds like heat setting on Seam iron, but that's not the point. The installer when installing for the independent should not open his mouth period as he knows nothing. The store is accountable if they are the one who arranged and warranted the install. If the store went in and didn't like how their product looked, they can have an independent inspection done to eliminate manufacturing. If the independent inspection states it is an install issue, than the store better start ripping it out..salvaging what they can if any, and get a good crew in their to install the new product to satisfy the customer. Shaw had nothing to say about it and deservedly so. It's not their problem. A warranty is normally only as good as the store selling it in most cases. We have numerous times replaced what we felt was a faulty product and argued after the fact if the manufacturer didn't feel there was a problem. But 98% of the time visible issues with carpet is installation.

We're purchasing carpet for our new home (new construction) and in our daughter's room we are putting in the Anso frieze; just not sure if I want to get it with the fleck in it because I don't want it to look dated too soon.

Smartstrand is Polyester, Period!It is in fact PTT not PET (which is garbage anyway).. Nylon will always wear better than Polyester ....period. No multi-million dollar marketing campaign and fancy made up name Triexta will change that. The bleach and peroxide argument is awesome if you walk around with a lot of bleach and peroxide in that room. And if you did I would recommend an olefin. The Smartstrand is as good as Nylon argument is Mohawk, steeped in debt, trying to increase their margins by selling polyester as a nylon period. Tell me about how great it is in seven years when it's uglied out and an ratty.

I will not comment on you after this....your are making foolish statements and you do not know what you are talking about. I have watched Triexta right up against an anso Nylon and it was outperforming it with 3 years worth of wear on it. Shaw had the patent on it about 9 years ago and blew it. It is a derivative or bye product of polyester just like gasoline is a bye product of crude oil. I agree polyester is not a dependable product and I state that regularly. I sell all three, own numerous stores, take this business as serious as it gets, and have been published on opinions in the past. i am a Shaw aligned dealer who are known for their nylons. i do not feel Mohawk is close to Shaw as a company in general but I will tell you one thing and take this to the bank. Triexta is not the same as polyester on a molecular level and it wears the 1st 3 years at least as well as a nylon. Sorry to bash your post but your post is unwarranted with statements that can be disputed with facts. The US government labeled Triexta as a new fiber for the 1st time in 50 years since Nylon. There have been many failed attempts at naming fibers, this one made it. And from what I have seen with it in homes, it is rightfully deserved of its own category. Congratulations Mohawk for coming up with a winner.