We've been in this home for about 10 years. When we bought it (they were just finishing it), they told us the carpet would last for about 5 years, and we didn't worry about it, 'cuz we were house poor and couldn't really upgrade the carpeting anyway, and we figured we'd upgrade it in 5 years.

Anyway, the thing lasted twice as long. Very stain resistant, we've been able to clean up all that fell on it. *But* the carpet looked crushed and matted in less than a couple of years. It hasn't really worn out, it has "uglied out". The worst part is that when it's even moderately dry weather, we keep getting shocks just by walking about the room and touching things like light switches... we tell people that we are getting out as much as we can, but we still get shocked too often... ;-)

Sadly, we have no data at all about this carpet: manufacturer, fiber etc, which makes it hard to choose our next carpet.

So, we ask you, what is your experience with carpets? Do you know of brands that generate a lot of electrostatic (so we can avoid those), brands that are good at not generating any? Practically any data can help: do you walk barefoot or wear shoes indoors? Do you have a humidifier or just let the home get dry? (We do have a humidifier, but were told not to keep the home above 30% RH in winter to avoid problems, and really, we do not want the home to be moldy, we have allergies to mold/mildew).

Since we're asking anyway, what about vacuum cleaners? Any bad combination of carpet/vacuum to avoid because of wearing the fibers too fast? Conversely, any combinations you are happy with, easy to push and effective? We're a little leery of buying a carpet that is thick and plushy and then find it too hard to vacuum/keep clean, which probably will make it wear out faster than necessary. We intend to stay here for a long time, so getting something nicer that would be long lasting and keep the texture and appearance would be ideal.

Thanks very much in advance,
-- Paulo.