To begin, I'm obviously no carpet expert but I've done my hours upon hours of research into these options among countless forums and need a somewhat updated opinion specific to our lifestyle.

We are looking to replace our carpet in a 18* 24 great room, that shows great signs of soiling and wear, so I'm sure we'll be happy with nearly any of these brands.

However, considering our lifestyle and habits:

1) We have children.

2) We are not good about taking our shoes off (though this could change)

3) We and our children eat in the room where carpet is (the only room with carpet) all the time.

4) Spills from coffee, juice, smoothies, etc. are unfortunately common and may be inbred into our lifestyle

5) Since we do not remove shoes well, soiling and oils become a problem

6) I would haphazardly carry a skewer of shishkabobs from the kitchen to outdoors, dripping in oil, across our living room

7) etc.

I know, we suck at the stage of carpet care of: take care of your carpet and don't be lazy

Giving all of that, what is our best option?

Smartstrand I am reading is great, being a PTT, at being non-porous and resisting stains, but has an affinity to attracting oils and organic (dirt) matter. It has a soft touch, but will show normal footprints and streaks, and will certainly show high-traffic patterns from outdoors to in well.

VX2 is a topicla treatment that helps resist both acidic and organic/oil based containments. However, it doesn't outright excel at either, and may even wear off (much like Scotchguard) after repeated cleanings and certainly after professional steam cleaning.

Cleartouch I don't have much on.

We live in a very small town in the midwest, and though we have all of these options, the sales gals do not know much about carpets (I had asked if V2X was topical or built-in, and she answered built-in, not topical, so I'm left to the whim of my own research and hoping I pick the best solution to our lifestyle.

We loved the selection of colors, patterns and feel of the Shaw V2X Tuftex collection, but I'm apprehensive of the topical treatment.

We honestly didn't find much we liked in the Smartstrand category in terms of colors and patterns, and didn't like the way it showed footprints even after a first walk-over.

I understand there are different qualities within each brand, and we noticed different levels of softness and tracking, as I'll dub it, in the Smartstrand alone.

I have not even hit on weights, twists and everything else that confuses me a tad bit! I also found that the local carpet place we looked at does not contract out professionals that power stretch, which from what I read should potentially concern me. I do know the other local retailer does power stretch, which we will check out next week.

Any opinions on all of this is so much appreciated; thanks!