Carpet Types

When you are ready to choose carpet, it helps to know the carpet types available. Here is an overview of the main types of carpet on the market today.



Saxony carpet is smooth and has a cut-pile surface. It is used mainly in traditional or formal rooms.

Textured Saxony or Shag has a more relaxed appearance and is popular for families. The textured surface of this type helps to hide footprints, which means less upkeep.

Velvet carpet has a very fine sheared surface. Because of its suitability to formal rooms and the upkeep required, this option is not as popular as other carpet types.

Frieze carpet is extremely durable so it is perfect for rooms with a lot of activity. It has a textured, almost knobby, appearance, which makes it a less popular option even though it stands up well to wear.

Cut and Loop (or Random-Sheared) carpeting has a distinctive appearance with cuts and loops of different sizes on the surface. It works in a variety of rooms because the multi-colors and multi-layers help hide traffic and stains.

Level loop and Multi-Level Loop carpets are made up of loops (with level loop, all the loops are level, whereas with multi-loop has different levels of loops). Both of these types of carpet are durable and stand up well in high traffic areas. They have a casual appearance.

When choosing a carpet type, also keep a few other things in mind:

• What carpet fiber do you want? Your options included nylon, olefin, polyester, acrylic, and wool. Nylon is the most popular fiber because of cost and its ability to hide wear and stains.
• Know about yarn twists. With carpet, the rule is the tighter the yarn twist the better.
• Look for carpeting with a shorter nap. The longer the nap, the less crush resistant the carpet. If you choose a carpet with a shorter nap, it will look newer longer.
• Choose a carpet that has more yarn or stitches per inch to increase your carpet's matt and crush resistance. The stitches per inch contribute to the crush resistance of a carpet.
• If you are buying a looped carpet, look at the density of the loop and the amount of space in the middle of the loop, because the tighter the loop, the better the wear.