What Is Wool Carpet?

Wool carpets are a great addition to modern and traditional homes due to their warmth and aesthetic. They don't require frequent washing as they hide dust well and last for decades without losing their color. What is a wool carpet?

A wool carpet is made from sheep's fleece. It's a natural material carded and spun into yarn. Due to its properties, wool carpets have a higher price tag than other materials.

This write-up explains what a wool carpet is, what it looks like, its pros and cons, and more. It helps to read to the end.

What Is a Wool Carpet?

Wool carpet is made from natural material obtained from sheep's fleece. The material is carded and spun, creating a durable and fire-resistant carpet.

Wool carpets offer excellent insulation and are strong. They are naturally soft, offer great warmth and comfort to the feet, and retain their color and shape for decades. Wool carpets hide dust well; hence don't need frequent washing unless you have small kids and pets. Vacuuming is enough to keep your wool carpet looking clean.

When you drop a lit match, your carpet won't catch fire; the carpet fibers affected will only char.

Though wool makes great hypoallergenic carpets for allergies, it sheds a little. Vacuum often to get rid of the shed fibers.

What Does Wool Carpet Look Like?

Identifying the type of fiber your carpet features is crucial. It helps to decide what products and tools are safe for cleaning to safeguard the quality. This can prevent common problems such as discoloring, shrinkage, and fiber damage.

Wool fibers differ in quality because they come from varying breeds of sheep. Each breed produces varying lengths of fibers, basic color, coarseness, and curliness.

Coarse wool, for example, lasts long. Less coarse wool fibers are soft; hence, they are more comfortable for the feet but not as durable as the coarse type.

Generally speaking, wool has various features that easily distinguish it from other fibers. For example, it repels moisture, resists flames, is all-season friendly, durable, and has high absorbency. When buying, you may not be able to test the absorbency rate or ability to resist flames.

Below are some features that can help you identify wool carpets when buying.

Resists Wrinkles

Wool resists wrinkles; it springs back quickly, even under high foot pressure, explaining why its fibers retain their size and shape for decades.

According to the History of Wool fact sheet, wool fibers bend more than 20,000 times without breaking, while silk and cotton bend back 2,000 and 3,000 times, respectively.

Elasticity

Wool carpet's natural elasticity makes it hard to tear, thus making it more durable than other fabrics.

Protective Film

Wool's outer skin is a protective film, making carpets resistant to abrasion and more durable even under high foot traffic. Be cautious when handling wet wool carpets; the fibers become weaker. Placing the carpet in a well-ventilated room helps quicken the fibers' recovery from stress.

What Are the Downsides of Wool Carpet?

Wool carpets' drawbacks include high cost, shedding, water absorbency, and insect damage vulnerability.

High Cost

Due to their properties, wool carpets are expensive. If you're on a tight budget, you might have to consider cheaper alternatives, such as polyester and nylon carpets.

Shedding

New wool carpets shed. Due to the staple fiber, older wool carpets may also shed.

Since they have short strands, staple fibers lie on the carpet and get caught up in your clothes when you lie down.

It's not too much to worry you, but often vacuum and clean wool carpets to remove the shed fibers.

Water Absorbency

Wool carpets absorb water vapor from the air in moderate indoor humidity. Excessive indoor humidity could saturate the carpet fibers, and wool retains liquid.

Wool's water-absorbing ability is another reason you should avoid cleaning it yourself. If you don't dry your carpet properly, it gets mildew and mold.

Low indoor humidity levels are great for wool carpets, and professional carpet cleaning service helps to prevent water saturation because experts use tools to suck out as much water as possible to help the carpet dry fast.

Damage Vulnerability to Insects

Carpet beetle larvae and moths feed on wool carpets, their food source. Permanently pre-treat your carpets using permethrin.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), using a carpet pre-treated with permethrin chemical has no adverse effects.

Sun Fading

Wool carpets are more prone to fading than synthetic carpets when constantly exposed to sunlight.

Maintenance

Dirt is hard to see on wool carpets because the fiber is opaque. Regular vacuuming of wool carpets, especially in high-foot-traffic areas, is advantageous: it prevents dirt accumulation, which could expose you to health complications.

Regular vacuuming also prolongs the carpet's lifespan and keeps the carpet fibers in their original shape.

All carpet fibers need regular vacuum cleaning, so regular maintenance should not prevent you from buying wool carpets.

What Are the Pros of Wool Carpets?

Wool carpets have various advantages, including durability, warmth, ease of cleaning and maintenance, color retention, environmental friendliness, and resistance to fire.

Durability

Wool carpets can last for decades with proper care and maintenance. Wool is elastic, so it resists crushing, making it a great choice for high-foot-traffic areas or areas with heavy furniture.

Wool carpet fibers spring back beneath the foot or furniture weight. This elasticity helps retain the springy feel underfoot and its original thickness after decades of use. Wool's exceptional resiliency, attributed to its coiled structure, also contributes to its durability.

Ease of Cleaning and Maintenance

Wool carpets have an overlapping structure. When cleaned immediately, the natural oils in wool carpets and the fibers' overlapping structure shield the inner parts against oil stains.

Wool is opaque, making dirt hard to see. This is a plus if you have little kids; you won't have to vacuum every other day. Vacuum once or twice a week and professionally clean wool carpets twice a year or more, depending on the traffic and size of your household.

Color Retention

Wool carpets retain color for years, even after cleaning and vacuuming often, unless exposed to direct sunlight constantly. Their molecular structure and protein-based chemical makeup retain and lock the dye so the fibers don't lose color due to regular washing or high foot traffic.

Environmental Friendliness

Wool carpets are winter-friendly; they insulate the floor to lower heating costs and heat loss. This feature keeps the room warm and comfortable.

This natural fiber also moderates high indoor humidity by absorbing water vapor, making it a good choice for all seasons.

Wool's ability to absorb moisture helps inhibit static electricity, preventing or lowering static shocks in dry, cold weather.

Wool fibers absorb and retain chemicals, filter the air of nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde, byproducts of combustion (stoves, heaters, fireplaces, among others), and smoke.

Comfortable

Wool carpets are soft and comfortable and create a spongy, plush texture underfoot due to their natural crimpness.

Resistance to Fire

Wool has a high ignition point, making it flame-resistant. Due to this, sparks, matches, and cigarettes can only cause blackening on the fibers, not ignite a fire.

When burnt down, wool fibers emit a burnt hair-like smell. The flames sputter out and are orange with little to no smoke. The soft black ash left behind after wool burns crumbles easily.

What Are the Cons of Wool Carpets?

The good has the bad, and wool is no exception. Wool carpets are expensive, highly absorbent, and prone to stains and sun fading.

Highly Absorbent

Wool highly absorbs water, making it a bad choice for areas around the bathrooms. Exposure to water results in mildew growth, discoloration, and foul odor.

Its high absorbent rate also means you need to be extra careful when deep cleaning; ensure you suck out excessive water to ensure the carpet dries faster. Better yet, hire Zerorez® to clean your wool carpets.

Pricey

Pure wool carpets are expensive due to their desirable features. They last long, but their cost may not be favorable for people on a budget because it's double that of polyester and nylon.

Sun Fading

Prolonged exposure to sunlight causes wool carpets to fade; use them indoors instead of outdoors unless necessary.

Susceptible to Stains

Wool absorbs non-oil spillages quickly and may be painful to clean without professional help. Spot clean immediately to prevent staining, and regularly deep clean your carpets to keep them clean.

DIY spot cleaning may be great for cleaning water-based stains. You only need to act fast and use clean, warm water to fix the spillage. DIY cleaning may not work on greasy and oil staining; professional wool carpet cleaners have the expertise and tools to fix it.

What Is Worsted Wool Carpet?

The fibers are locked together using varying methods, including clamping, soaking, and spinning, to form strands of yarn. After making the carpet, each process gives the fibers a different feel and appearance. That means that you must clean each carpet differently based on the method used to make it.

Worsted fibers undergo various spinning steps to remove the natural crimp and the vegetable matter. Fibers used to make worsted carpets undergo combing to ensure they run in the same direction (butt-end to tip) and remain parallel. Combing makes fibers line up, resulting in fine and smooth carpets.

Worsted wool is more resilient than other fibers and quickly returns to its natural shape.

Slightly combing the fibers or not combing them perfectly straight results in a semi-worsted carpet that is thicker and softer than the worsted carpets but more delicate when vacuuming and cleaning.

What Is Tufted Wool Carpet?

Tufted wool carpets are made using a hand-held tufting gun. The frame holds up the canvas, and the gun punches into yarn.

Canvas may be made of synthetic or natural material. They have a stencil design guiding where yarns of varying colors are to be "tufted."

Upon punching the yarn through the canvas, the next step is removing the carpet from the frame, applying an adhesive to its back, and adding backing to hide the adhesive. The adhesive acts as a stabilizer to prevent yarns from falling out.

Here are some of the things you should know about tufted wool carpets.

• When relatively new, wool tufted carpets can only be surface-cleaned.

• They don't wear well and are not durable.

• The adhesive may deteriorate over time, causing ripples to develop and become 'bumpy.' This causes dust to build up underneath the carpet, damaging it and scratching the floor.

• Vacuuming could pull out tuffs.

• Once disposed of, they threaten the environment because they clog landfills.

• Cleaning oils and pet or baby pees on tufted wool carpets through their backing is difficult due to the adhesive.

• If the adhesive doesn't dry properly, it may result in permanent carpet odors that may be difficult to fix.

Is Wool Better Than Regular Carpet?

Wool carpet is better than regular carpet in terms of durability, temperature regulation, flame resistance, moisture management, warmth, environmental friendliness, sound absorbency, and comfort.

Wool carpets don't contain the harsh chemicals that regular carpets emit into the air, making them a great home choice. They also don't wear quickly, so they last longer in homes with pets and high foot traffic.

A regular carpet could be better than a wool carpet in terms of maintenance and cost. Cleaning synthetic rugs and carpets is easier compared to wool carpets.

Especially when spot-cleaning organic stains such as food coloring, coffee, ketchup, and tea, you're better off hiring Zerorez than cleaning the carpet yourself. We know what to use to remove all types of stains, and we have a water extractor to remove excess water to shorten the drying time.

If you have small kids and pets that often pee on carpets, you may opt for regular carpets, such as those made of Olefin and nylon, to cut the cleaning cost.

Is Wool Carpet Expensive?

Absolutely! Wool carpet is expensive. The cost of wool carpets is double, sometimes more than that of synthetic carpets, but that's due to their features, which synthetic carpets wish they could feature.

Wool is more expensive to maintain and care to protect their quality and appearance than synthetic fibers.

Does Wool Carpet Get Mold?

Like other natural fibers, wool develops mold when exposed to moisture for an extended time. Avoid excessive water use to help your wool carpet dry quickly and properly to prevent moisture buildup.

Avoid installing wool carpets near wet places such as bathtubs, as they could get mold easily.

What Is the Lifespan of Wool Carpet?

Under good carpet maintenance and care, wool lasts 2 to 3 decades. Most people replace their wool carpets after about 25 years.

A regular carpet's lifespan is approximately 15 years.

Why Do Wool Carpets Smell?

Pure wool carpets smell like barnyard animals or wet dogs when exposed to high humidity or moisture.

Woolen carpets blended with nylon, Olefin, or other fibers could smell due to the off-gassing of blended fibers, which release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into your home.

Is Wool Carpet Pet-Friendly?

Wool fibers make good carpets for pets, but not always. They may be pet-friendly if you're looking for a carpet that retains quality and shape under high traffic, especially if you have playful pets.

Woolen carpets may not be ideal for pets with bladder control difficulties. Removing cat pee from carpets can be a nightmare without the necessary tools and cleaning products.

Is It Difficult to Clean Wool Carpets?

It's not difficult to clean wool carpets if you know the right temperature of water and the cleaning products and tools to use. You must also know how to fix different stains. For example, removing chocolate syrup from the carpet requires a different approach from chewing gum.

Knowing how much water to use is also essential, as too much of it could cause mildew and mold.

Professional wool carpet cleaning is better than DIY. Wool naturally resists stains, but once they penetrate or dry, they can become permanent and, hence, difficult to fix.

Does Wool Carpet Increase Home Value?

Yes, wool increases home value! Homes with wall-to-wall wool carpets have a higher resale value because wool is considered a luxurious fiber with longer durability than regular carpets.

Homes with wool carpets attract buyers more quickly than those with synthetic carpets because wool carpets are comfortable, resist fire and stains (when treated immediately!), withstand high foot traffic, and hide dust.

Call Zerorez for Wool Carpet Cleaning Services: Gotta Love It Guarantee®!

Harsh chemicals damage wool fibers and chlorine dissolves them. Removing stains from woolen carpets can be difficult, especially without the right cleaning agents. Only professional carpet cleaning providers with vast experience clean wool carpets satisfactorily.

At Zerorez, we use safe cleaning chemicals and methods and Zr™ Water to avoid damaging wool carpet fibers.

Let's clean your wool carpets at an affordable price at your convenience.

Contact us today!