Housetohome's carpet jargon buster

• The ultimate carpet shopping guide
• The best coloured carpets
• The best neutral carpets
• The best patterned carpets
• Latest trends in carpets
• Housetohome's carpet jargon buster

Don't worry if you can't tell your saxony from your velvet - check out our guide to carpet terms and you’ll never be baffled again

Carpet types:

* Tufted twist is a cut-pile carpet, twisted to give a more course, textured finish. Good for high traffic areas.

* Velvet is a soft cut-pile carpet. It has a smooth suede-like appearance and is just as hard-wearing as a twist-pile carpet

* Loop pile carpets consist of uncut loops of fibre and have an appearance similar to natural flooring

* Saxony is a dense cut-pile tufted carpet. Its deep pile gives it a luxurious feel, however it can flatten easily and is better suited to low traffic rooms.

Materials

* Wool is a common carpet fibre. It has a soft feel and doesn’t flatten easily

* Nylon is strong and doesn’t flatten easily

* Polyester is easy to clean and wears well

* Polypropylene is stain resistant but can flatten easily

* 80:20 is a mixture of 80% wool and 20% synthetic fibre such as nylon or polyester. Fibres are blended together to produce yarns with stronger characteristics than if they were on their own.

Visit The Carpet Foundation for more expert advice, care tips and a list of recommended retailers.

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