Your friendly neighborhood carpet retailer is trained to show you carpet products based on what they believe is your needs. If cost is your main concern, you will most likely be directed to a line of carpets that are made of olefin, which is also called by an alias that always begins with poly…

Olefin (Polypropylene) (Polyethylene) is a synthetic, non-porous, solution dyed fiber that is made from petroleum products.

POSITIVE
•Colorfast-Solution dyeing the fiber makes it completely color fast.

•Stain Resistant-Olefin is almost completely non-absorbent, making it virtually impossible to stain with water based soils.

NOW FOR WHAT THE SALE PEOPLE WON’T TELL YOU, OR MAY NOT EVEN KNOW THEMSELVES!

NEGATIVE
•Attracts Oily Soils - Petroleum products are used to make olefin; therefore, oily soils are attracted to olefin and can be difficult to remove. Oil from the street is brought in your home and creates dark traffic area paths on your carpet.

•Olefin’s low cost makes it highly competitive with other fibers that have similar qualities. Many consumers looking for a “good deal” buy this product because in the show room it looks as good as any other carpet. As carpet cleaners, we do not recommend this product. Time and time again we see homes with olefin carpet that has very dark traffic areas due to simply walking barefoot or have a pet that lies on the carpet.

•Wicks Soil - Water and soil cannot penetrate the olefin fiber. This forces water and soil to wick to the top during the last stages of drying and leaves the soil deposited on the top fibers. This creates a blotchy appearance.

•Crushing of Fibers - Olefin has poor resilience (ability of fibers to stand erect) and is affected by heavy traffic. This is not restorable.

•Olefin carpet is permanently damaged when furniture is dragged or slid across it.