The Best Pet-Friendly Carpet for Cats & Dogs

(TL;DR) The best type of carpet for pets is typically a Dupont Sorona® based carpet fiber with a Saxony or Frieze carpet style, which is durable, stain resistant, and hides wear and tear well. 

Pets spend so much time on the floor — laying, sleeping, walking, running. Other surfaces like hardwood and tile are slippery, and your pet could slip and injure themselves while trying to play. Carpet is a great option to keep your pets happy and healthy.

Common knowledge tells us that carpet exacerbates allergies and asthma by collecting pet dander and hair. However, according to a 15-year Swedish research study, carpet has been shown to alleviate allergy and asthma symptoms possibly by trapping allergens, preventing them from becoming airborne. That’s why carpet is actually a great flooring option for people with allergies.

You’ve already decided to install carpet over other flooring options. You like how carpet looks and feels, and now you want to know what the best type of carpet for a household with pets is. When shopping for new carpet for your pet-friendly home, take into consideration the following:

Choosing the right carpet fiber material for your pet-friendly home.

Wool Carpet

Wool is a naturally stain resistant, durable fabric. Synthetic carpet fibers are trying to imitate the look and feel of wool carpet. Wool carpet is really a luxury good. Due to its high cost, wool only makes up about 1% of all carpet floors in the U.S. Wool carpet is a good option for pet owners simply because its durable and naturally stain resistant. However, given its high price and high-water absorption rate it’s probably better to pick a different option.

Nylon Carpet

Nylon carpet is the most durable and abrasion resistant carpet fiber on the market. It is slightly more durable than wool, and much more durable than the less expensive polyester carpet blends making it a great option for pet owners. We all know pets like to run around and scratch the floor, making durability necessary. Nylon is also very stain resistant and doesn’t absorb moisture to the same degree as wool, making it easier to clean. Overall, nylon is more expensive than polyester, but less expensive than wool. It’s a great combination of price and durability.

Dupont Sorona Carpet Fibers

Mad scientists at Dupont locked themselves into their lab and concocted the carpet of the future. The carpet is made from recycled plastics and has a very “green” manufacturing process emitting 56% less greenhouse gas than nylon 6,6 carpet. Even better, Sorona carpet fiber uses no extra chemical treatments for stain treatment, meaning less dreaded VOCs than any other carpet type. Sorona is both extremely durable and stain resistant, making it ideal for a home with pets. We carry Mohawk SmartStrand carpeting, which uses Dupont Sorona technology to make it exceptionally pet-friendly and durable.

Choosing the best carpet type (or “pile) for your pets

Berber

For pet owners, not all carpet types are created equally. Many would recommend a Berber carpet for pet owners, but that could be a mistake. Pets like to scratch and claw at carpet. Berber is a looped pile could catch in their claws and tear up the carpet, creating permanent damage. We recommend the following carpet types for pet owners (Note: they are all cut pile. Meaning there are not loops to catch your cat or dog’s claws).

Saxony

Often cut at an angle, the pile of the carpet is great at concealing marks, and even stains. Saxony is a durable carpet style as well. Perfect for the dog or cat that likes to run up and down the hallway.

Frieze

The pile for Frieze is a little wirier looking than Saxony, but it is also a tightly woven carpet style, which lends to its durability. Also, it hides wear and stains very well because of its frenetic pattern.

Choosing the right carpet color for your pets

Carpet color is an important option. There are a couple ways you could go. Choose a color that matches your pet’s fur, thereby hiding all the hair that is settled on the carpet. Or, choose a color that hides dirt and stains well. Nothing wrong with a classic color like taupe. It matches most furniture and wall colors as well. Do you have new carpet but are considering a new cat or dog? Make sure your pet matches your carpet and you won’t find yourself vacuuming every hour on the eights.

The most common questions we get from our customers