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Updated February 8, 2023
Searching for the best carpet brands? We’ve got your back!
After scouring through practically millions of carpet reviews, we’ve put together this detailed guide to the very best carpet brands around.
Our goal is to give you detailed, expert advice that you can use to make an informed carpet purchase decision. To do this, we talked to thousands of readers, flooring store owners, and manufacturer reps before putting together our list of the top carpet brands for 2023. There are a lot of details to unpack but based on our research there are really 3 top carpet brands – Proximity Mills, Doma and Paradiso. Other highly reviewed carpet brands were Masland and Dixie Home.
Below, we’ll give you everything you need to find the best carpet for your home, including:
Ready to learn all about the best carpet brands and reviews? Let’s jump in!
👉Or, to skip straight to the best brands section, click here.👈
Table of Contents
Like all types of flooring, the best carpet brands are determined by the features they offer. And when it comes to choosing those carpets, there are 5 categories you need to consider:
We’re going to go through each one in detail so that you’re able to understand which of the best carpets below is also the best carpet for you.
Broadly speaking, there are 6 common types of carpet fibers:
Each of these breaks down further into various blends and weaves too. Most brands, such as Lees carpet, make carpets out of at least 2 or 3 of these options to round out their catalogs.
Virtually all the best carpet brands offer nylon products. Why? Nylon is relatively inexpensive, yet extremely durable. It’s also moisture- and stain-resistant. But perhaps best of all, it looks and feels great! And style-wise, nylon is nearly limitless.
The one downside? Nylon carpet is fully synthetic, meaning it doesn’t exactly make for environmentally friendly flooring. However, many nylon carpets are at least partially recyclable, so it’s not a total loss either.
One more thing: the type of nylon is important too. Most of the best carpets use type 6,6 nylon because of its durability and versatility; however, the older type 6,0 nylon is popular too (if a tad less robust).
Polyester is sort of like nylon except it’s generally softer and can be made from recycled materials—particularly PET (which means some polyester carpets are partially made from old soda bottles)!
Most of the time, polyester carpet is sold as a budget alternative to nylon. However, certain types of polyester—solution-dyed polyester in particular—are very durable. In some cases, (particularly when it comes to stain resistance) solution-dyed polyester can even outperform nylon. That said, it’s not quite as resistant to wear.
Polypropylene (or olefin) carpet is another type of material made from polymers. It’s not as durable or comfortable as nylon, and it can have a sort-of waxy feeling to it. But polypropylene does offer fantastic water resistance.
Price-wise, polypropylene carpets go for about the same as polyester carpets. But it’s not nearly as common, and very few of the best carpet brands carry pure polypropylene carpets anymore.
However, polypropylene blends are still very common, as they can bring a ton of water resistance to other fibers.
Wool carpets are super nice, and they tend to be a staple of luxury brands. Why?
For starters, most wool carpets are pretty expensive. Wool is comfy, relatively stain-resistant, has inherent antimicrobial properties, and is surprisingly durable. It’s also sustainably sourced (mostly from sheep) so its carbon footprint is fairly minimal. For buyers that prefer natural-fiber carpets, wool is by far the best choice!
That said, buyers should know that wool isn’t as easy to maintain as nylon, triexta, or polyester. Plus, its colors fade can in sunlight (so it’s not the best choice for sunroom flooring).
Like wool, cotton carpet is naturally sourced so it’s fairly expensive. Unlike wool, cotton carpet isn’t as durable, its stain resistance leaves a lot to be desired, and its colors fade in sunlight.
So what does cotton carpet do well? It’s ridiculously comfy!
All that said, cotton carpets are becoming increasingly rare.
Triexta is a hybrid-synthetic fabric made by DuPont, a titan in the textiles industry, and only offered by a handful of the best carpet brands.
But: what is it?
Triexta is a type of polyester that uses corn glucose (of all things) instead of petroleum during the production process. Through chemistry (we won’t bore you with the details), this gives triexta incredible stain and moisture resistant properties. It also holds colors well, feels great, is recyclable, and is decently sustainable.
There are a few things to consider when choosing carpet fibers.
Synthetic carpets are more affordable, durable, and maintainable, but at the cost of being, well, synthetic. Some buyers prefer natural products, so wool, cotton, or even a hard-surface product like the best bamboo flooring are greener options.
If you don’t mind synthetic carpet, though, then your choice probably comes down to budget. Type 6,6 nylon, solution-dyed polyester, and triexta are arguably the best carpet materials but they’re also more expensive than ordinary polyester and polypropylene.
Pile density is determined by how much fiber is used within a cubic yard of carpet. Generally, the higher the density, the more durable the carpet is. But: a higher density can also come at the expense of comfort, so finding a good balance is important.
Counterpoint: high carpet pile density can also be offset by the type of fabric. Some fabrics, like nylon and triexta, are still comfy with a high-density pile. Others… not so much.
Carpet pile style simply refers to how the fibers of a carpet are woven into the backing to create a surface. There are 3 main types of carpet piles:
When a carpet has a cut pile, the ends of each fiber of carpet are sheared at a level height and then (sometimes) twisted into tufts. Depending on the length, cut pile carpet can have an incredibly nice texture that’s as cozy as it is soft.
Common varieties of carpets with a cut pile include plush, Saxony, frieze, and shag; all of which are commonly offered by the best carpet brands.
Loop pile carpet takes a different approach. Instead of cutting each carpet fiber at a certain height, the fibers are looped back into carpet backing (i.e. the base of the carpet).
Loop carpets can be a little rougher than cut-pile carpets, but the trade-off is that this type of carpet is more durable and a little easier to take care of.
The most common style of loop pile carpet is Berber—but some of the best carpet brands also make multi-level or “high-low” loop carpets that vary the sizes of their fiber loops to create intricate textures and patterns.
Lastly, some of the best carpet brands also mix cut and loop pile styles to create high-contrast patterns.
Whereas carpet pile style refers to whether the pile is cut or looped (or both), pile height refers to how long the piles are.
High or deep pile carpet is the comfiest of the bunch because its long fibers create a sort of cushion.
Deep pile carpets are great for bedrooms and living rooms, or for homes with small children—though the drawback is that they can be difficult to clean.
Shag carpet is an excellent example of a high pile carpet. Just remember: high pile carpets are almost always going to be cut pile carpets—because high loops would snag on just about everything!
As you might imagine, low pile carpet is much easier to clean than high pile carpet. Plus, it’s much less prone to wear and tear because the shorter fibers are less likely to snag on, well, anything.
Unfortunately, in order to achieve this, low pile carpet sacrifices some of the comfort typically associated with carpet.
No surprises here: medium pile carpet balances the pros and cons of high and low pile carpets. In other words, they’re generally durable without sacrificing too much in terms of comfort or ease of maintenance.
The best carpet brands tend to keep plenty of medium pile options on hand because of their popularity.
Carpet pad or carpet cushion is sort of like… well, think of it the same way you’d think about an underlayment for vinyl flooring. It provides an extra layer of support and comfort between the subflooring and the carpet itself (and what is subflooring, by the way?).
Some of the best carpet brands provide their own carpet pad. Others require a separate purchase (between $0.50 and $1.00/sq. ft.). And some types of carpet don’t need a carpet pad at all!
For those wondering if you can float carpet like floating vinyl plank flooring, the answer is no. Carpet needs to be secured to your subflooring; otherwise, it can easily lift and bunch.
However, you can use carpet with certain magnetic flooring underlayments.
Determining the price of carpet is tricky because it really depends on the different types of carpet you’re looking at. However, installation costs are a little more predictable.
Broadly speaking, carpet costs between $2.00 and $25.00/sq. ft. on average.
Why the large swing? Cheaper carpets like polyester and polypropylene can be sold for less than $1.00–$3.00/sq. ft. but natural-fiber carpets like wool can cost as much as $35.00/sq. ft. (depending on the source).
For context, the best engineered wood flooring costs between $3.00 and $15.00/sq. ft., on average.
Of course, many of the best carpets brands make products that can be bought and installed for under $10.00/sq. ft. The same can not be said for the total cost of wood flooring.
The average cost to install carpet generally runs between $2.00 and $8.00/sq. ft. However, dedicated carpet installers may charge much less (or more) depending on location.
For comparison, the average cost to install vinyl plank flooring is $1.50–$6.00/sq. ft. (a little less than the cost to install laminate flooring), while the cost to install engineered hardwood flooring goes for $4.00–$8.00/sq. ft.
The total cost of buying a hardwood floor can easily reach into the high $20s and higher per square foot if you opt for exotic wood hardwood species or complex wood floor patterns, so the cost of installing carpet is comparatively reasonable.
The main event—let’s talk about the best carpet brands! We’ve broken these brands down in a number of ways, which you’ll see in a moment.
The big takeaway here: except for a few notable examples, none of these brands are objectively better than any others… for the most part. You’ll see what we mean further down.
Best Overall Value
Price: $4.10–$8.25/sq. ft.
Carpet Fiber: Type 6,6 Nylon
Durability: 5/5
Warranty: 4/5
Proximity Mills is a brand that focuses on selling high-performance flooring without the high-performance price tag, according to their website. They offer durable, beautiful options that we can’t get enough of—because they’re basically the same products that top-tier flooring brands sell, just without the mark-up.
To that end, they’re represented among the best vinyl plank flooring brands and the best engineered wood flooring brands—again, with products that rival the megabrands like Mohawk or Shaw, but for a more reasonable price.
And their fantastic carpets are no different.
Proximity Mills has hundreds of products to choose across 22 collections, including cut, loop, and cut-and-loop pile styles.
Each product is made of 6,6 nylon, which, again, only a handful of the best carpet brands offer. As a result, Proximity Mills carpets are nearly unparalleled in terms of durability and resilience.
Proximity Mills also carries some excellent machine-washable carpet tiles! These aren’t your typical peel and stick carpet tiles—Proximity Mills offers luxury carpet tiles (LCT). Unlike most carpet tiles on the market, these are machine-washable, and installed with “FriXion Pads” rather than adhesive, making installation and removal a breeze!
Additionally, Proximity Mills carpets are CRI Green Label Plus-certified as low-VOC flooring, which means they’re safe for your family’s health.
It’s also worth noting that all Proximity Mills carpets are made in the USA.
One of the best things about Proximity Mills carpets: you can buy most options for under $5.00/sq. ft., while a handful of the more luxurious products cost closer to $8.00/sq. ft.
As we noted before, all Proximity Mills carpet is made of type 6,6 nylon, which is the most durable carpet fiber in use today.
That’s really why we’ve labeled Proximity as our best overall value option. For this number of 6,6 nylon collections they sell at this price… well, you’re not going to find anything better when it comes to durable carpet.
All Proximity Mills carpets come with a 20-year residential warranty, which compares well to many of the other best carpet brands on this list. It’s worth noting that there are different types of carpet warranties—those for wear, those for fading, those for defects, etc.
Translation: just because a warranty lasts longer than another doesn’t mean it’s better. You need to look at what it’s for!
Most Stylish + Best Natural Fiber Options
Price: $4.40–$9.75/sq. ft.
Carpet Fiber: Wool, Wool Blends
Durability: 4/5
Warranty: 4.5/5
Doma is all about bold styles, and their carpets are no exception.
The company makes several different types of flooring, but their carpet is perhaps the most diverse—offering tons of unique patterns, bold colors, and distinct textures. Doma has no interest in making cookie-cutter products, and a quick look through their catalog reveals some of the trendiest products on this list.
More importantly, in keeping with their brand promise to make floors “inspired by the beauty of the natural world”, they predominantly feature wool and wool-blend carpets—great news for those who prefer natural products.
All in all, we’re not saying Doma is the Lady Gaga of carpet brands, but…it’s kind of the Lady Gaga of carpet brands: fashionable. Eccentric. High-quality.
From light pinks to brilliant blues, Doma has the widest array of color options on this list, hands down—there’s even a handful of multicolor options to choose from.
We’re talking different patterns, piles, colors, everything. Doma really puts a lot of effort into setting its catalog apart, which is why they’ve solidified their place among the best carpet brands.
Doma says its purpose is to represent the personal style of the buyer, and particularly those who have bold (that’s their word of choice, if you haven’t caught on) taste. And with nearly 300 styles across 34 collections, Doma caters to a lot of different personalities.
All of Doma’s carpets are made of either 100% wool or wool blends, all of which are CRI Green Label Plus-certified.
Doma carpets are priced between $4.40 and $9.75 per square foot. Considering that the average cost range for wool carpet is between $5.00 and $26.00/sq. ft., we find that extremely reasonable.
Wool carpets are naturally strong, and Doma carpets are no different. These carpets are super durable, but not at the expense of comfort. All Doma carpets are scoured to create a softer texture, and they’re as durable as natural fibers like wool are capable of being (which is, in a word, very).
Doma carpets have a 20-year residential warranty. And some products have a 20-year commercial warranty; which is crazy, because commercial warranties for carpet are surprisingly rare (outside of carpet specifically marketed to those spaces, obviously).
Best Luxury Options
Price: $5–$14/sq. ft.
Carpet Fiber: Wool, Wool Blends, Polysilk, etc.
Durability: 4.5/5
Warranty: 4.5/5
Paradiso is a luxury flooring company intended for buyers who want the best in materials and construction. Despite this, many Paradiso carpets are surprisingly affordable, with some products only costing around $5 per square foot.
Why does Paradiso earn our “best luxury option” badge? We’ll get into this more below, but every one of their carpets is woven, rather than tufted-and-glued. They’re the only company on this list to make all of their carpets this way.
Additionally, Paradiso is the only brand on this list to offer handmade carpet options—not bad at all for under $14 per square foot.
As Paradiso says on their website, they’re not interested in selling a label. Rather, their top-selling feature is quality.
Overall, Paradiso sells 48 collections of luxury carpet. And like we mentioned, all of these collections are woven (not tufted/glued), and half are woven by hand. Very few carpet manufacturers make anything by hand anymore, so this is quite rare.
This company’s collections come in all the most popular luxury fiber options—mostly wool and wool blends, but some high-end polysilk, polypropylene, other blends as well.
Every Paradiso carpet is CRI Green Label Plus-certified as low-VOC, and around a quarter of all their products can be recycled.
Paradiso carpet costs between $5.00–$14.00 per square foot, which really isn’t bad for a luxury product. Unsurprisingly, the handmade products make up the higher end of the price range.
First and foremost, all Paradiso carpets—regardless of the fiber option—are woven into the backing instead of being tufted and glued. In terms of durability, there are 2 benefits here:
Are these carpets designed for super-high-performance traffic and regular spills? No. Are they the best entry-level luxury carpets we’ve seen? Yes.
All handmade Paradiso carpets are covered with a limited lifetime residential warranty, while the remaining products have residential warranties ranging between 15 years and limited lifetime.
Best Budget-Friendly Option
Price: $2.20–$3.50/sq. ft.
Carpet Fiber: Type 6,6 Nylon, Solution-Dyed Polyester
Durability: 4/5
Warranty: 4/5
From the ground up, Newton floors are designed with an emphasis on value. In fact, their website reads “Perfectly Designed Flooring at a Fraction of the Cost” front and center.
However: low prices don’t always mean lesser products, and Newton is proof of that. While their carpets might not give you all the bells and whistles that Proximity Mills or Mohawk offers, that’s not really what Newton’s going for.
Rather, they sell great-looking floors that perform way above their weight class (and by “weight class,” we mean price tag).
Newton’s motto, “brilliant floors, intelligently priced” rightfully applies to their type 6,6 nylon and solution-dyed polyester carpets.
All of their products are CRI certified as low-VOC carpet, and there are roughly 170 total options to choose from across 24 collections. The majority of these products are more traditional looks—you won’t find many bold designs or colors here—but again, they’re carpets designed for value.
Newton also does something fun with their carpets in terms of design. Because they use the same materials and colors to make different types of carpet, Newton lets you mix and match your carpet’s feel without mixing its styles. So, you could get a more durable carpet (like short loop pile) for your home’s entryway but a comfier option (like deep frieze) in your living room or bedroom—and be exactly the same color and material.
Newton carpet ranges between $2.20–$3.50/sq. ft., with many options towards the lower end of that spectrum. For types 6,6 nylon and solution-dyed polyester, that is a fantastic price.
These carpets might not come in a ton of trendy styles or colors, but they do the basics really well—and at an incredibly reasonable price.
Newton’s type 6,6 nylon carpets are of course super durable while their solution-dyed polyester carpets perform similarly to triexta.
Depending on the product you choose, Newton carpets come with a 10-year, 20-year, or limited lifetime residential warranty.
Like we said before, carpet warranties are all very different, and no two warranties cover the exact same things for the same amount of time (so comparing them is next to impossible)—but for a product priced below $3.50 on the high end, these warranties are exceptionally solid.
Options at Every Budget
Price: $1.50–$11.90/sq. ft.
Carpet Fiber: Nylon, Polyester, Polypropylene, Various Blends
Durability: 3.5/5
Warranty: 4/5
Shaw is another one of the world’s largest floor makers, so it should come as no surprise that they feature on our best carpet brands list.
Unlike some of Shaw’s other offerings, though, Shaw makes a concerted effort to target budget, mid-level, and luxury markets with quality carpets. For context, Shaw vinyl plank flooring and Shaw laminate flooring only seem to target high-end and budget buyers.
Nevertheless, Shaw enjoys solid (if varied) carpet reviews across the board, with their mid-tier products seemingly offering the best value of the bunch.
The long and short of it: Shaw manufactures a lot of carpets at a lot of different price points. But given the sheer number of gimmicks involved—and the fact that the company’s carpet reviews vary so widely by collection—we have a hard time pinpointing exactly what they really do well.
Mohawk, for example, has SmartStrand, which is their flagship product. We still don’t know what Shaw’s flagship product is!
Shaw sells about 330 styles of carpet across 6 primary collections, which are further broken down into dozens of collections (loosely by price). From the best carpets down, we have:
Bonus: Shaw also (discreetly) manufactures Tigressa carpet.
Here’s a quick cost breakdown for each Shaw carpet collection:
It’s difficult to rate Shaw’s durability across the board, given the sheer number of collections and materials.
Still, Shaw’s best carpet reviews belong to its Caress, Foundations, and Colorwall collections, which also happen to be the company’s nylon offerings. Shaw does not mention what type of nylon this is, but multiple 3rd parties have identified it as type 6,0 nylon—which is less durable than type 6,6 nylon (hence the lower rating).
Additionally, the company’s polypropylene and poly blend collections trade superior durability for affordability, so we wouldn’t recommend them as highly.
Shaw is fairly transparent about its residential carpet warranty policies.
All in all, these warranties are all pretty standard across the board. Nothing fantastic, nothing terrible.
Best for Germaphobes
Price: $1.70–$4.80/sq. ft.
Carpet Fiber: Nylon, Polyester
Durability: 3.5/5
Warranty: 4/5
Mannington Mills, another one of the world’s biggest flooring companies, purchased Phenix Flooring in 2019 to dive into the residential carpet business.
Since then, Phenix has flown under the radar, but it offers a number of exciting and rather unique features that have put it up there with the best carpet brands on this list.
Oddly enough, Phenix carpets use a lot of the same technologies as Mannington vinyl flooring. Like Mannington’s LVP, Phenix carpet has a Microban antimicrobial layer that’s meant to keep the floor cleaner and lasts for the lifetime of the product.
Phenix’s best carpet products also use ColorSense Technology, which allows their synthetic fiber carpets to mimic the look of natural fibers for a more authentic-looking appearance.
And most impressively, there are almost 1500 different styles and colors to choose from, which are broken down into nylon collections (FloorEver Pet Plus and SureSoftSDN) and cheaper polyester products (SureSoftSD).
Phenix premium nylon options cost around $3.00 to $5.00/sq. ft. on average while the polyester products are sold for around $1 to $2/sq. ft.
From the Phenix carpet reviews we could find (which were few in number), these products hold up well.
Going with the norm, Phenix’s superior nylon, which is solution-dyed, offers enhanced durability over their polyester options.
Unfortunately, Phenix doesn’t specify whether its nylon carpets are made of type 6,0 or type 6,6 nylon (again, hence the lower rating).
Phenix carpet warranties are broken down by the specific product, so there are too many variations to list here. However, we can say that they offer a prorated limited warranty in lifetime, 20, 15, 10, and 5-year increments.
Oddly Expensive “Budget” Options
Price: $2.70–$10.00/sq. ft.
Carpet Fiber: Type 6,0 Nylon, Polyester, Solution-Dyed Polyester, Triexta Blends
Durability: 2.5/5
Warranty: 4/5
Home Depot’s LifeProof carpets—not to be confused with LifeProof vinyl flooring—occupy a sort of weird spot among the best carpet brands.
Since they’re sold at a big box store, the immediate assumption is that these products are geared toward budget buyers (like Home Depot’s other in-house brand TrafficMaster flooring or Sam’s Club’s Select Surfaces laminate flooring).
Except, most of their products cost almost $3.00/sq. ft. or more.
In terms of carpet reviews, LifeProof is amazingly consistent with an average rating of 4 stars across their 1225 different styles and colors.
LifeProof’s catalog is most easily broken down by its carpet fiber options, which include about 600 triexta-blend carpets, 520 type 6,0 nylon options, and another 100 or so polyester products.
Style-wise, they mostly focus on traditional looks but they also carry about 150 solution-dyed products that allow for bolder, trendier colors.
LifeProof isn’t cheap enough to be considered a true budget brand, and it also carries almost 300 products that cost over $6.00/sq. ft.
At the end of the day, it’s unclear to us why someone would pay so much for a box store product, especially given Home Depot’s notorious installation issues.
In terms of carpet reviews, LifeProof mostly does well. But, durability concerns do pop up across their catalog, even among some of the pricier options.
Now: we don’t want to imply anything, but while researching this piece, we found something very interesting. Above, we mentioned that LifeProof carpet reviews have a consistent rating of 4 stars across the board (on Home Depot’s website, that is). And that’s true!
But: if you look closely, you’ll see that a lot of the 1 and 2-star reviews actually have information about why the buyer didn’t like the carpet—whereas most of the “5-star reviews” have no actual review—it’s just “5 stars” with no information.
Very curious.
Anyway, all LifeProof products come with a 25-year wear and tear warranty as well as a limited lifetime stain and soil warranty. Which, given the performance issues hinted at in many of their carpet reviews, is relatively surprising. Maybe Home Depot just sells so much volume that warranty claims aren’t an issue?
The Original Type 6,6 Nylon Carpet
Price: $1.00–$8.00/sq. ft.
Carpet Fiber: Type 6,6 Nylon, Polyester
Durability: 3/5
Warranty: 3.5/5
For a time, Stainmaster was known as the best carpet brand. They were the first, and for a long time, the only company to use type 6,6 nylon in carpet.
However, the surge in popularity of hard surface floors seems to have had an ugly effect on the brand’s bottom line. An experiment with Stainmaster luxury vinyl didn’t turn out very well and the company was bought out by Lowes in 2021.
Since then, Stainmaster carpets seem to have switched to a more budget-friendly model with most of their products costing between $1.00 and $2.00 per sq. ft.
Don’t take this the wrong way, though. Stainmaster products still enjoy okay carpet reviews, but the former brand seems to have been replaced with a more generic MO (like another Lowes brand, SmartCore flooring).
There are 4 versions of Stainmaster carpet. From best to worst they are:
The PetProtect line is Stainmaster’s best carpet, offering 25 years of pet stain protection.
Active Family and TruSoft emphasize durability and comfort respectively; both only protect against pet urine stains (we’ll let you figure that one out) and don’t offer color fade resistance.
And lastly, we have the Stainmaster Essentials collection, which sort of acts like the budget line’s budget line of carpet. This polyester product is actually okay and most of the carpet reviews are positive (though nearly all of them complain about something).
Oh, in total, there are almost 4000 different style and color options of Stainmaster carpet to choose from. Seriously.
Here’s where things get weird—or more appropriately, annoying.
Despite a clear difference in warranties (see below), pricing for the different Stainmaster carpet collections is all over the place because the prices are based on carpet height and style versus protection level.
For example, you can find PetProtect carpets on Lowes’ website for anywhere from $1.00–$6.20/sq. ft. Even if you take one carpet from both ends of that range, they’ll have the same warranty!
What?
Why?
Who?
We don’t know!
Aside from the Essentials collection and a few other exceptions, Stainmaster carpets use type 6,6 nylon so they’re supposed to be durable.
However, we’re not sure you should view Stainmaster 6,6 nylon the same way you view Proximity Mills, Karastan, or Newton 6,6 nylon. Stainmaster carpet reviews are a little on the sporadic side, with many instances of customers complaining about their carpet’s durability.
Our take: Stainmaster is shifting towards budget products, so…expect budget quality.
Here’s how Stainmaster carpet’s warranty breaks down:
If you use a “qualifying” carpet pad, Stainmaster adds 3 years to each protection.
A Good Budget Choice
Price: $1.00–$2.50/sq. ft.
Carpet Fiber: Solution-Dyed Polyester
Durability: 3.5/5
Warranty: 3.5/5
Dream Weaver is a relatively new offering from Engineered Floors (yes, that’s the company’s name). The Dream Weaver catalog is a little limited compared to what some of the other best carpet brands offer and mostly caters to budget residential buyers. But their carpet reviews are (though hard to find) largely positive for an all-polyester brand.
Currently, Dream Weaver only sells solution-dyed polyester carpets. And as of right now, the color options are pretty basic, mostly focusing on Earth tones and grays.
There are plenty of texture options though—and they even sell carpet tiles!
Note: several third parties claim that Dream Weaver also sells nylon carpets; however, we’re unable to confirm this.
The main appeal of Dream Weaver carpet is that it’s fairly inexpensive yet durable enough to warrant a slightly higher price tag than low-end Stainmaster or LifeProof, though we’re not sure Dream Weaver offers as many perks as Newton for a value-focused brand.
Remember, polyester carpet isn’t as durable as nylon or triexta (even solution-dyed polyester). Then again, Dream Weaver isn’t trying to make the best carpet out there—just one that’s affordable.
As with most polyester carpets, Dream Weaver’s warranty is decent. All options come with a 5-year manufacturer defect warranty and either a 15 or 25-year wear and soil warranty.
The bright side: Dream Weaver carpets have lifetime fade and stain resistance warranties.
The Most Diverse Pattern Options
Price: $2.40–$13.80/sq. ft.
Carpet Fiber: Type 6,0 Nylon
Durability: 4/5
Warranty: 4.5/5
Our final entry in the best carpet brands, Anderson Tuftex, is sort of an outlier as it’s the only brand on this list that exclusively makes nylon carpets. And they’re good.
Owned by Shaw, Anderson Tuftex carries a full range of carpets for nearly every budget. However, a sizable portion of the catalog costs at least $6.00/sq. ft.
Like LifeProof, Anderson Tuftex doesn’t offer any true budget flooring, but they have hundreds of mid- and higher-end carpets (including a rather large selection of luxury options).
There are 3 primary collections:
All of Anderson Tuftex’s carpets are made with nylon, so even their budget options are fairly durable compared to budget products from other carpet brands (though, we’re not sure $3.00/sq. ft. truly qualifies as a budget choice).
Anderson Tuftex isn’t definitively a luxury brand (even though they carry a lot of high-end products), but they sure charge like one. The brand sells hundreds of options that cost over $12.00/sq. ft.
The best carpets made by Anderson Tuftex are among the most durable nylon carpets on this list despite being made of type 6,0—Anderson Tuftex claims their production process is responsible. But their carpets also cost nearly $14.00/sq. ft, which is insane for synthetic carpet!
For comparison, Proximity Mills offers type 6,6 nylon carpet for half the price.
Nevertheless, Anderson Tuftex’s carpet reviews are exceptionally solid, even among the cheaper lines.
Anderson Tuftex offers several warranty options: most carpets come with a limited lifetime stain and soil warranty, and then 10 or 20-year texture retention, abrasive wear, and quality assurance warranties on a per-carpet basis (it doesn’t vary by collection).
If you’re wondering where Atlas Mills is on this list, you’re not alone…
Until recently, Atlas Mills used to be one the best carpet brands around, but in 2021, the company was sold by The Dixie Group to Mannington Commercial.
So far, there are no listings for new Atlas carpet anywhere (you might be able to find products from before the merger) but considering the buyout was rather recent, Mannington may still be trying to figure out what to do with the acquisition.
You can, however, find a small Atlas page on Mannington’s website.
We’ve talked about what features set the best carpets apart—and then all about the best carpet brands—but we haven’t really gone over what makes carpet so great in the first place!
Oversimplification: carpet is fuzzy, and fuzzy stuff makes for great insulation! We won’t get into the science-y stuff too much, but basically, that fuzziness creates tiny air pockets that collectively provide fantastic insulation.
The only other flooring that does this well is cork, but cork isn’t soft and cozy like carpet (check out the advantages and disadvantages of cork flooring for more info, if you’re interested).
One fault of even the best hardwood floors—as well as all the different types of tile, laminate, vinyl, and so on—is that they’re not great at canceling out noise.
Now, to be fair, some types of floors make an effort to reduce this, like WPC flooring and various underlayments, but none of these really compare to carpet.
If you want a quiet space, go with carpet.
Ebony flooring, ash flooring, pine flooring: what do they all have in common? They’re gorgeous hardwood floors! But would you sleep directly on any of them?
Of course not! Flat-surfaced floors can look great but they need a rug or something to make them cozy.
Now, you probably shouldn’t sleep on carpet floors (we don’t judge, though), but they sure look like you could, right?
If it’s not clear by now, carpet’s biggest feature is that it’s softer than (all) other types of flooring. Whether you’re comparing tile vs. wood flooring, the best cork flooring, or any kind of vinyl plank vs. laminate, none compare to carpet in terms of comfort.
We’re almost done!
Since there are many types of carpet out there, we thought it might be useful to know the best carpet products for specific situations.
As always, the best flooring for a given room or application is an inherently personal decision, but this quick guide is a great place to start!
Also, there are some applications, like a wood floor bathroom, where carpet just doesn’t make any sense—in these cases, we tried to supply flooring ideas that do.
Lost in the debate between carpet or hardwood in a bedroom is the debate over which type of carpet works best in the bedroom (although, a lot of people seem to forget about the cost to refinish hardwood flooring every few years when weighing its pros and cons).
Anyway, the best carpets for bedrooms are soft and cozy, right? We’d recommend going with a deep or medium pile carpet (frieze is especially nice) because they’re so comfortable and they’ll keep your feet warm on cold, cold mornings.
Hallways see a lot of thru traffic so it only makes sense to go with a more durable carpet choice. Nylon or triexta are the ideal choices, though solution-dyed polyester carpets are a more budget-conscious choice. Whatever the case, we’d always recommend going with a low-pile carpet for hallways—it’s much more durable.
Living rooms see a lot of traffic and tend to be used for everything from entertainment to eating, so, it only makes sense to choose a carpet that’s stain-resistant and durable.
Once again, nylon, polyester, and triexta carpets make the most sense. Except this time, we’ll give a slight nod to nylon carpets only because they’re a little easier to vacuum. We’d also recommend a medium pile here, to balance both comfort and durability.
Yes! You can put carpet on stairs: it’s actually a great choice for elderly people or those with bad joints or a bad back. The soft surface of a carpet absorbs a lot of impact force, so you’re less likely to feel the oomph of each step.
Keep this in mind though: just as you should only put the best vinyl plank flooring on stairs, you should stick to the best carpet for stairs.
Flooring that goes on stairs sees a lot of daily wear and tear, so only the most durable carpets are appropriate.
And you guessed it: medium- or low-pile nylon and polyester once again make the most sense. Maybe a nice loop pile?
We’ll be blunt: carpet is not the best flooring for kitchens. Even stain, moisture, and wear-resistant options like nylon or triexta are bad choices.
LVP options, snap-together tile flooring, and water-resistant wood flooring (aka the best wood flooring for dogs) all make a lot more sense than having carpet in a kitchen.
Of course, carpet is probably okay in a dining room so long as you don’t mind cleaning up occasional spills and messes. As such, triexta, nylon, or polyester (since these rooms see less foot traffic) make the most sense.
Really, people with frequent allergies may wish to avoid carpet because it can still trap allergens even if the fibers themselves are safe. Non-toxic laminate flooring, hardwood, tile, or any type of PVC flooring are generally safer choices (though it’s possible to be allergic to any of these options too, so it may be worth seeking out a doctor if your allergies are severe for advice).
However, many products from the best carpet brands are hypoallergenic. So, any carpet should be fine so long as you clean it regularly.
Super soft carpets are the best choice for elderly people, but any carpet with a deep or medium pile should work. Just avoid super deep carpets like shag, as these may snag on feet.
Medium pile carpets that are stain and moisture resistant, durable, and soft are the best carpets for kids.
Deep pile carpets will hide general wear and tear for a time, but if your kids are especially rowdy, a medium option will likely handle the damage better (and longer).
As for materials, nylon, solution-dyed polyester, and triexta are probably the top choices. However, olefin carpets aren’t a bad choice if you’re expecting to have to replace your carpets once your kids get a little older.
Carpet reviews will tell you it isn’t the best flooring for dogs and other pets, but many of the best carpet brands still make products with pets specifically in mind.
Stain-resistant carpets are practically mandatory, especially for puppies and kittens, and durability is important too. So: nylon and polyesters like triexta are once again the best choices.
Like carpets for kids though, olefin carpets can work too if you’re planning on replacing your carpets after a decade or so.
Also, we don’t recommend high-pile carpets for pets as they’re more likely to get torn up by paws and claws.
If you really want the best flooring for pets, though, go with waterproof vinyl flooring instead (and particularly rigid core luxury vinyl flooring).
Waterproof hardwood flooring and waterproof laminate flooring work too.
Any flooring that’s being installed in a high-traffic room or hallway needs to be able to handle a beating. Polyester and nylon come out on top, especially super-low-pile loop designs like Berber.
Still, if you really want the best flooring for high-traffic areas, the best vinyl flooring (e.g. EVP) or the most durable wood flooring will handle daily wear and tear better.
Synthetic carpets handle moisture and spills way better than natural-fiber carpets. Any option will do, but this is one of the rare instances where olefin carpets excel. Their slightly waxy feel repels water just a little bit better than nylon, triexta, and polyester.
Also: all synthetic carpets are highly mold resistant.
Natural-fiber carpets that are well-maintained offer the most resale value; however, polyester and nylon do well here too.
This does bring up the carpet vs. hardwood debate, though. Many types of wood flooring hold their value almost indefinitely, while even the best carpets only last a couple of decades.
Well-maintained wool or wool-blend carpets can last around 20 years, though nylon, polyester, and triexta (unsurprisingly, we know) carpets have similar lifespans.
Olefin and cotton carpets aren’t likely to make it more than a couple of decades barring light use, exceptional care, and minimal environmental changes.
Natural-fiber carpets are the most eco-friendly, but synthetic carpets that are at least partially recyclable (like polyester) are decent choices too.
Bonus: all carpet offers great insulation properties, so less energy is required to heat or cool a space (which also means a smaller gas or electric bill).
Alternatives: hemp flooring, sustainable wood flooring, and cork flooring (though, shipping is a factor) are all eco-friendly options as well.
Polyester carpets offer many of the same features as nylon carpets, albeit in a cheaper package. They don’t typically last as long, but you can get a good polyester carpet for under $2.50/sq. Ft.
The best laminate flooring can also be bought on a budget if you’re not opposed to hard-surface floors.
Type 6,6 nylon carpets are probably the best around as they score well in pretty much every category. Solution-dyed polyester and triexta carpets are a close second though.
Before we wrap up, let’s answer a few lingering questions about the best carpets and the best carpet brands!
Yes and no.
We wouldn’t recommend buying products purely based on brand name. There’s a reason we only have one carpet from Mohawk on this list, after all. Some brands simply upcharge because of the label.
However, we will say that the best carpet brands have built up a good reputation for a reason. Products from these brands tend to incorporate the best features while using quality resources and materials. Plus, well-known brands tend to have the best carpet brand reviews.
The same goes for any kind of floor company, including the best hardwood floor brands as well as all the hardwood floor alternatives.
So, while we won’t say that you should only look at well-known brands, there’s a good chance they’ll have what you need.
If you’re looking for DIY flooring, you should know that carpet isn’t the easiest flooring to install—well, unless you’re talking about peel-and-stick carpet tiles (here’s how to install carpet tiles if you’re curious).
Carpet needs to be stapled, glued, stretched, and seamed properly, or it’ll look (and feel) terrible. It’s nothing like a glue-down vinyl plank or wood product, which you can install with minimal experience. This stuff takes an expert.
Our take? Leave it to the professionals. Even a small miscalculation will likely lead to disaster. Worse: carpet that isn’t secured properly is more prone to wear and tear because it’s not getting enough support.
There are plenty of instances where carpet really isn’t a good choice.
Starting with outdoor flooring options, carpet doesn’t even remotely make sense here unless it’s a highly-specialized product (and even then, outdoor vinyl flooring is a better option).
The same can also be said for mudroom flooring. And as a matter of fact, any room that might frequently get wet, like a bathroom or kitchen, is better off with a waterproof or water-resistant floor.
Let’s look at carpet vs. laminate, particularly waterproof varieties like RevWood or Pergo TimberCraft. These floors are easier to clean and maintain than carpet (which needs to be vacuumed often), and so long as you’re not dumping buckets of water over them, should do well in wetter environments.
Absolutely. Natural-fiber carpets dominate here but many of the best carpet brands make carpets with ornate and intricate patterns as well.
If you’re looking for the carpet equivalent of, say, parquet flooring, brands like Doma, Fabrica, and Paradiso make products that use fashionable patterns and vibrant, bold looks.
Carpet grade is determined by measuring factors like face weight, how the carpet is weaved together, what it’s made of, and so on. It’s a fairly subjective measurement that doesn’t always capture the real quality of a carpet.
The list below generally separates carpet fiber materials into carpet grades, though this should be taken with a grain of salt.
Type 6 nylon carpets are by far the most popular options on the market, or at least the most plentiful. Polyester carpets aren’t far behind and triexta, which is still relatively new (and actually just a type of polyester), is starting to catch up.
Not necessarily, though the best carpet brands are almost always found at actual flooring stores.
Big box stores like Home Depot tend to carry products meant for budget buyers. As such, many of these products skip out on top features to cut costs. Moreover, big box stores rarely hire professional floor installers (opting for general contractors instead) so you’re unlikely to speak with true flooring experts any time you go with a big box store.
For example, Lowes cork flooring has decent reviews, but there’s only one option and the install costs are astronomical. Local flooring stores are likely to carry many choices and you can trust that their dedicated install team will know what it’s doing.
As a general rule, synthetic fabrics hold vibrant colors better than natural fabrics, which tend to be more muted (think earth tones, whites, and off-whites—in addition to various shades of red, navy, purple, or gray).
But in theory, carpets can come in any color or pattern!
Side note: the very nature of carpet prevents it from mimicking wood floor designs. So, you obviously can’t really count any carpet products as fake wood flooring. And yes, we’ve been asked this question before. Numerous times. Seriously.
Carpet cleaners with (gentle) circular motorized brushes are the best, though ordinary vacuums should work for most carpets too. Steam cleaners can also be useful for removing stains, just be sure that your carpet is compatible.
We hope this coverage of the best carpet brands answered all your carpet questions!
Though carpet isn’t quite as popular as it used to be, it still makes for a wonderful addition to any home—especially for those wanting the softest floors they can find!
But remember, the best carpets are found in local flooring stores, not your big box stores like Lowes, Home Depot, or Walmart.
If you don’t know which of the best carpet brands makes the most sense for you, your local flooring store can help you figure it out! The big box stores only want to sell you a product.
On the other hand, if you’re still looking for flooring ideas, the articles below contain tons of resources to explore. Whatever you choose, good luck and thanks for reading!
Selected Laminate Resources:
Selected Hardwood Resources:
Selected Vinyl Resources:
Selected Other Resources:
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I really enjoyed this in depth post. Thank you for putting all of this information together. Buying carpet can be an overwhelming task. There are just so many styles and colors. This information has been a huge help in trying to simpliy the buying process. thanks again!
You’ve made a mistake on your carpet installation pricing it’s not square foot but square.. nobody charges 2 to $8 a square foot to to install carpet. Way off.