Do you guys think it’s better to have carpet with young kids? Why or why not?
My home is fully carpeted except for the entrance area and I hate it. With a toddler in the house I spend so much time on my hands and knees scrubbing the carpet of vomit and other grime that I wish I could have it all replaced with regular flooring. The thought of quickly sweeping and mopping the mess away is far more appealing to me than my current back breaking work and every time I have to I swear I will get it all replaced with hardwood very soon. But hardwood is expensive and I don’t know if it’s worth replacing in the beginning stages of family planning. Would it be worthwhile to wait until after we’re done with having kids so they have a padded surface to crawl/fall on and then get rid of it or should it not matter?
Re: Carpet with kids
Meem, I think you'd be trading one issue for another! We have hardwood floors in most of our house and you see every speck of dust. And it flies around much more easily than it does on a carpeted floor. If I dont vacuum every other day, we get these "dust bunnies" that roll around the house at the slightest breeze lol!
Our bedrooms are carpeted though and something I like to do is rent a carpet steam-cleaner every now and then. You really dont have to get down on hands and knees to scrub....just spray the spot with a household rug cleaner that you get in grocery store and then rent a steam machine. Its like a big vacuum and does an amazing job on carpets. So if you have a spot of vomit, start with the carpet spray (it comes out as thick foam, you let it dry then you vacuum it up) and then once or twice a month depending on need, rent the steam machine.
Re: Carpet with kids
Thanks for pointing out it has to be cleaned more frequently to avoid those dreaded dust balls, I forgot about that....but what's this, a carpet cleaner where you don't have to scrub? I have one and it comes with a built in brush that I use but it takes a long time and doesn't always work. I have to find the one you're talking about that I can leave to dry and then vacuum! Is the steam machine different from a carpet washing machine? We rented one where we had to keep putting and replacing water and soap in it. It was really heavy and a lot of work. Is that what a steam machine is or is it something different? Thanks for your ideas! :)
Re: Carpet with kids
yeah i think you can rent those gigantic machines from the grocery store (ie. loblaws) but they are really heavy and i found it didn't work so well with tea stains. but maybe i wasn't doing it properly.
i would say you should wait for a couple years and then you can replace your carpet with hardwood/tiles. although, i do find my parents house which is hardwood and tiles so frikken freezing all the time compared to my house (which is wall-to-wall carpet) even though they blast the heat. but it is good in the summers.
save your money and get it done in 3-4 years.
Re: Carpet with kids
Yup, the carpet steamers are pretty heavy lol…I guess I’m kind of a moose lol…I muscle it into the back of the SUV and yeah you hafta change the water and add soaps and all that…but it does SUCH a great job, to have it done professionally would cost a couple hundred but doing it yourself is less than 50 dollars.
The foam and vacuum cleaners come in many different brands but here is a website for one of them…they work nicely for the in-between times when you get a stain or 2 and want to keep the steam cleaning to once a month:
Re: Carpet with kids
Meem, with having a small kid around, I would not use too much chemicals (carpet sprays) on the carpets, just hot steam should be fine.
ps. I am saying this as I heard an interview with Jon Travolta with Larry King, where he once said, he was obsessed with cleaning the carpets and would let companies come and use strong chemicals, after an year his first child, the son had a disease, on which he later died.
I am NOT saying there is a link but it got me thinking, maybe its better to expose babies to less chemicals as possible.
Re: Carpet with kids
Ruiner, the warmth is probably one of the good points of having wall to wall carpeting. Also it gives kids a soft surface to run around, crawl, fall on. But the cleaning is so much work!
Good point, SaadiaB.
Maybe the solution is keeping carpet for now, not obsessing over the stains, and hope that people will understand the carpet is dirty because of kids in the house? Or maybe there is another color of carpet we should get? I heard too dark can be bad because it shows all the crumbs that kids leave behind so what would be better?
Re: Carpet with kids
We carpeted our floors as soon as we had our first newborn. It keeps them safe for crawling, falling, rolling and what not!
We replaced the new carpet after 3 years to another wall-to-wall. We replaced because I cannot stand it - not being able to WASH with WATER! Vacuum can only suck the dirt but not clean. Steaming is over-rated... it kills the germs (if any) but does not necessarily feel good - especially if you rented one from your grocery shop :(
The 2nd new carpet was removed again after 3 years. My kids were 5 & 6 by the time - so we were able to replace carpet with hardwood floors.
I think for us - it worked well the way we did it!
Re: Carpet with kids
We were renting when we had Hebz, and had hardwood all over except for the bedrooms... i found it better and i think she liked walking on the hardwood more... we're renting at the moment and its tiled everywhere except for the bedrooms. I find the tiles a lot harder when kids fall.. BUT she doesnt fall as much now Mashallah so that's a good thing..
with our new house, we're getting timber floors all over except bedrooms and bathrooms... cant wait!
Re: Carpet with kids
Believe me you are good with wall to wall carpet instead of hardwood. We have experience with both and we still prefer carpet for 2 very reason.
1- Even if the baby/toddler falls on the floor...there are little chances of getting hurt. Slipping on wet floor is another issue.
2- Wooden floor are even more hard to keep clean as compare to regular vacuume and occasional steaming.
Just buy a good disinfector and spray it on spots that you think should be cleaned properly.