Is polyester carpet as good as nylon carpet in high traffic areas?
Nylon is the most commonly used fiber in carpet today because it is strong, easy to dye, and readily available. There is still no stronger carpet fiber on the market today. If you have any traffic paths at all, Carpet Guru strongly recommends you buy a nylon carpet and forget about those other fibers. There are many makers of fiber, but the leaders are Invista (formerly DuPont), Solutia, BASF, and Honeywell (formerly Allied Chemical). They all profess their nylon to be best. Invista and Solutia(formerly Monsanto) have the most well known brands of nylon with the Stainmaster and Wear Dated types respectively. PET Polyester is a new type of fiber that falls in the class of fibers known commonly as polyesters. This PET fiber, however, has natural and permanent stain resistance. PET fiber is strong and compares with nylon in strength and abrasion resistance. Unlike the old polyester, the PET product has a higher melting point equivalent to type 6.6 nylon.
