What you wear on your feet when inside your home can have a lasting—and often detrimental—impact on the aesthetic and longevity of your carpeting. There are three kinds of indoor footwear that we recommend avoiding.
- mocassins
- dark-coloured socks
- dark-soled slippers
Moccasins are famously comfortable, but their soles are leather. When the leather starts to break down, the tannins in the leather begin to bleed and this can dye your carpeting over time.
Black and blue socks may be the best choice for your outfit, but they’re usually the wrong choice for your carpets. Most socks aren’t colour-fast. No matter how many times you wash them, they will likely continue to lose dye with every footstep, particularly if they’re slightly moist from having stepped in liquid or if you tend to have sweaty feet.
Wearing slippers with dark-coloured rubber soles is basically the equivalent of rolling a car tire around your home. Every step you take is losing dye from the rubber. That dye embeds itself in the carpet fibres. If cleaned regularly (twice a year at minimum), this dye can usually be removed, but over time, it will permanently darken and ruin your carpets.
If you walk through your home and notice a greying where your traffic areas are, but you don’t wear outdoor shoes inside and your pets and dogs usually have clean paws/feet, then it’s time to examine your indoor footwear choices. Avoid moccasins, try to wear white socks only when inside, and find slippers with white or beige soles. Changing your indoor footwear can dramatically improve your carpets’ lifespan and keep them looking their brightest and best. The more you know!