Twist or Saxony? Choosing the right carpet for each room

Carpet shopping throws two decisions at you before you have even picked a colour: the pile and the backing. Neither is complicated once you know what they do, and between them they decide how the carpet feels underfoot, how long it lasts on stairs, and what you pay per square metre. This guide explains both, then goes room by room.

The short answer

Twist pile for anywhere that gets walked on: stairs, landings, halls and busy living rooms. Saxony for rooms you sit in: bedrooms and quieter lounges. Action backing for stairs and heavy traffic; felt backing where softness or budget matter more. Put underlay under all of it.

Twist pile: for anywhere that gets walked on

The fibres are twisted tightly and heat-set, so they stand up to being crushed and spring back. That makes twist pile the hard-wearing choice. It is what to put on stairs, on landings, in hallways and in any room the whole family passes through. It also hides footprints and vacuum marks better, because the surface is less uniform, and it copes with a pram, a bike or a dog.

What you give up is a little softness. Twist feels good underfoot; it does not feel luxurious. A heavier twist, such as our 11mm, closes most of that gap.

Saxony pile: for rooms you sit in

Saxony has longer fibres cut level, giving a deep, smooth, even surface. It is noticeably softer, and it looks richer. It is the right choice for a main bedroom or a formal living room, and it is the one to choose if you like walking barefoot.

It is the wrong choice for a staircase, where the longer pile flattens along the nosings and starts to look worn within a year or two. It also shows footprints and vacuum tracks, which some people like and some people cannot stand. Look at a sample after you have walked across it.

Felt, action or hessian backing

The backing decides how the carpet behaves underfoot and how it copes with heavy use.

• Felt backed carpet has a cushioning layer built in. It is more forgiving to walk on and can go down without separate underlay if the budget is tight, though it will still last longer with underlay under it. It is the economical choice for bedrooms, spare rooms and rentals.
• Action backed is a woven polypropylene backing, and it is the tougher of the two. It is what we would put on stairs and landings over a good underlay. It copes better with heavy furniture, repeated cleaning and stretch-fitting over gripper.
• Hessian backed is the traditional jute backing. It lies flat, takes a stretch fit well and feels solid underfoot. Our hessian backed range suits anyone who wants the classic fitting method.

Our ranges at a glance

Range	Pile	Backing	Best for	Price per m²
8mm Twist, felt backed	Twist	Felt	Rentals, spare rooms, budget refits. 16 colours.	£8.20
8mm Saxony, action backed	Saxony	Action	Bedrooms on a budget. 8 colours, mostly greys.	£8.49
11mm Twist, action backed	Twist	Action	Stairs, halls, family living rooms. 14 colours.	£10.00
16mm Saxony, action backed	Saxony	Action	Main bedrooms and lounges that want depth. 6 colours.	£14.50
15mm Saxony, action backed	Saxony	Action	The softest we do. 12 colours.	£15.00

All are cut from 4m or 5m wide rolls to your room length. The price is per square metre of what you order, not per roll.

Room by room

• Stairs and landing: 11mm twist, action backed, over a good underlay. Stairs take more wear per square metre than any other floor in the house, and the nosings are where a Saxony fails first.
• Hallway: the same 11mm twist. Choose a mid-tone or a flecked colour; a very pale or very dark plain shows every mark by the front door.
• Family living room: 11mm twist if children, dogs or a busy household pass through it. 16mm Saxony if it is a quieter room and you want it to feel plush.
• Main bedroom: Saxony, either 15mm or 16mm. This is the room where you notice the softness every morning and where wear is lowest.
• Children's bedroom: 8mm or 11mm twist. Spills, toys and floor play favour a pile that cleans and recovers easily.
• Spare room, home office, rental: 8mm twist, felt backed. Hard-wearing and economical, and felt backing means it can go straight down if underlay is not in the budget.
• Dining room: twist, in a colour that forgives crumbs. Chair legs crush Saxony in a ring around the table.

Colour is the bit to get wrong slowly

Carpet colour shifts more between shops and homes than almost any other material. A grey that looks warm under showroom lighting can read cold in a north-facing bedroom. Order free carpet samples, lay them against your skirting, and look at them in daylight and again under the lamps you actually use at night. Five samples cost nothing and they settle the argument.

Within grey alone we carry silver, pearl, misty, steel, pewter, graphite, ebony and battleship. Our grey carpet collection groups them; the samples are how you find out which one is yours.

Underlay

Underlay is what makes a carpet feel expensive, and it is what stops it wearing out from underneath. An 8mm underlay under an 11mm twist feels more luxurious than a 16mm Saxony laid on bare boards, and it adds years to the carpet's life on stairs. Our underlay guide covers when it is essential and when felt backing can stand in. Underlay is on the carpet accessories page by the roll.

What we charge for

We cut to your room rather than selling you a full roll, so you pay for the floor you need and not the offcut. Tell us your length and we cut it from a 4m or 5m roll. Measure the longest and widest points of the room, add 100mm each way, and the room calculator gives you the cost from either roll width. If the room is wider than 5m, or an awkward shape, call us on 0161 399 1792 and we will plan the join.