Best Kitchen Carpet

I considered skipping a weekly post in lieu of Thanksgiving, but instead, I decided to make a short Thanksgiving themed post. Since we’ll all be gathering around the kitchen table, let’s talk about the best carpet to install in this room full of grease, spills, and lots of people.

I’ll begin by saying I’m not a big fan of putting carpet in kitchens. It’s the one place of the house (minus garages) that I feel your money is better spent on tiles. There are just too many liquids and grease splashing on the carpet for it to have a long life and look good in the process. For those who are still set on carpet for their kitchen, I’ll give you my take on how to make it the best experience possible.

Best carpet fiber for kitchens

There are two theories here. You can either go with a durable fiber that has the best chance of holding up in the kitchen or go with a cheap fiber so you can replace it more frequently. Nylon will be your best bet for standing up to the abuse of stains, grease, and high kitchen foot traffic. However, nylon is also more expensive than other alternatives. One such alternative is olefin/polypropylene carpet. It holds up well against spills but other than that, it is not a very durable carpet. It tends to mat in high traffic areas and it binds to oils—not good if there’s grease spatter. Since olefin is about half the cost of nylon, you could afford to replace your carpet more often, eg. every 5 years compared to 10 years for nylon. Having two olefin carpets over a decade may be better than one nylon, but at the end of the day, it’s a tough call with pros and cons on each side that you’ll eventually have to make.

Indoor/outdoor carpet in the kitchen

Indoor/outdoor carpet is designed to be around pools, patios, among other areas; this requires it to be able to stand up to cold, heat, and rain. These same durable attributes make it resilient against the beating it will take in the kitchen. This type of carpet is glued directly onto the floor without any padding, so you don’t have to worry about spills absorbing into the pad. The tradeoff is this carpet is not very comfortable. Some varieties may feel like field turf. Also, it’s unlikely to be as visually appealing as “normal” carpets. If this carpet seems like something you’d want, you’re in luck because it’s relatively inexpensive.

Kitchen commercial grade carpet

Commercial grade carpets are usually glued straight to the flooring, have a short pile height and most importantly, are meant to be very durable. In many ways, commercial carpets share similar advantages and disadvantages as indoor/outdoor carpet. Commercial grade carpet can’t take quite the beating indoor/outdoor can, but commercial grade carpet will also be a little more comfortable and look better in your kitchen. In other words, commercial grade carpet is somewhere in the middle of normal carpet and indoor/outdoor carpet.

Captain’s parting words!

Carpet is a great flooring choice for many rooms, but the kitchen may not be the best option. With this in mind, I know there are people who want carpet in every room of their house—their kitchen included—because of its comfort, warmth, insulation and other reasons. It’s important to put thought into what carpet you put in your kitchen. You can either buy a cheap fiber carpet and replace it frequently, or you can buy a more expensive carpet, care for it, and hope it stands up against the challenges it will face being in a kitchen. Commercial grade carpet is probably your best option, but you may also consider an indoor/outdoor carpet if you find one you like and are okay with it not being the most comfortable carpet in the world.

We also have an in-depth guide on the best kitchen flooring. Check it out!