Choosing a Non-Toxic Carpet
Written by:
Maia James
Recently, I’ve had a few private consulting clients ask about non-toxic carpeting. As a result, I’ve spent some time more deeply looking into this. I hope this post helps answer the big question: Is there such thing as truly safe, non-toxic carpeting?
What Makes Carpeting Toxic?
As my dad wrote in the flooring post about our non-toxic renovation undertaking, Project One-Eleven, carpeting is problematic for a variety of reasons, including:
- The chemicals and materials used to make the carpets and pads beneath them, including plastics, wool that’s laden with fungicides, synthetic rubber that may contain endocrine-disrupting phthalates, toxic dyes, and chemicals that are meant to repel flame, water, and stains.
- The materials used in the carpet installation process, including glues and other adhesives that contain formaldehyde and a range of VOCs that off-gas into the home environment.
- Carpet’s tendency that to accumulate dust mites, dirt, pesticides, and other toxins brought into our homes on our feet (and our pets’ feet!).
So Are All Carpet Bad News?
The older the carpets, the more likely they are to contain bad chemicals and pounds of accumulated junk. So I’d say that yes, old carpets are categorically bad news. But because we have some really safe options available these days, newer carpets can be a good choice for your home.
This is important:
In addition to choosing safe carpets, you should clean them according to the manufacturer’s instructions. This usually involves frequent vacuuming (make sure you use a HEPA-sealed vacuum that’s RoHS certified, like the ones from Miele) and occasional steam cleaning. You also might consider investing in a robust electronic air filter.
Non-toxic Carpeting Brands
We’ve done the research on natural, non-toxic carpeting, and we found three safe brands to recommend:
Best Stuff
Earth Weave
Earth Weave is the gold standard among non-toxic carpeting. They simply make the very best stuff.
Earth Weave’s natural, non-toxic carpeting is made in the United States from carefully selected European wool, hemp, cotton, natural latex, and jute.
Earth Weave uses only safe dying methods for some of their colors; the other colors are natural wool hues. Even better, they don’t treat their carpets with any worrisome chemicals.
We used Earth Weave on the staircases and landings in our home in Lancaster, PA, and I’m someone who has never had a carpet (I’ve never much cared for it). I have to say that our Earth Weave carpet is beautiful, cozy, and great for my peace of mind when little kids are running up and down stairs! I’m considering carpeting the bedrooms next.
If you’d like to order Earth Weave through Gimme the Good Stuff, email suzanne@gimmethegoodstuff.org or click here. (We also offer our customers Earth Weave area rugs.)
Nature’s Carpet
Nature’s Carpet’s Everest carpet from their “Dark Green” collections is made from a blend of European and New Zealand wool. It’s chemical-free with a cotton and jute backing as well as a natural rubber latex adhesive. The Aberdeen and Element carpets, also from the Dark Green collection, are made with 98% natural materials. These ones have a woven polypropylene backing. (I consider polypropylene to be an non-toxic plastic). All three carpet styles in the Dark Green category from Nature’s Carpet use un-dyed wool and do not contain any moth-proofing or flame-retardant chemicals.
Unique Carpet
Nature’s Carpet’s Everest carpet from their “Dark Green” collections is made from a blend of European and New Zealand wool. It’s chemical-free with a cotton and jute backing as well as a natural rubber latex adhesive. The Aberdeen and Element carpets, also from the Dark Green collection, are made with 98% natural materials. These ones have a woven polypropylene backing. (I consider polypropylene to be an non-toxic plastic). All three carpet styles in the Dark Green category from Nature’s Carpet use un-dyed wool and do not contain any moth-proofing or flame-retardant chemicals.
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Do you have experience with any of these–or other–carpet brands, or have other questions about non-toxic carpeting? Please post below!
Stay sane,
Maia, Founder & CEO
P.S. Here’s our post on choosing a non-toxic area rug.
Note: This article contains affiliate links or sponsored content, which means that if you make a purchase, we may earn a commission. We only recommend products that meet our strict standards for non-toxicity and that we use (or want to use!) ourselves. Thank you so much for supporting the brands that make Good Stuff!
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What about Earth wave carpets, how much lifespan do you claim?
Hello,
Thank you for this helpful article.
Could you please comment on flor carpet tiles?
Per website:
—
Most FLOR face fibers are nylon, PET and nylon blends. Our backings are a vinyl composite, increasingly made from recycled materials. FLOR carpet tiles meet or exceed the Carpet & Rug Institute’s Green Label Plus standards for VOC emissions (Volatile Organic Compounds).
FLOR carpet tiles are made from two types of backing, Graphlar and GlasBac. Graphlar is made from a Bitumen composite with up to 40% pre-consumer recycled content. GlasBac is a vinyl composite with up to 40% post-consumer recycled content. Most FLOR carpet squares use a GlasBac backing, which is 100% recyclable.Following on Judy’s post, what are the best carpets that are.not.wool? Every wool rug we’ve ever had has been eaten to bits by wool beetles and wool moths, so that material really isn’t an option for us.
Hi,
Thank you so much for all of your hard work, the information your website provides has been invaluable to me and my family.
Do you have a recommendation for a non-toxic carpet cleaning solution? I am thinking about purchasing my own carpet cleaning machine and would really like some recommendations for “good stuff” solutions that actually work!
Thank you so much!
EvelinaHey Evelina,
I sell a product called Norwex. Completely non-toxic. I use their laundry detergent in my carpet cleaner! Work great! Jennaiello.norwex.biz. You can get a full refund if your’e not satisfied too.
Hey there
My family lives in Alaska and shipping healthier products to us gets expensive. We’re 3 hours away from the nearest big city.
I’ve been researching and visiting our local home depo and no one can help me find a brand they sell that is Non-Toxic / low voc. I’ve been reading labels and feel totally lost.
Anyone have any suggestions for this mama? Needing to replace the carpet in our new 3 bedroom home. Previous owner was a smoker.
TIA! Cheers
If the carpeting is in good shape and more than 5 years old, it should relatively toxin free. Off-gassing does taper off fairly rapidly so that over time it should become nearly harmless. For the smell, get a carpet washer for $150 or so. Make you own non-toxic mix for the cleansing soap. We use a mix of white vinegar, Thieves Household Cleaner (by Youngliving.com ), and hot water. Vacuum the carpeting before washing it.
It might be worth checking the ingredients of Young Living cleaners.
If luxury vinyl plank is an option instead of carpeting Coretec is a very low voc brand.
Earth Weave is the only carpet manufacturer that claims to be 100% non-toxic. They do not add insecticide to their wool carpets.
You have to be careful when purchasing wool carpets as many brands are made with wool that has insecticide in it (they dip the wool fibers in the insecticide) to “moth proof” the carpet. I verified this with Unique carpets. I appreciate their openness about what is in their products. From checking, it seems to be standard practice with many carpet suppliers. I was going to buy wool carpeting but now I’m not sure. It seems that all of these flooring products are going to have something toxic in them.
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