When buying a carpet, you enter into a world of mystery terms that you need to have some understanding of in order to get something for your money. We’ve covered a range of carpeting topics recently, including high-pile vs low-pile, berber, SmartStrand, what is and isn’t covered in carpet warranties, and how to tell carpet quality with your eyes and ears. Today we’re going to dive into one of the most misunderstood elements of carpet quality: carpet face weight. We’ll cover what it is, whether it’s important, and if it affects the carpet and vacuum cleaners you use to maintain whatever carpet you buy.

What is carpet face weight and is it important for quality and durability?

Carpet face weight refers to how many ounces each square yard of carpet pile weighs. This is different from the total weight of the carpet, which is the sum of the carpet pile and the carpet backing.

You’ll hear a lot from carpet retailers about how important carpet face weight is and how it’s the main thing to keep in mind when figuring out how much quality you’re getting from a carpet. The general idea spread is that the higher the face weight, the greater the durability. However, this isn’t necessarily true. While carpet face weight is a part of how you determine carpet quality, you’re also going to want to look into a range of other factors, including the style of the carpet, the twist of the fiber, and the fiber type itself.

How is carpet weight affected by the style of the carpet itself?

The style of a carpet interacts with the carpet weight, and a lot. Two carpets of the same quality can have significantly different weights simply due to how they’re made. For example, a saxony carpet will have a higher face weight than a berber in most cases since berbers have low piles and fewer fibers, proportionally speaking. However, if you pit a 30 oz. berber against a 30 oz. saxony, the berber’s going to come out ahead in most cases. To put it simply, the only time carpet face weight has relevance across carpets is when they have the same style. Once you change the style, you can’t use the face weight as a benchmark any more.

When is carpet face weight most important or useful?

If carpet face weight isn’t relevant in a number of situations, that doesn’t mean it never matters. It can be helpful at times, such as when comparing a pair of carpets that are identical in every way except for in face weight. That means comparing carpets that share the same fiber, style, pile height, twist, and so on. You’ll notice that a range of manufacturers sell certain carpets in tiers, such as Low-Range, Mid-Range, and High-Range, or Good, Better, Best.

In these situations, the manufacturers will typically attempt to match the carpets in every way except for in face weight. In such situations, scanning face weight can tell you most of what you need to know about quality (much like warranty coverage; more is better). A common example involves saxony carpets, which you’ll sometimes see weighted between 40 and 60 oz. in 10 oz. intervals. The higher weights will provide greater levels of quality.

Do you need specific carpet cleaners or vacuums for carpets of different weights?

Not necessarily; carpet cleaners and vacuums that work well with one carpet face weight will generally work well with another. What you really want to make sure you have are quality machines that don’t break down right after their warranties expire. When it comes to a buy-it-for life carpet cleaner, we always turn to the Bissell 86T3 Big Green; it’s capable of cleaning any carpet it comes across, regardless of pile or style, and even though it’s not the cheapest, it’s going to be one of the most reliable and versatile on the market.

On the other hand, when it comes to choosing a vacuum cleaner, the kind you choose will make a significant difference in the kinds of piles you can handle. This is where the Miele Complete C3 Soft Carpet comes in. As we’ve noted in our FAQ and review, it’s capable of cleaning carpets with a flexibility you’re just not going to find in other vacuums, and it’ll do so for decades with minimal maintenance.

While it can be tempting to save money on carpet care after spending so much on the carpets and rugs themselves, it’s not something we recommend. The last thing you want to do is spend a lot of money on a carpet and then cheap out when it comes to maintaining it; spending a few hundred extra on a carpet cleaner that’ll actually clean (instead of wet) your carpets and a vacuum cleaner that’ll treat your fibers well can make a significant difference in the life, longevity, and look of your carpets and rugs over the long term.

You can buy the Bissell 85T3 Big Green carpet cleaner here on Amazon. You can buy the Miele Complete C3 Soft Carpet here.

Canadians can buy the Miele Soft Carpet here and the Bissell Big Green here.

If you find our research on PMC helpful, you can follow our efforts to keep maniacally reviewing home cleaning tools by shopping through our links above. We promise to keep fighting the good fight against every horror children, animals, and grown, yet messy humans can inflict upon a clean home.