Mohawk Carpets | Home Flooring Pros

February 22, 2023, by: Greca Fotopoulos

Mohawk Industries is one of the biggest players in the residential flooring market. It offers an array of carpet products from budget-friendly broadloom to silky, luxurious cut-and-loop to industry-changing products like Air.O soft flooring. Is Mohawk carpet a good choice for your home? We take on these topics in our comprehensive report:

• What brands of carpet are owned by Mohawk Industries?
• What materials does Mohawk use to make carpet?
• Are customers happy with the company’s products?
• Are Mohawk carpets expensive?
• Which style or product line is best for my home?
• Does Mohawk Triexta carpet hold up to heavy use?
• Is it stain-resistant?
• Is it safe for people with allergies or latex sensitivities?
• Is Mohawk carpet recyclable?

COMPANY AND MANUFACTURING

Mohawk Industries is an umbrella corporation that has swallowed up several carpet brands in the past two decades, including Karastan and Godfrey Hirst. A publicly owned company that employs 25,000 Americans, Mohawk Industries manufactures a great variety of hard and soft flooring products.

The company can trace its origins to an 1870s carpet mill, and carpet remains the heart of its business. Its namesake brand, Mohawk, manufactures quality mid-range carpet for the residential market.

Of course Mohawk now manufactures all types of residential flooring. We have a preview of their latest laminate RevWood flooring.

COLLECTIONS AND COLORS AVAILABLE

Mohawk offers one of the widest selections of colors and styles available to homeowners. Mohawk carpets are made from polyester, nylon or a proprietary fiber called Triexta an innovative material we look over below. Each of these fibers is available in many different collections, textures, pile heights, and colors.

Popular collections include “Impressive I,” a polyester frieze offered in stone-based tones, and “Concerto,” an elegant, low-profile Triexta loop. Mohawk offers Berbers, Saxonies, cut-and-loop, and textured carpets in solid, flecked, tonal, and pattern colors.

Some, especially polyester carpets, have a high sheen. Others, mostly nylons, have a matte finish that hides vacuum lines and footprints. Mohawk even has a few collections, such as its “First Pick” Berber, that combine fiber types to produce a unique visual effect.

Compare the major Mohawk fiber types in the next section. If you choose a textile that fits your lifestyle, you will be sure to find a Mohawk style that suits your taste.

MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY

	Fiber Material	Styles+Colors Available	Warranty	Country of Origin	CRI Green Label Plus Certified
EverStrand	Polyester	2,000+	Lifetime Stain/Pet, 15-year Quality	USA	Yes
EverStrand Forever Fresh	Polyester with Zeolite*	900+	Lifetime Stain/Pet, 15-year Quality	USA	Yes
SmartStrand	Triexta*	3,100+	Lifetime Stain/Pet, 20-year Quality	USA	Yes
SmartStrand Silk	Triexta*	1,300+	Lifetime Stain/Pet, 25-year Quality	USA	Yes
Wear-Dated	Nylon	500+	Lifetime Stain, Limited Pet, 20-year Quality	USA	Yes
Air.O	Polyester	200+	Lifetime stain, Limited Pet, 15-year Quality	USA	Yes
PermaStrand	Olefin	350+	10-year Stain, No Pet, 5-year Quality	USA	Yes
*We explain zeolite, Triexta and other Mohawk technologies in the fiber analysis below.

Let’s take a closer look at the major fiber types that Mohawk offers:

MOHAWK EVERSTRAND CAPRET REPORT

• Bright, vibrant colors
• Superior stain resistance
• Up to 100% recycled content

EverStrand is Mohawk’s name for recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET), commonly called polyester. Mohawk claims to be the largest bottle recycler in the U.S., using five-to-six billion plastic bottles each year to make its EverStrand products.

Polyester carpet is naturally stain-resistant, since PET plastic resists water-based dyes. However, if there is any petroleum-based lubricant left on the fiber from recycling or manufacturing, that oil can trap dirt and stains. That’s why Mohawk developed its “Continuum” process, a method of cleaning the fiber as it is extruded.

The Continuum process strips oil and residue from the fiber before it’s made into yarn. This means Mohawk Everstrand begins as one of the cleanest polyester carpets available and stays that way through years of use.

EVERSTRAND PROS AND CONS:

Mohawk EverStrand’s strengths are stain-resistance, ease of cleaning, brightness of color and affordability.

Its weaknesses include reduced wear resistance compared to Triexta or nylon, and shorter warranties.

EverStrand carpet is a great choice for playrooms, children’s bedrooms and other areas where spills are likely to happen. It’s perfect for large areas and limited budgets. It’s not the best for stairs, hallways and high-traffic areas.

EVERSTRAND FOREVERFRESH

EverStrand ForeverFresh is made with the same recycled content and has the same benefits as regular EverStrand, with the addition of zeolite applied to the fiber. Zeolite is a microporous mineral that absorbs and traps odors within its tiny diamond-shaped cells.

EverStrand ForeverFresh is a great choice for the homes of smokers, pet-owners or gourmet cooks who don’t want their carpet smelling like their latest culinary experiment. Mohawk claims that the mineral will remain on the carpet for around 10 years, even with regular steam cleaning.

User Review:

“My wife and I chose Everstrand because it keeps plastic bottles out of the landfill. The carpet is showing some crushing where our kids play on it, but we feel like we’re looking out for their future with sustainable flooring.”

MOHAWK SMARTSTRAND CARPET REPORT

• Bright and colorfast
• Impressive durability
• Made from up to one-third renewable material

SmartStrand is Mohawk’s signature fiber, made from a patented polymer known as “Triexta.”  Triexta is very similar in its composition to polyester but is made of up to one-third corn glucose. It has the same bright colors and hydrophobic nature as polyester but boasts of much greater durability comparable to nylon.

Though SmartStrand was only released in 2009, the longevity of this third player in the carpet market is shocking the industry. To many homebuyers it feels like “the best of both worlds” – stain-resistance and texture retention. In terms of price, Triexta is a true middleman, putting it within reach of many who cannot afford nylon.

SMARTSTRAND PROS AND CONS:

Triexta is an extremely versatile fiber. It can handle any room in your home. Remember that no matter the fiber, a high pile carpet will show wear faster than a low pile one.

The drawbacks to Triexta include a tendency to attract oil-based stains and a higher price than polyester.

SmartStrand User Review:

“I know many people have horror stories about carpet warranties, but Mohawk actually honored ours. When our file cabinet rusted into our SmartStrand Triexta carpet and deep cleaning wasn’t effective, Mohawk replaced it!”

MOHAWK WEAR-DATED CARPET REPORT

• Variety of classy patterns and styles
• Proven record of superior durability
• ScotchGuard applied for stain protection

Mohawk’s nylon line is known as Wear-Dated. Nylon has long been held as the synthetic fiber that best resists crushing, matting and tracking.  Mohawk offers Wear-Dated nylon in 22 collections, with 8 to 40 colors each.

WEAR-DATED PROS AND CONS:

Although nylon stains more easily than other fiber types, Mohawk coats its Wear-Dated products in ScotchGuard for stain and soil protection. One drawback is the higher price than polyester, but if you’re only carpeting one or two rooms, you may find it worth the investment.

If you’re willing to keep up with regular cleaning, Wear-Dated is an excellent choice for high traffic hallways, stairs and living rooms. Performance tests have shown that Wear-Dated Embrace carpet can stand 30,000 foot passes before showing significant wear!

Wear-Dated User Review:

“Our Mohawk Wear-Dated carpet holds up well, but that’s probably because we spent extra to get a premium grade. Looking at reviews online I think you get what you pay for. My complaint is the color wasn’t quite as consistent as we expected.”  

MOHAWK AIR.O FLOORING REPORT

• All-in-one polyester carpet/pad
• Air flow allows vacuum to pick up dust even in the pad
• The only 100% recyclable soft flooring

Mohawk reps say of their brand-new product, Air.O, “we don’t like to even call it carpet.” This revolutionary “unified soft flooring” is made of a tufted fiber and pad, joined with a polymer – all of polyester. It eliminates the stiff latex backing found on traditional tufted carpets, making a product that’s lighter, easier to install, and 100% recyclable.

Air.O is designed to allow airflow between carpet and pad, so vacuum suction can penetrate all the way through the flooring. This airflow also reduces the chance of mold growing underneath your carpet or pad. Air.O is VOC-free and has no “new carpet smell” at all, since this smell comes from the latex pad in other products.

These features make Air.O our recommendation for people with allergies and those looking for a truly sustainable solution.

MOHAWK AIR.O PROS AND CONS:

In terms of stain resistance, durability, and warranty, Mohawk Air.O is comparable to EverStrand or other polyester fibers. Air.O costs more than polyester broadloom per square yard, but when you consider that this includes the price of the built-in pad, the cost becomes similar.

Since the product was only released in 2018, your local Mohawk dealer may not yet carry Air.O or be familiar with installing it.

Mohawk Air.O User Review:

“I am sensitive to latex, so we went 15 years without replacing our carpet. Turns out I’m so glad we waited. When Mohawk released hypoallergenic Air.O we jumped on it, and even right after installation there was NO new carpet smell!”

MOHAWK CARPET DURABILITY AND WARRANTY

The longevity of your Mohawk carpet depends on how carefully you maintain it. It’s worth spending some time browsing the Mohawk Warranty Brochure before making your purchase.

If you plan to make a warranty claim, Mohawk requires that you:

• Hire a professional installer
• Use carpet padding that meets Mohawk’s requirements
• Only use CRI Seal of Approval cleaners
• Treat stains according to Mohawk’s guidelines
• Have your carpet professionally steam cleaned at least every 18 months

You’ll also need to keep your original invoice, a copy of the sample label from the retailer and your cleaning receipts.

In general, we don’t recommend making a carpet purchase based on the warranty. Carpet inevitably wears over time and filing a warranty claim can be a long and unrewarding process.

In the unlikely case of a manufacturing defect, your professional contractor will probably catch it at installation. Mohawk carpets have a great track record of meeting realistic expectations.

ALLERGIES AND HEALTH CONCERNS

Good quality carpet, such as that made by Mohawk, will trap allergens in the home and release them into a vacuum cleaner to be eliminated. This study by the German Asthma and Allergy Society found that carpet could reduce dust in the breathing zone by 50% over hard floors.

Mohawk is conscious of its customers’ health concerns. The company developed its Air.O product specifically to be allergy friendly. Each one of the Mohawk product lines are Carpet and Rug Institute Green Label Plus certified for low VOC emissions and safe materials.

FINDING A DEALER AND PURCHANSING

Mohawk products are available at flooring centers all over America, and the company has retailers in nine other countries worldwide. But whether you’re shopping in the U.S. or abroad, a great place to start your journey is the Mohawk website. The website features a detailed profile for each carpet they offer as well as warranty information, care guidelines and style tips on the blog.

Did you choose Mohawk carpet for your home?  Do you feel that Triexta fiber holds up to the hype? Share your story in the comments!

About the Author:

Greca Fotopoulos

Greca is the lead style writer at Home Flooring Pros (more), with a BA in Technical Art, she’s focused on flooring trends, flooring ideas, and flooring brand reviews.

“There’s nothing more satisfying than creating a home that you love. The hardest thing about this job is trying not to covet all the great floors I get to review; if I could remodel my home every month, I would!”