Why do some carpets tend to always look clean despite excessive use while others seem to show every speck of dirt? A lot of it comes down to color. Not every color of carpet works well for hiding dirt. The best color carpet for not showing dirt is dark brown. Some specific patterns also allow you to bring in some other colors without having a carpet that looks dirty.
Darker shades of green and blue can work in your favor when it comes to hiding dirt and stains as well. However, there is a difference between dirt and stains.
Difference Between Stains and Dirt
Remember that stains and dirt are not the same things. Dark brown carpets are your best bet in hiding most dirt. However, other colors may hide specific stains. There is a difference between stains and dirt.
What are Stains?
Stains are spots that happen from spills and tend to rest or remain at least partially on the surface of the carpet. Some typical stains include those that come from spilling coffee or juice or those caused by pets.
What is Dirt?
Dirt, on the other hand, often comes from dust that falls onto the floor. Once the dust hits the carpet, it turns into spots of dirt.
Dirt is also tracked into the house and onto the carpets on the bottoms of pet paws or shoes or blown onto the flooring through dirty air vents or opened windows. Dirt could also come in the form of sand if you live near a beach.
Best Color Carpet for not Showing Dirt
Dark shades of brown, green, or blue are the best bet to hide dirt. Dark brown is especially great at hiding dust or muddy stains that are tracked in. The key to the color is to make sure it is dark enough to mask the dirt.
A lot of dirt can hide in the dark brown carpet fibers for quite a while before it becomes noticeable. If you don’t want a dark brown, then choose blue or green. Dark shades of blue or green work well at camouflaging dirt as well.
Gold Mimics Dirt
Several hues of gold, tan, or light brown tend to mimic the same color of dirt to hide it. If you do not want a solid gold carpet, consider integrating the color gold into the carpeting as a pattern.
Gray Carpet Hides Dust
Gray carpeting also does a great job of hiding dirt, especially dirt that comes from dust particles.
Grays come in a wide array of color shades and tints, and all of them work well. Although, lighter gray will obviously show dirt faster than a darker shade.
Beige Carpet Hides Sand
Beige color carpeting does a great job at hiding sand or light-colored pet hairs. It will even conceal coffee or tea stains.
Neutral Colors Hide Dirt
A lot of neutral colors work well at hiding dirt. Olive green, taupe, or even black carpets tend to draw attention away from the floor to keep dirt hidden. If you choose black, know that it will show off any light-colored dirt that falls onto it.
White Carpet
Don’t write off choosing white carpeting altogether. It’s true, when it comes to hiding dirt, white carpeting may show it off rather than conceal it. In fact, every speck of dust that falls on a white carpet is going to be noticeable.
However, some white carpeting will allow you to use bleach on it which will keep it white and bright, ending up dirt and bacteria-free.
Avoid Bright Colors
Bright shades of colors, especially those in red, yellow, or orange actually perform poorly at hiding dirt. These bright colors also tend to fade.
If you really want a bright-colored carpet, select one with speckled or multi-colored patterns like intricate floral designs, detailed artwork, or filigree designs that will help in disguising dirt.
Light Colors and Carpet Maintenance
Depending on the exact shade, light brown, pink, rose, or light green can work at hiding dirt as well.
But, no carpet will go forever without needing to be vacuumed or deep cleaned. If the carpet is in a high trafficked area, it is going to show dirt faster than carpeting in a tucked-away location.
Obviously, keeping your carpets well maintained and vacuumed regularly, at least once per week, is going to help the dirt stay at bay, to begin with. However, dirt can accumulate quickly and at a time when you don’t have time to spend vacuuming. In this situation, you will want to know the best carpet color to hide the dirt.
Patterns
Color is not the only consideration when you want to hide dirt best. When choosing a color, also consider carpeting that has patterns. Some patterns tend to camouflage dirt extremely well.
Bold patterns with multiple colors and designs have a way of shifting the focus away from the dirt.
Speckled patterns also help conceal stains and dirt. Additionally, intricately detailed patterns like floral designs are a great choice for hiding both dirt and stains well.
Type of Carpet
Despite the color, some types of carpeting are easier to keep dirt-free than others.
Nylon
Nylon carpets tend to be the most durable and easiest to clean.
Polyester
Polyester carpets are also a good selection when it comes to resisting dirt and being easy to clean. Pet owners tend to prefer polyester carpeting since this floor covering choice has an oil-based fiber that repels water-based stains, and we all know how difficult urine stains are to clean.
Wool
Wool has a natural protective oil, lanolin, that is embedded into the fibers. The lanolin resists dirt naturally, but stains are very difficult to clean out of wool.
Final Thoughts
The best color carpet for not showing dirt is dark brown.
Dark green or blue also works well at hiding dirt. Avoid bright or lighter colors if hiding dirt is your main goal. However, you can select a wide array of colors in a speckled or multi-colored pattern to help make a variety of colors work well to disguise dirt on carpets.