English Ivy & Dirty Old Carpets

Ivy is a nightmare to clear & I hate it. Think laying some old carpets that I'm pulling from the house is a good idea? Use the carpet to mulch the ivy, maybe water the carpet every so often to help out?

I think I might be on to something. Good idea/ bad idea?

It is something some folks do:) I don't put anything out there that won't decompose and that I don't know what it's made of. Even natural fiber carpets could have a toxic treatment and glue used. I am still finding bits of old shag carpet that a previous owner used in an area...probably twenty years ago (we have been here twelve).
I have never tried to get rid of english ivy though...could be it would silp through all but the tightest weave carpet anyway.

Just to be clear, when the ivy is dead & gone I would remove the carpet. I have plans for the space just not the desire to bust my hump clearing the ivy.

Having inherited an allotment that had been carpeted, I'd never choose to do it. Our allotment had mature currant and gooseberry bushes that had been planted through carpet around 10 years ago. The carpet had disintegrated enough that the weeds were rampant through it (bindweed and couch grass, nice), but you couldn't remove it, when you tried to it just fell to pieces, definitely not natural materials, I think it was mostly the glue and possibly latex backing? Just crumbled into the soil, it will be there forever I suspect. The only times I've contemplated using carpets are on top of plastic sheet mulch (so when it's done its job I can just roll the whole thing up and throw it away without losing bits into the soil) or as a very temporary cover for a compost heap, etc.
What about cardboard? You can get huge amounts of free cardboard - from bike shops and appliance stores are good because they are BIG pieces - then you dont have to worry about removing it, it will just rot down.

i too have ivy at the top of my least favorite plants. in the past ive used a rototiller to wind up the roots after pulling what i could by hand... i used cardboard and woodchips last time and was pretty successful . i am going to be collecting tons of cardboard for sheet mulching the remainder of our front lawn and will get extra to knock out more ivy. it MUST be put on heavy. paper didnt work.
i dont think id use carpet as rain could leach toxins from it. and being porous it could have plants grow thru it..better to block and bury the ivy for good once.