Carpet
From Floor Coverings
What is Carpet Flooring?
Carpet Flooring is not new. Original carpets were woven on a carpet loom in the early years before the era of Christ in Central Asia. Persian rugs became popular during the 17th century and in the late 1700’s, the carpet industry became big business in the United States. The first carpets were woven out of wool and then other man-made fibers like rayon and nylon. Then, the first tufted carpets of cotton were being manufactured and sold. But in 1947, polyester carpeting was introduced into the market and about 30 years later, other acrylics like polypropylene-olefin were gaining popularity.
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Carpeting Advantages
Carpet is luxurious, quiet, insulating, beautiful and comfortable to walk on. A wide variety of textures, styles and colors will make your room decorating easy. Although, loom-woven carpets are incredibly durable, they are also very expensive, so necessity usually breeds invention and that’s when tufting machines appeared on the scene. A tufting machine is a huge variety of sewing machine. There are two methods of carpet construction that begin with two different types of yarn. These are staple and bulk continuous filament.
What are some Carpeting Colors?
The color of carpet flooring can be determined a few different ways. The color of the yarn can be chosen beforehand by the manufacturer. Some carpets are dyed after their construction and still other carpets will have a design printed on them as they are being tufted or possibly after completion. The last step of carpet construction is the adding of a stain resistant chemical. This will ensure that the resistance to stains will last much longer than if it was applied after construction. The final product presents carpet flooring with a choice of fibers, pile, density and texture.
Carpeting Manufacturing
Staple yarn construction involves first twisting short yarn fibers into longer fibers that are then tufted into a pre-woven backing by lots of needles all working at the same time. Bulk continuous filament yarns are made with long fiber filaments that are plied together in bundles and then tufted into the carpet backing. Each of these methods have their own benefits. Staple fibers are plusher, whereas bulk continuous filament fibers are famous for not shedding.
Carpeting Construction
The fiber of a carpet is the actual carpet material. There are two kinds of carpet fibers and they are natural and synthetic fibers. Natural fibers are wool and cotton for the most part along with some other natural fibers. Synthetic fibers consist of nylon, acrylic, polyester and olefin. The pile of a carpet is the height of the fiber and density is how thick the carpet is or how much fiber there is per square inch. Texture has to do with the style of the carpet. Some carpets fibers are looped like Berber, some are twisted like Frieze and still others are cut like Saxony and Textured. The way the carpet is textured determines the “feel” of the carpet.
Different carpet fibers have different features and benefits as well as certain drawbacks that come with it. Some of the most beautiful and durable carpets are made with wool, but they are also very attractive to moths. So this carpet, although beautiful will require a bit of maintenance to keep it looking lovely. Acrylic is a synthetic that is most like wool when comparing features. The strongest fiber for carpets is nylon. It is also easy to clean since it is soil and mildew resistant. However, nylon is prone to static and it sometimes is guilty of “pilling” after a period of time. The most colorfast carpet fiber is olefin, but it sometimes fades if placed near direct sunlight. Although it is durable, moisture and stain resistant like polyester, it sometimes loses its appearance when it flattens.
What do I use for Carpeting Underlayment? Foam underlayment?
The use of carpet padding is very important to ensure the life of the carpet, insulate against the heat and the cold and keep the noise down. This layer of cushioning is a critical part of the carpet installation process that promises a good quality installation. Shop for good quality backing but keep in mind that padding that is too thick can present a walking hazard, especially for the elderly, because their steps are not always stable and they may be prone to falls if the floor is too soft.
