| Q - What is carpet made of? |
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| A- Most carpet today is made from man-made materials. These include nylon, polypropylene, polyester, and acrylic. These comprise about 99% of the market. The natural fiber - wool, is still used but is less than 1% of the carpet industry. |
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| Q - I've heard that nylon is the best wearing carpet, is this true? |
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| A - Yes, nylon accounts for about 70% of the market and is the best wearing because of its abrasion resistance, dyes easily, stain resistance, anti-static, extremely versatile, superior resistance to matting, long-term appearance. It is the primary fiber used in residential and commercial installations. |
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| Q - What is polypropylene? |
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| A - Also known as Olefin, it accounts for about 11% of the market. It is generally less expensive than nylon, but does not wear quite as well as nylon. It does however, resist abrasions, stains, and mildews and has the lowest moisture absorbency of any carpet fiber. Its uses include kitchens, dens, outdoor (synthetic turf), and playrooms. |
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| Q - What is polyester? |
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| A - Polyester is growing in popularity because of its soft feel and luxurious thick pile. It cleans easily and is moderately priced. It accounts for about 10% of the market. |
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| Q - What is Acrylic? |
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| A - Acrylic has very limited use and accounts for about 1% of the market. Some of its features include a look and feel of wool. |
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| Q - Why isn't wool used in most carpets today. |
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| A - Wool is still available, although much more expensive than the man-made fibers. This is simply due to technology. The man-made fibers are far superior to wool when it comes to wearablilty, dyes easily, stain resistant, long-term appearance, and economics. |
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| Q - What is meant by tufting and weaving? |
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| A - Until 1940, only the process of weaving was used to manufacture carpet, much like weaving thread into cloth. Next came the tufting machine, which created a revolution in the carpet industry. Tufting proved to be 2,500 times faster production than weaving. At the same time, man-made fibers were developed, replacing wool. Not only were these fibers less expensive than wool, but they also provided superior color clarity and texture. |
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| Q - What is loop pile? |
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| A - It is characterized by smooth, level surface, made up of uncut loops of equal height. These products have exceptional appearance retention. Since there are no exposed yarn tips, only the sides of the yarn are exposed to wear and stress. In general, loop piles stand up to heavy traffic better than cut piles. "Berber" is an example of loop pile. |
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| Q - What is multilevel - loop pile? |
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| A - This type of carpet creates an elegant, sculptured effect by varying heights of loops. |
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| Q - What is cut pile? |
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A - Cut pile is the most popular type of construction, representing more than half of carpet purchases. Cut pile is suitable for virtually any area of the home and for any type of decor. There are four types of cut pile:
Velvet - dense construction with low pile height. Fibers are tightly twisted and close together to create a rich smooth velvety surface.
Saxony - a variety of level cut pile styles with distinct, upright tufts. These may vary in appearance from loose to dense constructions in a range of pile heights.
Textured Saxony - This is a Saxony with yarn crimped to create curled tufts. The textured appearance helps hide footprints and vacuum marks.
Multi-color texture - this is a textured Saxony with varying colors used to create a subtle multi-colorization or heather tone.
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| Q - What is frieze? |
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| A - Frieze is a very popular type of cut pile carpet that could also be called a "short shag". It is a very tightly twisted yarn that gives a rough nubby appearance to carpet. It is, by far, the toughest and most time-tested of all the carpet styles. |
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| Q - What is stain protection? |
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| A - Most carpets today will have a stain protection of one type or another. These are usually registered and patented processes such as: Stain Master by Dupont, RTX by Shaw Industries, Scotchgard by 3M Co., Perma-Shield by Beaulieu, etc. They all enhance and protect the wearability and stain resistance to carpet by their varying manufacturing processes. |
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| Q - How do I know
what carpet is best for me? |
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| A - There is tremendous variety in carpet. With most people it will come down to color and feel. One should also consider the warranty from the manufacturer, usually 5, 7 or 10 years. Also, the type of stain resistance. Then of course, cost! |
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| Q - HOW WILL YOU HELP ME? |
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| A - Our Design Consultant will ask you a list of questions to assess your desire, needs, budget, and household lifestyle. He then will come out to your home with the samples that will fit that criteria, educate you on the types of carpet, and help you choose. He will measure for you, get your product ordered and schedule the installation. He will also provide you with Pre installation guidelines. |
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| Click here to see
our Designer Specials. |
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| DESIGNER SERVICE WITHOUT THE DESIGNER PRICE! |
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