Fabulous Floors Magazine Fabulous Floors Fall 2016 | Page 54

Carpet Types
carpet couture |

Carpet Types

Carpet is manufactured with cut pile tufts , loop pile tufts or a combination of both .
Cut Pile Carpets depending on the type yarn , can look smooth ( Saxony ) or slightly textured ( textured saxony or textured plush ) or as though the surface is covered by very curly ends ( frieze ). Cut pile carpets are extremely versatile and are commonly used in bedrooms , living rooms , dining rooms , dens and great rooms . The more textured or twisted yarns the less they will show foot prints and vacuum cleaner marks .
Cut pile carpets are constructed from either staple fibers or bulk continuous filament ( BCF ). Staple fibers can cause pilling at first after installation . That is because staple yarns are made up of short cut fibers that are spun together just like wool .
Saxony styles are more traditional and can show footprints and vacuum marks .
Textured Saxony styles are versatile and more casual than Saxonies . They help hide footprints and vacuum marks .
Friezé styles are more informal , but very durable and minimize footprints and vacuum marks .
Loop Pile Carpet has a knobby appearance made by each tuft being brought back into the backing . Loop pile carpets are generally more durable than cut pile styles . Loop pile carpet can be made up of level loops ( all the same height ) or multi-level loops to form a pattern or add more texture .
Cut and Loop Carpets ( also called cut & uncut ) feature a combination of both loops and cut pile yarns that are used to create patterned designs . Patterned carpets can help hide traffic patterns in a room as well as give the floor a more interesting visual appearance . For example , a family room or rec-room may be the perfect place for a patterned cut and loop carpeting , especially if the room gets a lot of traffic .
SAXONY
TEXTURED SAXONY
CUT PILE CARPETS
FRIEZÉ LEVEL LOOP MULTI-LEVEL
LOOP PILE CARPETS
Color is added to carpet in two basic ways . The fiber can be “ solution dyed ”, which means the color pigments are mixed in with the liquid polymers producing fiber strands that are colored all the way through — just like a carrot . Or , the carpet fibers are made first into white synthetic fibers , then topically dyed which leaves the color on the surface of the fibers — like a red radish . Since the color goes all the way through the solution dyed fibers , any solution dyed carpeting will have superior fade and bleach resistance . This can be important if the room has a lot of sunlight coming through the windows and you are worried about fading .
For resilience ( the ability to stand up to traffic ), nylon is the best carpet fiber . But , nylon is inherently prone to staining which is why most nylon carpets are coated with stain and soil resistant treatments that may need to be replaced eventually after repeated cleanings .
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