Home Improvement Advice for Flooring

Carpets Do it Yourself Tips for Flooring

Here are some important factors to consider when choosing carpets:

The choice of carpet for your lounge, dining room, hall stairs and landings or even office, should take in many factors!

It must be hard-wearing enough to withstand the rigours of day-to-day traffic - these areas, in particular, taking the most punishment under-foot! The best choice for quality and resilience are Wiltons or Axminsters, made on original looms, woven to very high standards. As for bedrooms, you can afford to cut down on cost, as these areas usually take less traffic. Here you could choose from such qualities as tufteds, or, saving on the cost of underlay, foam-backed carpets. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for, and assuming you shop cautiously, it makes economic sense to buy the most affordable flooring your budget can stretch to!

Grading: Heavy Contract

Heavy contract carpet includes some of the best cloth available. This is recommended for any area in the house, (excluding wet areas) from lounges to entrances. These carpets are usually, though not always, made from a high percentage of wool. Wool being the most resilient of natural fibres, mixed with a percentage of synthetic (man made) materials, combine to produce an extremely hard-wearing carpet! A good mixture being 80% wool 20% nylon. The construction of carpet is 'the' most important factor in choosing quality! Depending on the Loom used in manufacture, the carpet is graded in 'gauge'. Gauge is the amount of knots woven per square inch; hence tenth gauge would be ten knots per square inch! Tenth gauge is a very close woven cloth, followed by eighth gauge. The higher gauge, the denser the pile, consequently, the harder wearing the carpet.

Grading: Heavy Domestic

Heavy domestic carpet is suitable for most rooms in the house, including the lounge. It is usually a grade lower than contract, but with a comparable guarantee. There are many types of heavy domestic carpet, ranging from tufted and bonded through to better qualities such as Wiltons and Axminsters. Bonded carpets go through a process whereby the yarn (pile) is heat set at manufacture to the backing. This ensures a very strong cloth, 'bonding' both the surface and the backing together, unlike tufted carpet. There are others such as twist pile, velvet pile and shag pile to name but a few! Of these, twist pile is notably stronger, keeping its appearance longer, due to its construction (each individual tuft of carpet is twisted and woven, achieving a very dense, non-crush pile construction).

Grading: General Domestic

Tufted, twist pile and bonded carpet fall into the General Domestic category. Usually, the difference between 'general' and 'heavy' domestic isn't the construction, more-so the gauge or pile weight. Carpet is categorized into many different labels. General domestic is woven from a weight, in the region of 28oz, up to a weight of, normally, but not explicitly, 40oz. (oz. being the weight of the pile measured in ounces). General domestic carpet isn't usually recommended for areas of heavy traffic, such as stairs or lounges, more for areas such as bedrooms and occasional rooms i.e. studies, dining rooms.

Materials

Yarn:

Carpets are only as good as the raw materials from which they are made, and the expertise with which they are constructed. All carpets are made with raw fibre and this is normally spun into a yarn which is then woven or tufted into a fabric that you see in the shops. Spinning the yarn itself is a skilled job and one which has created its own specialist companies.

Stages in Yarn Spinning:

Manufacturers use raw wool from the best sources, including British and New Zealand fleeces. This is blended together in precise proportions according to the 'character' and 'handle' of the yarn required. The blend is scoured, pulled and teased (the technical term is 'carded') until it is straighter, whiter and free of natural burrs and foreign bodies. The fibre is systematically opened up and layered and then cross layered and eventually, this web or bat is split into slubbings which are then pulled and twisted on a spinning frame which adds strength to the single strand of yarn. Two or more of these strands are then twisted together, or 'doubled', and this results in a yarn with a high tensile strength capable of being woven or tufted by the latest high tech machinery with the maximum efficiency and at the lower production cost, thereby providing the optimum combination of quality raw materials, exceptional yarns and most economical prices. Color is introduced either at the raw fibre stage or when the yarn is spun into the thickness weight and length for the particular carpet. Manufacturers are continually investing in state-of-the-art machinery and their success is founded upon a continuous programme of research and development, designed to anticipate technical, performance and aesthetic requirements demanded by the market. The results of this investment, new yarn trends, process innovation and carpet product development are regularly introduced to the carpet market. Woolbond incorporates a small amount (up to 10%) or 'low melt' polyester, which, under normal dying temperatures, fuses with the other components to create a web like structure throughout the yarn. This improves the performance of the resultant carpet. It inhibits shedding of loose fluff, contributes to better tuft definition, resilience and resistance to crushing.

Fibres:

All carpet results from the conversion of raw fibre. With a few exceptions, this fibre is spun into yarn and this yarn is then made into carpet through one of three methods - weaving, tufting and bonding. All carpet fibres have something special to offer, whether it is warmth, cleanability, durability, fire retardant or even price. Your carpet will perform longer and look better depending upon which fibre you select and how much is packed into the carpet. Fibres are sometimes blended together to give the optimum performance at the best possible price. There are two sources of carpet fibre - Natural and Man-Made.

Natural Fibres:

Wool

The oldest and most popular of the natural fibres. Exceptionally suited to carpets because it combines hard wear with lasting good looks. Wool does not support combustion and under normal conditions does not conduct static electricity.

Silk

Little used except in fine quality hand made rugs.

Jute

Used mainly in backing materials but occasionally in surface fibres for flat woven rugs.

Coir

Coconut husks contain a strong and flexible fibre. The husks are harvested and soaked for many months before being beaten, washed and dried. The pale yellow fibres are then spun into yarn which is finally woven into either flat weave carpeting or cut pile rugs and mats.

Flax

Used occasionally in loop pile and flat weave rugs and carpets.

Man-made fibres:

Popular since the early 1950s, great advances have been made in the performance of man-made carpet fibres. Main benefits of man-made fibres.

Acrylic

Not as hard wearing as Nylon and less fire resistant than wool, Acrylic is a fibre with good bulk and resilience.

Polyamide/Nylon

Many different brand names, such as ANTRON, Anso, Timbrelle. A tough fibre and with stain resistant treatments is less prone to soiling than earlier nylon carpets. More flammable and prone to static than wool. Nylon is often added to wool to increase resistance to wear especially in lower pile weights and densities.

The most popular branded nylon in the UK is ANTRON. Made by DuPont, it is available as ANTRON Stainmaster or ANTRON Teflon. DuPont has just launched a high tech product called ANTRON Microfibre which combines durability and softness.

Polyester

Used in luxury Saxony styles, less resistant to flattening than some fibres but wears well.

Polypropylene

Hard wearing and not as resilient as other fibres. It is very easy to clean but will scar if exposed to flame.

Viscose (a vegetable based fibre)

Not as resilient as many other fibres it is prone to flattening. But it is relatively inexpensive fibre and it brings fitted carpets within a wider reach.

Texture

TWIST PILE:

One of the most popular styles, it comes in wool and man made fibres. Variously described as "Hardtwist", "Hightwist" or "Frise" the yarn has been given an extra turn or two and this results in a rougher surface texture which is less prone to showing footmarks.

VELVET:

Sometimes called Velour. A close construction with a short pile and smooth top. Available mainly in tufted and Wilton constructions and in wool or synthetic fibres.

SHAG PILE:

Today shag piles are designed for luxury and decorative use. In the main they come in heavy weights and would look superb in your penthouse.

SAXONY:

A shorter pile length than shag pile, the tufts tend to be closer together. Saxony styles are available in several different fibres.

LOOP PILE:

Mainly available in natural and "Berber" colourways.