Carpet Flooring Product Information - Types And Fibers
Although carpet selection is driven primarily by personal taste, there are some simple pointers listed below that will help you in picking the right carpet for your application. When finished, please visit our Carpet Flooring Home Page for more information on our carpet brand offerings, or visit Mohawk for detailed information on their EverStrand and SmartStrand lines of carpet and Shaw to read about their ClearTouch and Anso collections.
The following is a Nonn's Design Showplace guide to some of the most common carpet types:
Loop: Loop carpets have a continuous uncut surface that resists crushing and matting. Loop carpet has exceptional appearance retention since there are no yarn tips exposed. Only the sides of the yarn are exposed to wear and stress.
Cut: The most popular type of construction, cut carpet, represents more than half of today's carpet purchases. The loops of the cut pile carpet are cut to expose the yarn ends. You'll find cut piles in a variety of styles to suit any room in your home.
Velvet-Plush: This rich, luxurious surface, velvet-plush carpet is best suited for rooms with little traffic, such as formal living or dining rooms. The bright surface readily shows footprints and vacuum marks. These plush carpets make shoes optional.
Cut Pile Saxony: Great for a less formal room such as a family room or den. However, Saxony will show footprints more easily than a textured style.
Textured Saxony: They're tough enough for any room and if you hate footprints and telltale vacuum tracks, you'll love the way the sculptured design of textured Saxony helps hide life's traffic patterns with ease.
Frieze: A smart choice for any high-traffic area like family rooms, foyers and kid's rooms. Frieze carpets are less likely to show vacuum marks or foot prints than other cut pile styles.
Cut & Loop: Cut carpets and loop carpets combine the two piles, usually in a pattern design. The styles vary from casual multi-colored to solid colored highly styled patterns. Always in style and always a classic, our cut pile and loop styles fit right in with today's busy lifestyles.
See examples of these carpet styles available at all Nonn's Design Showplace showroom locations in our carpet flooring Product Showcase via the link below.
A guide to carpet fibers:
Wool: The original fiber, wool carpet have been use since ancient times. About 1% of the U.S. market consists of products made with wool fiber. Quality wool comes from special breeds of sheep, which produce a courser, thicker fiber than those raised for fine apparel wools. Wool has excellent aesthetic properties. Most synthetic fibers have superior engineer performance properties but they have not achieved the natural patina of wool. Carpet wool comes from countries like New Zealand, Argentina and the United Kingdom. The term “Berber”, which is now considered a type of construction, originated from some of the natural wool colors used in the manufacturing of carpet. Although wool does not have the abrasion resistance to moisture absorption of synthetic fibers, it cleans well and therefore "ages gracefully."
Nylon: Nylon carpet is the most widely used carpet fiber and represents more than 60% of all face fiber used in the United States' carpet industry. Nylon's characteristics such as excellent resilience, abrasion resistance, dyeing versatility and styling flexibility make it a popular choice. Nylon performs very well and is resistant to staining when it receives a stain resistant treatment.
Polypropylene (Olefin): Polypropylene carpet represents more than 25% of the total fibers used in the United States' carpet industry. Because the fiber is naturally moisture resistant, it must be solution dyed therefore limiting the color range. Polypropylene BCF is not as resilient or resistant to abrasion as nylon BCF, therefore the carpet construction must compensate for the engineering properties. It is extremely popular in Berbers and level loops. Polypropylene carpets are highly stain, static, mold and mildew resistant. They can be used for indoor or outdoor carpets, including outdoor turf. Their resistance to crushing and matting are not as good as a nylon fiber. Properly constructed polypropylene carpets offer exceptional value.
Polyester: Polyester carpet has been well accepted for its bulkiness, soft hand, color clarity and its excellent stain and fade resistant properties. Though not as tough as nylon, polyester offers good performance if properly constructed.
Acrylic: Acrylic carpet has a real wool look and appearance. It's used mainly in level loops, bath mats and some velvet carpet styles. Acrylic fiber offers good mold and mildew resistance with low static levels.
How do you care for and clean your carpet? Read our Carpet Flooring Care and Maintenance tips.