Choose your carpet
carefully:
Capell Flooring and Interiors has compiled a list of facts and details
that may help customers become comfortable with carpet terms and definitions.
This helps you feel confident in your decision when shopping for your new
carpet.
Manufacturing
Terms
There are a handful of
terms that describe the carpet-making process which you should be familiar with
before we get to talking about carpet pile styles. They are:
Gauge
Gauge refers to the
space between the needles on a tufting machine. This measurement is recorded in
fractions of an inch, and indicates the number of needles that are positioned
across the width of the tufting machine.
Pitch
Pitch is the space
between the stitches made by the needles (the distance which the backing
material shifts before the needle punches in the next tuft). It is measured by
using the number of tufts per inch.
Density
Density is the measure
of the closeness of the pile yarns, and it will reveal the gauge and pitch. It
is measured by the number of ounces per yard. Usually, a greater density means
a higher quality carpet.
Face Weight
Face weight is the
number of ounces per yard of fiber extending above the primary backing. All of
these measurements (gauge, pitch, density and face weight) are dependent on one
another. For example, if the density increases but the pile height doesn't
change, the face weight will be greater. Or if the pile height raises with the
density staying the same, the face weight will increase.
The remainder of this
article will provide information on Cut- Pile styles (59% of the current
market), Loop-Pile types (28% of the market), and Cut and Loop-Pile combination
styles (13% of the market).
Cut-Pile Styles
Saxony Pile
A saxony style usually
has a pile height close to three quarters of an inch. The most important
characteristic of a saxony will be whether the pile is constructed with curled,
heattreated yarns with enough density to allow the fibers to keep their shape
under foot traffic and furniture. A large number of the luxury carpets produced
are of the saxony pile.
Plush or Velvet
Plush styles are thick
enough to stay strong against regular use. The most important feature of a
plush is that there is barely any twist set in the face yarns that make up the
pile. This produces a soft, even texture on the surface of the plush or velvet
carpet. This "velvet-plush" carpet should not be exposed to high
temperatures in cleaning solutions. Applying these cleaners can chemically burn
your plush or velvet. Temperature settings must be lowered from the highest
settings.
Shag Pile
This type of pile has
nearly vanished from modern stores. But for those that argue it still has a
place in interior design, there are still some shag carpets that have lasted
from the early seventies. A shag carpet will usually have a pile height greater
than one inch, but that pile height has to have a low enough density to have
that effortless look. The ends of the yarns are on the surface instead of the
tips like with many other carpet types.
Splush (short-shag or
mini-shag)
This carpet is
somewhere between the shag and the plush. The pile height is normally around
three quarters of an inch. It does not have enough density for the yarn ends to
retain their shape when the floor is walked on. The "random lay" look
is still very similar to shag despite the fact that the density is greater in
this pile type.
Frieze(free-say)
This variety is made
up of very tightly wound yarns that have a rough, nubby look.
Grass-pile
Grass-pile carpets are
normally crafted with slit-film olefin which mimics the look of grass. It is
sold in dozens of different colors.
Loop-Pile Types
Level Loop-Pile
This pile type is made
up of even-leveled tufts in an uncut or loop-pile design. Commercial quality
carpet is usually of the level-loop variety with greater density but less pile
height.
Multi-Level Loop-Pile
This pile type can
also be referred to as "high-low" pile carpet. It is created by
increasing tension on the yarn during tufting, which forms designs with high
and low loops.
Cut And Loop Pile Styles
Sculptured Saxony
Sculptured Saxony is a
mix of higher, cut-pile yarns which is different in texture than lower,
loop-pile yarns which stay uncut.
Sculptured Shag
Sculptured shag is
close to the sculptured Saxony. The difference though is that sculptured shag
is made up of higher, less dense cut-pile yarns in a shag design, contrasted by
lower loops which stay uncut.
Level Cut-loop
Manufacturers use this
method to make many different types of designs with cut and loop piles of the
same height.
