Overview

Carpet is comfortable, versatile, and can bring warmth to any room. Whether it’s a cozy space for the kids to play or a relaxing area for friends and family; it makes any space inviting. With so many styles and colors to choose from, it is easy to find the right carpet for any space.

Understanding some basics about carpet construction will help in making the right choice for your lifestyle and budget.

Textured Plush

Textures are the best selling carpets, and are the preferred style for busy households. They are the most decoratively versatile cut‐pile carpet and the textured surface helps hide footprints and vacuum marks. It adds beauty to any room and is a great “whole‐house” carpet.

Saxony

Saxonies are a refined cut‐pile surface; meaning that the soft texture is created by twisting yarns tightly together and straitening with heat. They have a luxurious smooth, soft finish, and are beautiful for those traditional interiors. This carpet is ideal for living and dining rooms, however, show subtle highlights and accents. Nevertheless, this type of carpet adds distinctive elegance to any room.

Berber Loop‐Pile

A wool‐like look and rugged loop surface, it wears well and is suited for casual rooms with lots of traffic and activity. The natural, hand crafted appearance creates a warm, personal atmosphere, yet the tight loop texture helps hide footprints and vacuum marks. There are subtle patterns to fit a variety of room styles, and it is an ideal choice for contemporary to country to cottage design.

Berber Cut‐Pile

It is a new Berber look with all the brilliant color and interest of traditional loop Berbers. It is the great plush “feel” of thick, cut‐ pile carpet. Beautifully crafted and colored yarns add personality to any room, and because it is very versatile decoratively, it’s ideal for casual rooms, and kid’s rooms. The subtle color flecks help hide soil that might appear between cleanings.

Cut/Loop

Suited for both formal and contemporary settings, multi‐color effects hide soil and stains. Choose from solid or bolder color combination, this carpet always looks great between vacuumings. Cut and loop pile combines cut and looped fibers, providing a variety of surface textures for or sculptured effects for medium durability.

Commercial Loop

Commercial Loop carpet is a durable long‐wearing surface pile that has been engineered for high traffic areas; the versatile styles blend comfortably with any decor. The intriguing color choices are suitable for professional and practical installations, and the textured surfaces provide subtle highlights, making it the perfect choice for high traffic areas.
- Ask about our commercial space carpet squares.

FYI‐ ALL ABOUT FIBERS

Each fiber has its own set of characteristics that set it apart from the others. There are strengths and weaknesses that must be recognized and should influence how it is to be used and constructed. Almost all carpet, about 97%, is made from synthetic fibers. Synthetic fibers are more resistant to stains and are much less expensive than natural fibers. However, natural fibers tend to resist “crushing” from traffic. Below are descriptions of the main fibers used in carpet.

Acrylic

Acrylic fiber is known as art, art wool, or man‐made wool because it is an artificial fiber. This fiber provides the look and feel of wool at a fraction of the cost. It resists static electricity, moisture, mildew, fading, crushing, staining, and sun damage. However, acrylic fiber is not durable enough for high traffic areas (it fails under abrasion when compared to other fibers).

Blends

Blends are typically made from nylon and olefin. This blend is resilient but the different fiber types often resist stains unevenly. Stains will often stand out prominently with these blends.

Nylon

Nylon is the most popular fiber (about 90% of residential carpets and 65% of all carpets). Nylon is a good choice for all traffic areas because it is durable and static free, maintains fiber height, and resists soiling, staining, and mildew. Nylon fibers, which are dyed after production, maintain color. Nylon comes in continuous or spun fibers. Spun carpet is made of short lengths of fibers that are spun together. These continuous fibers are less likely to unravel.

Olefin (polypropylene)

Olefin (polypropylene) is the next‐best seller after nylon (about 80% of commercial carpet). These fibers c. d. are colorfast because the production process involves mixing polypropylene with dyes. Olefin works best in loop carpets such as Berbers. It is strong (resisting abrasion), mildew resistant, moisture resistant, and easy to clean (bleach can be used safely in some cases). However, olefin can be easy to crush depending on the pile. This fiber is good for indoors and outdoors (e.g. artificial sport turfs). Olefin carpets are the most inexpensive fiber.

Polyester

Polyester does not hold its fiber height under traffic and shifting weight as well as other carpet fibers. Polyester is luxurious, durable against abrasions, easy to clean, and resistant to water soluble stains. Polyester carpets cost less than wool and nylon. However, polyester can fade with sunlight.

Recycled

Some carpet is made from recycled material. PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) carpet is made from recycled plastics of consumer packaged goods (typically soda and other rigid containers). PET carpet is durable, water resistant, and static resistant.

Wool

Wool is luxurious, strong, and stain resistant. It maintains its fiber height. Wool also has its weaknesses. It can maintain static and moisture, tends to fray, and is expensive.

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