Selecting Carpet
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Carpet – nothing looks like it, feels like it or performs like it. It enhances the peace and quiet of your home by absorbing sound. It insulates against the cold, cushions your feet with comfort, and adds safety-helping to prevent slips and falls and protecting dropped objects from being damaged. And because carpet is a key decorative element in the home and a major purchase, you must keep several factors in mind during the selection process.
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Perhaps the most important things to consider are these: does it fit your taste, and does it match your lifestyle? This informative section was created to help you make a selection that best suits your home and your budget.
Location/Use
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Before purchasing carpet, you need to answer the following questions: How is the room going to be used? Will it have heavy or light traffic? Will the room be the centre of activity for family and entertaining? Is there direct access from outside, or will the carpet be away from entrances? Will the carpet receive direct sunlight
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Where there is to be heavy traffic (usually the family room, hallways and stairways), choose the best carpet you can afford. When shopping for carpet, look for performance rating guidelines with various brands of carpet. This rating system offers guidance on choosing the carpet that will perform best for various traffic needs. Most guidelines will be based on 5-point scale, with the number 4 or 5 being the best for the highest traffic areas, and a 2 to 3 rating is good for areas with less traffic.
Colour
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The selection of carpet colour is a very personal choice. Carpet comes in almost every colour, pattern, and texture you can imagine. You will want to select a colour that unites your decorative elements and creates the atmosphere you desire.
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Lighter colours make the room seem larger; darker colors provide coziness. There are also practical considerations in color selection. New stain and soil resistant technology makes todays lighter color carpet much easier to clean, allowing more decorating options. Medium and darker colours, tweeds, and textures will help disguise common soil in your home’s traffic areas.
Cost
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Your budget and your needs are two key elements in selecting carpet. There is a wide range of choices and costs from which to make your selection. Ask yourself how long you expect to keep your carpet before replacing it. A better grade of carpet will give you a greater length of service than one of lesser quality. Buy the best carpet you can afford for the heavy traffic areas of your home- halls, stairs, and family rooms. A medium grade will provide good service in rooms with less traffic, bedrooms and guest rooms.
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The cost of carpet is based on many factors, including fibre, construction, quality, and design. Be wary of the cheapest products or services.
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A complete cost estimate includes cushion, installation, moving of furniture, hauling off old flooring materials, and any special needs that you may have. Remember – a high quality, professional installation can extend the life of your investment.
Performance Glossary
Density- Refers to the amount of pile yarn in the carpet and the closeness of the tufts.
Twist – The winding of the yarn around itself. A tighter twist provides enhanced durability.
Heat-setting – The process that sets the twist by heat or steam, enabling yarns to hold their twist over time. Most nylon, olefin and polyester cut pile carpets are (high, moderate or low)
BCF or Staple?
When it comes to durability, there is little difference between bulked continuous filament (BCF) and staple (spun) fibres. The difference lies in the length of the fibres in the yarn, with staple having shorter lengths, giving the yarn more bulk (sometimes described as being more like wool).
When carpet is manufactured with staple fibre, there will be initial shedding of shorter fibres. It will soon stop, depending on the amount of foot traffic and frequency of vacuuming. Wool is a natural staple fibre; nylon and polyester can be staple or continuous filament; and olefin (polypropylene) is usually BCF.
Quality Factors
The type of fibre used and the way the carpet is constructed determines the basic performance of the carpet.
Fibers:
Fibres is a carpet’s basic ingredient. The type of fibre used and the way the carpet will stand up to spills, pets, and daily traffic. Approximately 97% of all carpet is produced using synthetic fibres that are designed to feature style, easy maintenance, and outstanding value. There are five basic types of carpet pile fibres.
Nylon:
It is the most popular and represents two-thirds of the pile fibres used in the United States. Wear-resistant, resilient, withstands the weight and movement of furniture, and provides brilliant colour. Ability to conceal and resist soils and stain. Generally good for all traffic areas. Solution-dyed nylon is colorfast because the colour is added in the fibre production.
Olefin (polypropylene):
Strong resists wear and permanent stains and is easily cleaned. Notably colorfast because color is added during fibre production. Resists static electricity and is often used in both indoor and outdoor installations because of its resistance to moisture and mildew. Used in synthetic turf for sports surfaces, and in the home for patios and game rooms. Many Berbers are made of olefin.
Polyester:
Noted for luxurious, soft “hand” when used in thick, cut-pile textures. Has excellent colour clarity and retention. Easily cleaned and resistant to water-soluble stains.
Acrylic:
Offers the appearance and feel of wool without the cost. Has low static level and is moisture and mildew-resistant. Commonly used in velvet and level-loop constructions, and often in bath and scatter rugs.
Blends:
A wool/nylon blend combines the superior look and comfort of wool with the durability of nylon. Acrylic/olefin and Nylon/olefin are other popular blends, offering good characteristics of each fibre.
Construction, Textures & Patterns
Cut Pile:
Loops are cut, leaving individual yarn tufts. Still one of today’s most popular constructions, its durability is achieved with factors including the type of fibre, density of tufts, and the amount of twist in the yarn.
Plush/Velvet- smooth, level surfaces; formal atmosphere, “velvet”.
Saxony- smooth, level finish, but pile yarns have more twist, so the yarn ends are visible and create less formal look. Minimizes footprints.
Frieze- In this cut pile, the yarns are extremely twisted, forming a “curly” textured surface. This informal look also minimizes footprints and vacuum marks.
Level Loop Pile- loops are the same height, creating an informal look. It generally lasts a long time in high-traffic areas. Many of today’s popular Berber styles are level loops styles with flecks on a darker colour on a lighter background.
Multi-level Loop Pile- Usually has two to three different loop heights do create pattern effects, providing good durability and a more casual look.
Cut & loop pile- Combination of cut and looped yarns. Provides a variety of surface textures, including sculptured effects of squares, chevrons, swirls, etc.
