FAQ about carpet

The surroundings are important for the human well-being. Workplaces can be designed - and are designed - in many different ways, because of different needs and wishes regarding furniture, fabrics, colours etc. But the indoor environment plays a crucial role, and how comfortable it will feel, is closely related to the choice of flooring.

There are many requirements for good flooring. Good quality is more than a good appearance. Floor coverings should be comfortable to walk on, practical, durable, heat-insulating, sound-absorbing, easy to install and maintain - without draining the bank account completely!. All in all, pretty extensive requirements.

Read all the good reasons why you should choose carpeting as the floor covering for your project:

Carpets are beautiful and fashionable and…
•  it is possible to create individual solutions
•  are available in a wide range of colours
•  are available in a variety of patterns and structures
•  can be fitted in all interiors
•  creates a good atmosphere

No other flooring offers so many options!

Carpets are durable...
•  and robust
•  resistant to abrasion
•  have a long lifetime
•  and look good

No other flooring with similar comfort is stronger than quality carpets!

Carpets are sound-absorbing…
•  they absorb noise
•  they improve impact sound reduction
•  reduce the reverberation
•  create a good acoustics

Carpets counteract stress!

Carpets are safe and healthy and…
•  have an anti-slipping effect, which prevents fall injuries
•  have a favourable effect on the indoor climate
•  gather airborne dust, thereby reducing dust nuisance for asthmatics and people with other respiratory problems

Carpets are good for the indoor climate!

Carpets are easy to install and…
•  are suitable for most floors
•  are easy to adapt
•  easy to lay
•  and just as easy to remove
•  the price matches the quality

Carpeting is common sense!

Carpets are easy to maintain…
•  anti-stain treatment can be applied
•  making the carpet stain and dirt-resistant
•  regular vacuuming is usually sufficient; use any micro filter
•  low maintenance costs

No other flooring with similar comfort is so easy to maintain as carpets are!

Carpets are environmentally friendly…
•  they are produced in an environmentally friendly way
•  have a long lifetime
•  are heat-insulating and energy-efficient
•  are recyclable
•  can be incinerated in heating plants and create energy

Carpets therefore are the choice – for an energy-efficient environment.

Choosing the correct carpet will increase well-being and comfort in the home. When choosing a carpet there will always be a selection of designs and colours which appeal to you. But when you add in the health and well- being factors, the choice of which carpet to purchase must then also include considerations such as the raw materials the carpet is made of and the quality of the carpet.

The many choices available
The carpet purchaser is faced with a myriad of choices when choosing carpets for his/her home. However, three things are the most important criteria when evaluating the purchase of a carpet; the pile, the raw material used for the pile, and finally the backing.

1. The pile
The pile of a carpet is the yarn which makes up the surface of the carpet. This yarn can be both long or short cut or non cut. The majority of carpets are tufted today. Tufting is done using a large sewing machine with a lot of parallel needles which create long lines of yarn loops close together. This gives a strong and soil- resistant surface. These loops are then fixed by glue and given the required backing; this is a loop pile carpet. Examples of these are boucle and berber, which have a short and long pile respectively.
Alternatively, the loops can be cut, fixed by glue and given the required backing; this is a cut pile carpet. This gives the carpet a softer feel but reduces its durability. Examples of this are shag or velour carpet, the shag being long, and the velour being short. The qualities of a carpet are also dependent on the density of the yarn used, the more yarn the better it wears, and easier it is to clean.

2. Wool or man-made fibres
The pile of a carpet can consist of wool or man-made fibres, both of which are used with equal success in carpets. The choice of pile yarn depends on the use the carpet is designed for. Man-made fibres are extremely hard-wearing and do not readily absorb moisture. Wool fibres, in contrast, are soft and have a natural tendency to right themselves due to their inbuilt elasticity.

3. The carpet backing
You might ask yourself why you should be concerned about something that is not on show. However, a carpets backing is just as important to the level of comfort the carpet offers and how well it will wear as the visible pile. There is a foam backing on the majority of carpets and, if this is thick and soft, the carpet will have a nice cushioned feel to it. The durability of a carpet also depends on the backing material used, and its thickness and rigidity.

The advantages of carpet
•  Good walking comfort
•  Reduces noise levels
•  Creates better acoustics
•  Reduces heat loss
•  Is offered in a large selection of colours and designs, facilitating good interior design

The living room
A carpet for a living room, in a family where this room is used often and every day, is different to a carpet for a living room with very little traffic. It is, therefore, extremely important that you know what is expected of your carpet before you buy it. That is why no specific carpet type is recommended for a living room. A nice long pile carpet could be exquisite, but if your children play ball in the living room then you might want to consider buying another carpet.

Private rooms
A soft long pile carpet is ideal for the bedroom, but perhaps not the best choice for the children’s bedrooms. A more robust carpet would be more suitable here. Even though you have different types of carpet, it is possible to get the same colours and pattern matches.

Other rooms
It is important, that carpets in corridors and entrances are extremely hard-wearing. We normally advise that you use a short loop pile in these areas.

Colour matching
Carpets are produced in batches - known as creels - and usually each batch produces between 500 m² - 3000 m² in a single width, depending on the creel size. Whilst the recipe used by the dyer remains constant, and is followed to the letter, in each separate production the colour reproduction will vary from batch to batch. However production is matched back to the original or master sample to ensure that the colour remains 'within a commercial tolerance'. This process is, not an exact science and although just exactly what constitutes commercial tolerance, is perhaps somewhat subjective, nevertheless it is usually up to the professional judgement of the head dyer based on his/her experience. A greater level of tolerance is required on blended colours (Heathers etc). To ensure perfect colour matching, it is advisable that a single width be used in any installation requiring exact colour matching. NB. Carpets which are laid with the pile travelling in different directions, even though they may be from the same batch, will look as if they do not match. For further information, please check the manufacturer's recommendations.

Samples
The samples held by individual retailers may not be from the same batch as current production and, therefore, should be used as a guide only and not an exact colour match.

Shedding
All cut pile carpets will lose short fibre, which is created during production when spun yarn is cut for tuft formation. These fibres fall onto the surface of the pile and appear as 'fluff. The effect varies with yarn type and may be removed, without any detrimental effect on the carpet, by vacuum cleaning. This excess fibre is only a small fraction of the total fibre contained in the carpet.

Pulled loops
Pulled loops occur only in looped pile carpet where one or more loops in the continuous pile are pulled through the primary backing of the carpet. This is usually due to some local condition, possibly some sort of sharp object which has caught in a loop in situ and has resulted in a pull. Pulled loops are easily dealt with by trimming the offending end level with the rest of the pile. They should not be left, as this could result in further loops being pulled and laddering.

Sprouting
Occasionally an odd tuft or two can work its way to the surface and stand out from the rest of the pile. This is probably due to one end of the tuft being longer than the other i.e. J shaped tuft instead of V shaped. To remedy this, just trim the offending tufts level with the rest of the pile using a pair of scissors.. They should never be pulled out.

Shading
Shading occurs because the pile of the carpet has become crushed, flattened or brushed in a different direction to the natural lie of the pile whilst in situ. This causes light reflection at differing angles resulting in the creation of light and dark patches on the carpet. This will occur on all pile fabrics but can be more noticeable on plainer carpets because the shadows created by pile pressure will not be disguised by a heavy pattern or design.

Static
Carpets do not produce static but, like other household fabrics and objects, do have the capacity to store it. Static is caused by the build- up of static electricity on personnel in a dry environment and is discharged when a person makes contact with an object which can conduct electricity (i.e. door handle or filing cabinets, etc). The static charges will vary in intensity depending upon the individual, air humidity and the contact materials. Static is more usually associated with synthetic materials as they do not retain moisture very well, but it can, and does occur, with wool in very dry room conditions. Preventative measures include the introduction of moisture into the room or in situ carpet treatment.

Pile reversal (see shading)
Like shading, this occurs when the pile or nap of the carpel changes direction and thus reflects light at different angles showing the effects of shading which can become permanent. It is also described as 'watermarking'. This can happen to every carpet construction be it Axminster, Tufted, Hand Woven, Persian, Chinese, Indian or even Coir Matting. Like shading it can be more apparent on plain carpet because heavy patterns can disguise the effects. It can occur quite quickly after installation. A tremendous amount of research has been carried out over many years by many institutes to determine the cause of this phenomenon, but none of it has proved conclusive. There is no commonly known manufacturing process which can cause or cure this phenomenon and, therefore, it is not classed as manufacturing fault. For further information, please check with individual manufacturer´s recommendations.

Indentations
When a carpet is subjected to a heavy point load, such as under the legs of furniture, it is unreasonable to expect the carpet not to indent. Usually, the longer the load is in place, the longer it will take for the pile to recover. In the case of very heavy loads in place for a considerable time, the recovery time can be very considerable. It must be remembered that it is not only the pile of the carpel that becomes indented, the underlay will also indent and the backing of the carpet may also distort into the indentation in the underlay. Some underlays will recover well and some not as well depending upon their composition, thickness, density etc. The use of cups below furniture legs can spread the load and the net result is a larger area of less deeply indented carpet. The ability of a carpet to recover from a heavy static load can be measured in the laboratory, using the test method described in BS 4939 and many manufacturers will have data on this aspect of carpet performance. In this test, the carpet is loaded for 24 hours and the degree of recovery is measured after 1 hour and 24 hours. Since there are so many different underlays however, it is very rare for the recovery from a heavy static load to be evaluated on carpet and underlay. Often normal maintenance (vacuum cleaning with a rotating brush machine) will speed up recovery but in the case of serious indentations the use of an iron and damp cloth or a steam iron together with a blunt darning needle to carefully tease up the pile can be beneficial. Naturally, care must be taken not to over wet the carpet.

Flattening
Flattening will occur as a result of traffic which eventually flattens the pile, particularly in the main areas of use. All pile fabrics will flatten to greater or lesser degree depending on the amount of traffic to which it is subjected and the construction (tuft density/pile fibre/height/weight) of the product concerned.

Soiling
Soiling is usually the result of some local condition to which the carpet has been subjected, or maintenance, or lack of maintenance programme. There is nothing we as manufacturers can do to prevent soiling in use. There are several types of soiling which are quite common:

Spillages - Liquids such as soft drinks, cordials or any drink which contains sugar, particularly hot drinks, is likely to leave a stain. In such instances, professional help should be sought.

Shampoo - if incorrectly applied, can leave sticky soap residues in the fibres which can result in the soiling reappearing quite rapidly.

Dust - which is carried on draughts can soil carpets in various ways, apart from the obvious soiled edges; at gaping skirting boards for instance, dark lines appearing on surface might suggest airborne dust vacuum-drawn through poorly fitted floorboards. Sometimes the shape of floorboards can be seen quite clearly. Air borne dust sometimes shows itself as spots on the carpet, this is due to the air carried on a draught under the carpet escaping through minute holes both in the underlay and the carpet, leaving dust deposited on the pile much like a filter action. In such installations, the use of lining paper is essential as a preventative measure. It is the responsibility of the retailer to advise the consumer when the carpet is measured of any poorly fitting doors, skirtings', or floorboards and the consumer's responsibility to ensure that any remedial work to seal draughts, is carried out before the carpet is fitted, to avoid any complaints later.

Backing of textile
The textile backing is the standard backing of our broadloom.
Textile backing

Silent Bac (felt backing)
The felt backing on broadloom is especially used for projects which require a more desirable impact sound absorption. Most of our broadlooms can be specialmade with the Silent Bac backing from 200 m² at an extra cost. If broadloom with Silent Bac is combined with tiles, the same total thickness can be reached. In connection with all special productions, an over-delivery of up to 5% must be expected. 

Silent Bac backing 

TEXtiles^®
All our carpet tiles are equipped with the special TEXtiles^® backing. The TEXtiles^® backing has the following advantages:
• Produced using more than 90% recycled materials.
• Eco-friendly and suitable for thermal disposal. 
• Ecological product - 100% free of bitumen, PVC, latex and other critical substances.
• Produced using CO₂ neutral energy (steam) and 100% wind energy.
• Permanently antistatic and odor-neutral.
• All TEXtiles^® are GUI approved "allergy-friendly".

TEXtiles^® backing

Carpets and allergies

In any population, a small percentage of the population will be allergic to dust mites and this makes special demands on interior design and cleaning in the home.

It is a common misconception that people who are allergic to dust mites cannot have carpets.

Dust mites cannot live at normal room temperature, nor can they survive in the level of humidity normally found in a living room.

The problem area with dust mites is the bed. The mites thrive in blankets, quilts and mattresses as this is where it is dark, moist and warm, and where there is also a plentiful supply of food in the form of dead human and animal skin. It is as a result very important for allergy sufferers to air out and vacuum on a regular basis, particularly in the bedroom.

By vacuuming, you are removing the mites that land on the floor, and by airing out, you are creating a drier atmosphere, reducing the mites' chances of survival.