Carpet | How It's Made

Knowing how carpet is made can make the selection process easier. By understanding the different materials that make up various carpets helps you understand and evaluate their performance aspects: why certain carpets are easier to install, why some wear better, longer, and why others are easier to care for and clean. So let's dive right in...

Step 1: Selecting the Fiber

90% are made from synthetic fiber such as Nylon, Polyester, Olefin and Polypropylene
10% are made from natural fiber, such as wool, sisal and seagrass

Synthetic Fibers

created by chemical processes from oil and natural gas

Nylon

75% is made of nylon
performs the best overall
leader in: appearance retention, fade and heat resistance, soil and stain resistance, color and styling
highest performance nylon is Type 6.6 for more resistant to stain penetration

Polyester

introduced to the carpet industry in the mid 1960's
well accepted for bulkiness, color clarity, and good stain and fade resistance
not as resilient as nylon

PET

A type of Polyester made from recycled plastic bottles
plastic is collected, separated by color, and then ground and melted
great color clarity, good stain resistance and durability

SmartStrand

A type of Polyester made with DuPont Sonora polymer
DuPont and Mohawk make this fiber
stain resistant and durable
40% of the fiber made from corn by products

Polyproplene

introduced in the late 1950's in Italy
not as resilient or resistant to abrasion as nylon
naturally stain and fade resistant
naturally resistance to moisture
more limited range of color options
most often used in berber carpets

Wool

The wool used in today's carpet comes primarily from New Zealand, Argentina, and the United Kingdom.
Since wool is a natural fiber, it ranges in color from off-white to black, with many earthen tones between.
Wool doesn't stand up to abrasion and moisture as well as synthetics, it cleans well and is known to age gracefully.
Wool is typically a more expensive choice of carpet fiber

Carpet is made in a 3-part process.

#1 Tufting

begins with weaving the synthetic or staple fiber into a primary backing material
usually made of woven polypropylene
main value is to provide a base cloth to hold the yarn while tufting happens
tufting machine has 800 to 2000 needles like a sewing machine to pull the yarn through the primary backing material
tufting machine is 12 feet wide, its needles penetrate the backing and a small hook (looper) grabs the yarn and holds it in place

Loop pile construction (Berber)

holds appearance well
no exposed yarn tips
only sides of the yarn are exposed to wear and stress

Alternative step (Pattern or Cut/Loop)

sometimes the looper cuts small loops creating a cut pile
length of these pieces called pile height, or distance between the looper and primary backing
cuts are controlled by a computer, and can be programmed to cut only some of the loops
this cutting is called cut and loop construction and creates pattern on the surface

#2 Application of dye

Two dyeing processes

yarn dyeing / pre-dyeing - color is applied to the yarn prior to tufting
advantages are good side-by-side color consistency, large lot sizes, uniformity
carpet dyeing - applying color to the yarn after tufting
benefits - greater color flexibility

Carpet dyeing methods

Beck / batch dyeing - stitching the ends together, then running the tufted carpet loop through large vats of dye and water for several hours.
Beck process ideal for small runs, heavier face weight products
continuous dyeing - similar to Beck dyeing - carpet is also run through processes other than dyeing
continuous dyeing - applies color to the face by spraying or printing, also to create multicolor or patterned effects
screen printing - color is applied through anywhere from 1-8 silk-screens.

#3 Manufacturing the carpet

finishing process- single production line that completes the final construction stages
coating of latex applied to dyed carpet's primary and secondary backing
secondary backing - made of woven synthetic polypropylene
two parts are squeezed together in a large heated press and held firmly to preserve shape
shearing- removing loose ends and projecting fibers created during the tufting process
also helps the yarn's tip definition
inspection - for color uniformity and defects before it is rolled, wrapped, and shipped