WOW! I don’t know the last time I had so much response to a column in the 20 years I’ve been writing for Floor Covering News. To say I’ve been overwhelmed with the interest is an understatement – we really hit a nerve. First and kind of insignificant really is the fact that I heard from both the rep and the dealer regarding this case and both ladies complaining of the wrinkles got new carpet. Most important is to answer your questions as to why broadloom wrinkles. I’ve written on this subject at least a dozen times but apparently, from the response I got, no one was paying much attention.
Why does a carpet wrinkle? – Because it’s loose. What makes a carpet loose? Let’s take it step by step. The tack strip has to be no further than half the thickness of the carpet from the wall and the pin height of the tackstrip has to be correct for the type of carpet being installed or it can make the carpet loose. The carpet has to be acclimated to the environment prior to installation or it can loosen up. Since carpet is basically plastic as are the primary and secondary backings it has to get warm before you install it or it will get loose. If it gets warm after you install it without acclimating it, it can get loose. The cushion has to be low profile and dense. 7/16” or 1/2 inch thick rebond with 6 pound density can make the carpet loose. The cushion will cause the carpet to be higher or too high on the tack strip preventing or inhibiting a good perpendicular engagement of the pins. This type of cushion can allow the carpet too much vertical and lateral flexing and that can make it loose. You should have a 3/8 inch thick dense cushion like Healthier Choice; this will do wonders for preventing loose carpet. The carpet lays flat, engages the tackstrip pins and will not flex vertically nor move laterally. That’s a way to correct a wrinkling carpet too; replace the cushion.
The carpet has to be power stretched when installed to make it tight. The carpet itself should have a denser weave backing. A 5 pic secondary backing, the widest weave used, and a high filler load in the latex with a soft cushion is a formula for disaster. The more open the weave in the backing and the higher the filler load the more chance for wrinkles. The opposite is true to minimize wrinkles. A spun backing will prevent wrinkles and a spun primary backing used by very few higher end manufacturers of residential carpet will really prevent wrinkles. SoHo Carpet uses a backing like this. If the temperature and humidity fluctuate in the home a lot it can cause wrinkles in the carpet.
CRI- 104 The Standard for Installation of Residential Carpet, which you should all be familiar with, states a carpet should be stretched 1 1/2 %, if you get more than that out of the stretch in a room the carpet may be elasticizing and this would indicate problems in the future with wrinkles. If you restretch a carpet that wrinkles you should basically re-install it. Empty the rooms being restretched loosen the carpet and re-stretch it in. If you do this more than once and you get an inch or more from the carpet each time, this indicates there is a problem with the carpet, admit it or not from the manufacturers, you should not be able to make the carpet grow by several inches each time you restretch it. Doing this repeatedly indicates more than an installation problem if you are restretching properly.
High filler loads that cause latex to crack when the carpet is stretched and flexed are a major reason for wrinkles in carpet. If when you pull the carpet back there is white granular material under it you’ve found a cause for wrinkles. Some of the newer woven and spun backings will help prevent wrinkles but if the filler load in the latex is too high it can negate their effectiveness. And if you really want to keep the carpets you sell from ever having wrinkles call your suppliers, the Execs that is not the rep, and tell them to put FreeLay on the backing, you will never have another wrinkled carpet.
To repeat, acclimate the carpet as best you can, place the proper tackstrip the correct distance from the wall, use a low profile, dense cushion like Healthier Choice, power stretch the carpet, follow CRI-104 (they have a website), keep the environment as controlled as possible and that’s about all you have control over, the rest is manufacturing related and again, ask your mill execs for FreeLay, you’ll both have far fewer claims and make a lot more money and keep the customer happy – keeping them happy should be all of your jobs regardless of what it takes.
Author: Lewis G. Migliore
LGM and Associates – The Floorcovering Experts