I want to thank all of you who responded by email, phone calls or phone messages, to my recent column in which we showed you a photo of a mysterious condition and asked for your help in determining the cause. The initial evaluation of the condition, which is compressed and matted circles a couple inches away from the wall running the entire length of the hallway, about three inches in diameter, was that the cat did it. Well it seems, and I’m still skeptical, that many of you have seen something like this and stated that it was the cat – at least that’s what got the most votes. One reader even had a sample of a carpet they had taken out of a house with these marks in it and supplied photos of it. Another said he was at the house looking at a complaint like this and actually witnessed the family’s cat walking in these spots. Apparently I have to brush up on the behavior and travel habits of cats in domestic habitats. At any rate, it got a lot of you thinking and I sincerely appreciate your feed back. It prompted me to start including more photos in the column to actually show you, when appropriate, the condition being discussed.
We’ve been getting quite a few calls from dealers on complaints for higher end products, especially woven goods. These products, unless you are very familiar with them and not very many of you are, have completely different characteristics from tufted carpet. Because, as meant in this context, these products are so unique as they are woven and contain fiber and yarn that is different, they require a high level of expertise. Older members of the industry should be more familiar with woven products but the younger folks much less so. So, what you have to know is that if you have a problem with these products call us and ask us to help you. Often we find some of the manufacturers own people you would talk to regarding a claim or question on these carpets don’t know the answers either. Some tips I will give you though are to make sure you don’t oversell these carpets. They may be expensive but so is a Rolls Royce and they need special care and don’t perform like a truck. You can’t use an aggressive vacuum cleaner on them, especially if they are wool because you will literally fuzz the surface beyond recognition over time.
Woven goods have to be installed by skilled craftsman who know how to work with them. You can’t take a good carpet installer with no exposure to woven goods and expect him to automatically know what to do. These carpets handle, cut, stretch, and fit differently. They require a low profile, firm and dense cushion, again different than what you may already carry. They can be damaged more easily by carelessness. If nothing else go on line and learn more about woven goods and how to install them.
Woven wool carpets will also fuzz, forever, so don’t be telling customers that the fuzzing will stop in a couple of weeks. You’ll by lying to them and they’ll hold your feet to the fire. Wool is a staple fiber, spun into a yarn. It comes from sheep from different parts of the world. Some wool is very high quality and some isn’t. Because it is a staple and it varies it will slough off continually, that’s what it does naturally – it is not a defect or a problem.
Cut pile woven goods are also prone to shading, pile reversal, pooling and watermarking. This is not a defect. We have tons of information on this subject if you should need help with it and I’ve written several articles on the subject over the years.
This was a very concise expose on woven goods. There is a lot more to know but what’s here should help you a great deal. If you want to know more about carpet in general attend our Carpet Seminar inDaltonon October 1, 2 and 3.
Author: Lewis G. Migliore
LGM and Associates – The Floorcovering Experts