In the last issue we concluded with printing, part of the carpet dyeing and coloring process. In this issue we’ll continue by starting with carpet construction.
CARPET CONSTRUCTION
There are three primary manufacturing processes for carpet: tufting, which comprises 90% of the carpet made; needle punched, which is about 7% of the carpet made; woven, which is about 2% of the carpet made and the balance of 1% is made up of flocked, fusion bonded and other methods. The vast majority of the carpet supplied to the commercial market is tufted, most of the woven goods available are higher products. Fusion bonding is a limited offering of carpet tiles. The majority of needle punched carpet used commercially would be either in specialty tiles or entry flooring systems.
Tufted carpet products are constructed on a variety of machines which could be straight row stitched, staggered or shifting single needle bars, double shifting step over stitch machines or computer yarn placement (CYP) machines. The use of computers, servo motors, variable speed clutches and other technology provide an unlimited amount of versatility in design, pattern and styling in today’s tufting machines. Anything that can be conceived in design, patterning, texture or coloration can be accomplished. If you can see it or visualize it, it can be made on a tufting machine. Small companies like Burtco, Fortune, WaveMaker, Marabella, Clayton-Miller and Signature all have brand new, state of the art, tufting machines capable of unlimited style and design.
Woven carpets in the commercial arena are primarily made on either an Axminster or Wilton loom. Much of the worlds woven commercial broadloom carpet uses wool, wool/nylon blends or 100% nylon. These processes are slower and therefore more costly. Is woven carpet better than tufted carpet? Not necessarily. The big difference is the styling and look of woven carpet which makes it different. When your talking about commercial carpet is this category you can compare it to luxury cars- it’s beautifully styled crisp patterns. In the woven category you can have anything from a Rolls-Royce to a Mercedes and BMW to Lexus and Infinity to Cadillac and Lincoln; all luxurious to varying degrees of craftsmanship, quality, performance and price. The tufting technology in 2003 continues its assault on woven carpets. However, woven carpet, because it is unique and has an aura of high quality, may never be eliminated from the commercial market. Just like fur coats won’t ever go away, neither will woven carpet in my opinion.
CARPET FACE STYLES
There are three face styles of carpet. By face I mean the actual surface yarn configuration of the carpet. Loop pile, cut pile and cut and loop pile, make up all carpet surfaces. From these three configurations there will be variations that either compliment the styling desired, the appearance or improve performance.
LOOP PILE
Loop pile carpet can be level, multi-level or textured loop. The yarn can be air entangled to mingle the fibers, twisted and/or heat set in a loop pile carpet for either styling or performance attributes. It is not always necessary to twist or heat set the yarn in a level loop carpet because the level loop construction and configuration itself yields performance a cut pile carpet can’t deliver. When the yarn is twisted, plied and heat set extraordinary performance characteristics are built in and achieved. This also gives the carpet a higher level of styling and texturing but the biggest benefit is the performance increase. Constantine Carpet employs a process like this in some of their products. Built and finished correctly, the end user will get tired of looking at the carpet before it ever shows signs of “wearing out.” One thing to remember is that the more processing the yarn goes through to increase performance or styling the more the carpet will cost. The payback is the carpet will perform better and last longer. The carpet can be amortized over a longer period of time which may actually make it less expensive in the long run than buying something cheaper initially. The longer the carpet lasts the longer it will be before it has to be recycled or disposed of in a landfill. These are selling points that should not be overlooked.
CUT PILE
In a cut pile carpet the yarn can have varying levels of twist. A high level of twist will create a Frieze, a medium twist will create a Saxony and a low twist, with little or no heat setting will create a Velour or Saxony Plush carpet product. Cut pile yarn with no heat seat and virtually no twist is referred to as a “singles” yarn. Singles referring to the fact that each fiber in the yarn singularly exists in the yarn-it is not twisted together. With each look or styling mentioned a different level of performance results. The tighter the twist the more resilient the yarn, them more definition it has and the better the performance should be. Heat setting creates a memory in the yarn which improves resiliency and stability in the yarn.
You may remember that I’ve mentioned many times in articles I’ve written or at speaking engagements I’ve given that the key to performance is density. Density can be achieved by packing more yarn into a square inch of carpet. However, density can also be achieved by making the yarn itself denser. This is done by putting more twist in the yarn and locking that twist in with a good heat set. So, relative to a cut pile yarn, the denser the yarn, that is the more twist in the yarn, the greater the performance and the higher the resiliency – the “bounce back” the carpet will have. This enhancement will result in better appearance retention. The less twist the yarn has the greater the chances of it matting and crushing which will lower performance and diminish appearance retention.
Carpets constructed with high twist and heat set cut pile yarn would be capable of better performance in high to medium traffic areas. Again, the less twist the lower the overall performance normally is and the lower the category or performance rating for the product. This should not only be stated in the specifications for the product but also understood by the end user, designer, specifier, architect or anyone responsible for supplying a carpet product for a particular application and expectation.
CUT AND LOOP
Cut and loop carpet configuration and styling can be achieved by alternating the cut and loop yarn in the carpet at the time of tufting or by tufting the carpet with variable heights of loop and then tip shearing them at the shearing machines to achieve a certain sheared look in the pattern. This changes the patterning, shading, appearance and performance. Think of the cut pile portion of a cut and loop carpet as grass, it stands upright on the surface of the carpet. It can be short and dense like on a putting green, or long and less dense like a thick lush lawn. Short and dense shows virtually no traffic. Long and sparse shows traffic, highlights, compressions and footprints.
The more cut pile surface in a cut and loop style the greater the chance of appearance loss and lower performance characteristics unless the cut pile portion is twisted and heat set. Cut pile yarns in a sheared cut and loop carpet tend to be singles. In other cut and loop styles there will be some degree of twist in the yarn. A patterned carpet made up of cut and loop yarns derived from tip shearing the product surface offers varying levels of performance. The more sheared yarn the lower the performance of the product relative to appearance retention and eventual light reflectance changes altering color shade. A recent case of a corporate end user choosing a tip sheared cut and loop, floral patterned product resulted in the manufacturer going on record with a letter telling the customer that this product would disappoint them. They stated that the product would “ugly out” and it did. When this reaction occurred the end user filed a claim complaining that the carpet was defective. We went to look at the product in installed locations, got samples from half a dozen other locations, tested the product, analyzed and evaluated it for structural integrity and especially weight, which the end user contended was not as specified and found there was absolutely nothing wrong with the carpet. In this case the manufacturer knew they wouldn’t be happy and told them why. The end user ignored the warning and made the selection anyway. The manufacturer, who should be complimented for their unusual honesty, openness, integrity and wisdom, dodged the bullet in this case. Not only did they say the carpet was not right for the application but all the product specs were on the money when tested. There was nothing wrong with the carpet and the end user made a mistake they had to live with.
In another case involving a cut and loop carpet where there were two rows of loop pile and two rows of cut pile alternating in the length of the product, the end user complained of a loss of appearance and poor performance of the product. In this case the cut pile portion of the carpet was actually too long. As traffic compressed the carpet’s surface the cut pile yarns fell over onto to the loop pile yarns, partially obscuring them, changing the appearance of the product. This carpet was specified by a designer who modified a running line product with a shorter cut pile height. Unfortunately no one realized or told the designer that this reaction would take place, not that they would have listened anyway. Again we looked at product removed from the location, conducted various performance tests and determined it was not defective. The carpet was performing up to the standards and characteristics to which is was specified, designed and constructed. At the installation site the carpet actually didn’t look as bad as the complainant stated. After explaining to the end user why the carpet looked the way it did, that it was a design change issue that was demonstrated that should have been realized and that it wasn’t a manufacturing defect, they accepted the explanation. To help them further, they were also given information and assistance in keeping the product clean and in making repairs as a courtesy. This was greatly appreciated and the complaint went away.
The point of these examples is to show that cut and loop carpets can offer very beautiful styling but when the cut portion causes performance and appearance retention to fall off the edge, someone has to realize that there are certain limitations with this styling and what those limitations are. In the first case sighted, the manufacturer knew the products performance and appearance retention limitations and advised against the products use in that application. In the second case, the manufacturer did not fully realize the products limitations when a higher cut pile height was requested. They made the product as desired and specified and were able to wrangle out of an otherwise costly situation because of the modification which altered the products performance.
It is important to understand that the configuration of a carpets face, be it cut, loop or cut and loop will vary with the design and enhancements, of lack thereof, of the yarn. In the commercial arena it is very possible to have a poor performing loop pile carpet resulting from a relatively high pile height, low stitch rate and a loosely entangled yarn. It is also possible to have a cut pile carpet with a high twist rate, good heat set and high density that will outperform a loop pile carpet.
The categories of use, low, medium, heavy or extra heavy (or Class I, II, III or IV) will first dictate what type of construction is required, the look, style and color desired will also greatly influence the products performance. But, just as Clint Eastwood remarked in one of his Dirty Harry movies, “ A man’s got to know his limitations,” so too does a carpet manufacturer, flooring contractor, specifier, architect, designer or end user, making a decision on what carpet type carpet to use. Certainly the manufacturer should know how each of its styles will perform relative to traffic classification. It is also possible, and we do more and more of this for clients, to test the product under conditions similar to those which it is going to be exposed and used. We can determine how it will perform, maintain it’s appearance, clean up when subject to soiling and hold up relative to its structural integrity. By testing the product first, you economically have the opportunity to avoid problems and make any necessary changes to accomplish the desired performance.
In the next issue we’ll continue with Picked the Right Product?
Author – Lewis G. Migliore – The Commercial Flooring Report
LGM and Associates – The Floorcovering Experts