Carpet Information

Residential & Industrial Cleaning Co.

Carpet Cleaning Specialists Since 1988

Carpets are generally loop pile construction, or cut pile construction. Cut pile begins as loop pile, and then the tops of the loops are sheared off.

Type of Pile

The individual fibers within a staple carpet yarn are fairly short (a few inches). Most natural fibers such as wool and cotton are usually 1-3 inches long. Synthetic fibers can be cut to these same lengths. Whether natural, synthetic, or a blend of the two, they are spun together to for a staple carpet yarn.

Man-made staple fibers are produced to match the lengths of the natural fibers so they can be 1) processed with the same equipment, and 2) blended with natural fibers to gain the best properties of both. Synthetic yarns are also produced with continuous filament that are several thousand yards long.

The advantage of continuous filament over staple is pronounced in cut pile. With a 2-3 inch fiber spun into yarn and then cut into ~1 inch lengths in the loop cutting process, staple yarns tend to have short fibers that work their way out of the carpet yarn in normal vacuuming. This means you have to start with more yarn initially to end up with the desired amount in the carpet after the first few vacuumings. See “Face Weight” below.

Type of Fiber in the Yarn

Loop Pile

Cut Pile

Wool fiber is usually 2-3 inches long

Continuous nylon fiber is a few thousand yards long

You may see carpets rated as 30 oz. or 50 oz. carpet. This is a way to express the weight of fiber in a square yard of carpet—the higher the number, the more fiber there is, and (in general) the better the quality of the carpet. As a rule of thumb, continuous fiber carpet is comparable to a staple carpet that has ~1.5 times the density. So a 30 oz. continuous fiber carpet is comparable to a 45 oz. staple carpet.

Face Weight

Most nylon carpet, and some polyester carpet, is sold in a stain resistant form. Stains are basically dyes, and there are two kinds of dyes—physical and chemical. Physical dyes cling to the fiber’s surface, but wear off over time. Indigo is a physical dye. This is why denim jeans fade with age. Chemical dyes attach to molecular sites within the fiber. Most food dyes are chemical dyes. That is why it is so hard to get a red soft drink stain or a red wine stain out of white carpet.

Stain resistant carpets are usually treated to protect them against both physical and chemical stains. The physical protection tends to wear off over time and must be reapplied. This is why carpet manufacturers often require hot water extraction cleaning of their carpets to retain the stain resist warranty—the physical protectant can be reapplied after the carpet is thoroughly cleaned.

Stain Resistance

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Carpet information

Carpets can be made from natural materials such as wool, cotton, jute, silk, or even bamboo fiber. They can also be made from synthetic materials such as nylon, polyester, and olefin.

Carpet can be made from bamboo, wool, nylon, silk, and many other fibers.

What makes one carpet different from another? There are several factors:

Þ Basic Material

Þ Type of Pile

Þ Type of Fiber in the Yarn

Þ “Face Weight” (fiber density)

Þ Stain Resistant Properties

Basic Material