Selecting Home Carpet

We've all done it. Every time we invest in new carpet, we take
an internal oath and solemnly swear we will take care of this
brand new carpet, and rightfully so. It doesn't take a
mathematical genius to know that for most folks, the third
largest investment after the purchase of our home and cars is the
home's interior.

So we read the manufacturer's warranty and notice that it says to
vacuum often. Daily might be the frequency in the high traffic
areas. But who has time any more to spend maintaining carpets on
a daily basis? The only time you see people vacuum that
frequently is in the hotel and motel industry.

Rarely does one actually see the carpets being replaced at the
hotel and motel industry unless there is a major remodeling
project happening with new color schemes to match. So it would
serve one well to learn from the hospitality business.

How do we usually buy carpet? In most cases it comes with the
home already installed. It will either be a newly built or a
previously owned re-sale home. If a new home was built, if you
are in the beginning stages of construction, you have a choice to
upgrade to the better carpet and padding offered. Or you can
choose the cheapest carpet known to mankind commonly referred to
as 'builder's grade' materials which also includes the cheapest,
thinnest carpet pad also known as 'FHA grade' 2 lb. rebond.

Sure the carpet is fuzzy and comes in a light color and the
padding might as well be called foam because it easily crushes to
the sub-floor when any weight is applied on the carpet's surface.
After all, carpet is just carpet and pad is just pad, right?
WRONG. Once again the old adage "You get what you pay for" still
rings true.

DuPont, one of the top four major fiber producers, conducted a
study years ago about the behaviors of the consumer as related to
the way they make a purchase decision when it comes to picking
carpet. I suppose human behavior still has not evolved that much
since. Please note that the following results are not a
misprint.

They rank from number one to number five in order:

1. Color
2. Color
3. Color
4. Texture
5. Price

While not disclosed, the first three might have been trying to
color match the hard surface flooring like tile, hardwood
flooring or stone. The second might be for the paint in a given
room and the last color match to compliment the home's other
furnishings such as window treatments, and furniture.

Texture refers to the 'feel' also known as the hand of the carpet
referring to how it feels when you touch the carpet by hand. It
would also take into account the weight of carpet measured in
ounces. For example, a carpet weighing 32 oz. per square inch
has more carpet fibers then say a 16 ounce carpet. A good way to
test this principle is to go to carpet a retailer and ask to see
two different swatches.

For example with all things being equal, such as the same Carpet
Fiber Producer manufactured by DuPont, same carpet fibers milled
at Shaw Industries, same color dye lot, etcetera, you can perform
this simple comparison test side by side.

Simply form your fingers like a claw and push directly straight
down from top to the bottom of the fibers using your fingertips
only. You should notice an immediate difference in carpet
density. It will also reflect in the price per square yard. The
difference is the number of stitches per square inch. On a much
more dense carpet, it will be difficult to see down to the
primary backing where the carpet is stitched in.

Here's the benefit:
If there are more carpet pile fibers, then each carpet fiber
actually supports one another side by side on all four corners of
the fiber forming a nap. The less pile there is opens up the
potential damage for gritty soil to 'cut' the fibers at the base
of the pile where the primary backing is. This cutting effect
comes with every step, pivot and turn on the carpet nap's
surface. This also causes thinning, pitting and marring of
fibers making carpets dull in appearance even after restorative
cleaning.

It is also worth mentioning that 60 percent of the soil that
falls into the carpet can be removed safely and effectively with
routine dry vacuuming of high traffic areas such as halls,
stairs, entry ways and traffic paths in front of furniture. This
single process alone can greatly extend the performance and life
use of the carpet. Remember the hospitality industry
housekeepers?

The second most fatal mistake a carpet purchaser can make is
ignoring the quality of the carpet pad. Padding for the subfloor
is like the spine of the carpet. It provides support to aid in
preventing indentations left by heavy furniture legs after
re-arranging a room.

It also has the job of holding water like a sponge whenever a
copious amount water floods the room such as a broken water pipe.
It provides the comfort under our footing so our feet and backs
don't ache. This is the one place you don't have to worry about
the color matching as the carpet will cover all the pad.

Pad is also measured in ounces and pounds. Once again, the
higher the number, the more dense the pad. The density can range
in feeling. By using a pinch test between the top and bottom of
the pad you can compare densities. There is foam all the way up
to feeling like a large pencil eraser. The higher the better.

Try to stay away from rubber based products like a waffle print
as they have been known to dry rot where hot water pipes run
through the concrete subflooring. They also don't provide any
absorption for collecting water spills. In fact in a typical
flood scenario, the water just continues to migrate further by
saturating a greater area of carpet space.

It would also be wise to choose the right carpet for the right
application. If you were born during Baby Boomer era, you would
have ran into carpets that were made from polyester. Those
fibers were dyed first before they were extruded as fiber. They
never faded from the sun or bleach spills and lasted forever but
were harder to clean.

Nylon came around and was softer to the hand and cleaned up
better but spills could permanently stain the fibers and due to
costs, generally come in lighter colors. Almost all darker
colors will be more expensive to produce due to more dye in the
process. More dyes prevented stains due to the lack of dye sites
available.

Fourth Generation carpets removed the nuisance of static
electricity when walking across a room and touching anything
conductive to release a jolting shock.

Fifth Generation carpets involved the incorporation of stain
resist carpets. The key to this technology was to create a
transparent dye. Normally after dyeing half of the carpet's dye
sites in a light color the remaining dye sites would be open for
stains once installed. The solution was solved by re-dyeing the
remaining dye sites with a transparent dye. Dye sites are like
skin pores on your arm.

Benefit:
If all dye sites on a fiber are filled, then no stains could
penetrate immediately. This would give the end user time to
remove the stain later even if it dried on in many cases.

The last point to consider is the primary backing of carpets.
For a number of years, India exported to the United States jute
which is what ropes are made of. An unfortunate deadly
industrial accident involving chemicals at Union Carbide's
battery plant, cause strained relations between both countries
and jute stopped being exported.

Jute backed carpets also occurred when they became wet from
flooding. The natural fiber made of plant (organically)based
material released a tannin dye similar to coffee and bled into
the carpet's surface; thereby causing it to permanently discolor
the carpet and ruin it.

It was also a food source for mold and mildew and if not treated
quickly, it would dry rot causing the primary and secondary
backing to delaminate and destroy the carpet.

Since the mid 1980's polypropylene backing has become the norm.
It's a tough as fishing line and can hold up to most abuse end
users give it. It's also cheaper to produce. In fact, 70
percent of all carpets involved in a clear water food damage loss
can be dried, cleaned and re-engaged with no evidence of a
pre-loss condition.

Good luck on your next carpet purchase as you now possess more
knowledge than most of the carpet cleaners and retailers in the
industry. And don't forget to vacuum!
 

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