Man made carpet fibres - useful buyers tips

Which fibre cleans the best? Is 80% wool and 20% man made better than 100% wool? Do all man made carpets feel raspy? These are the questions that buyers have - read on and you'll probably know more than half the carpet salesmen you come across! (not here of course)

The basics of man made carpets at a quick glance for consumers

The two main types are nylon (polyamide) and polypropylene (olefin). Occasionally you will see polyester though more often as part of an overall mix.

Nylon is the king of man made fibres

• Manufacturing technology has drastically improved over the last 30 years - forget past experiences you may have had with nylon
• Stain resistance is now largely built into the manufacturing process as opposed to being sprayed on
• Manufacturing processes now create nylon fibres resistant to flattening (called "bouncebackability" and "bouncebackfibres")
• When choosing 80/20 twists, nylon is better than polypropylene as the man made part
• New finer fibres give very soft feeling carpets - many people are surprised to find out they can't tell between nylon and wool
• More detailed information

Polypropylene is the most stain resistant

• Manufacturers give excellent guarantees against you being able to stain it (some important details about this below)
• Polypropylene is going to flatten more than nylon or wool
• Look for marketing brands such as "Stainaway"; "Stainfree"; "Stainsafe" etc - nearly all of them are polypropylene
• Low looped styles wear best as flattening isn't an issue
• More detailed information

Polyester

• Polyester is a form of plastic and wears less well than nylon
• Known for producing vibrant colours
• Some people say it is odd to walk on and can sound artificial
• Best kept for bedroom carpets as it is not as hardwearing
• Expect a cheaper price
• Has a very positive role in blends of carpet where it allows for heat treatments in the manufacturing process
• More detailed information

Nylon carpet fibres in more detail

Nylon fibres are made by extruding melted polymer chips through fine "sieves" rather like children squeezing Play Doh® through shaped holes. When it was first made the fibres were rounded in profile. This was found to make carpet fibres behave like magnifying lenses to stains, which looked more prominent as a result (nylon fibres are transparent)!

The first nylon carpets were also found to flatten more readily than their natural counterparts. Companies such as Monsanto and DuPont voraciously set about improving nylon fibres which has resulted in a fantastic product difference today.

Fibres started to be extruded as pentagonal and octagonal profiles which practically eliminated stain magnification and the artificial shine associated with man made fibres.

Stain resistance was further improved by adding techniques like fluorochemical stain resistance and acid dye blocker (nylon was particularly prone to food acid and toilet cleaner damage in its first generations).

Next, the scientists turned their attention to nylons wearability issues. Fibres were wound and then stretched to pull their molecules tighter together. Fibres were subjected to winding together (ply effects) and heatset treatments which effectively "set" spring like qualities into the carpet (this is a very laymans way of describing it).

The stretching of the fibres not only improves toughness but has also been the basis of finer filaments and the onset of softer feeling carpet.

Today this is the basis of scientific sounding marketing brands and of terms such as "bouncebackability" and "bouncebackfibres". As far as the consumer is concerned, nylon makes a seriously good carpet - not a product whose claims are unjustified.

Nylon is particularly well suited to residential usage and is not often seen as conventional carpet in commercial settings. The Americans have taken far more to nylon carpets than the Europeans who tend to prefer wool.

Polypropylene carpet fibres in more detail

Polypropylene is a by-product of petrol refinement and has become a popular carpet fibre by its stain resistant virtue. It is cheaper than nylon but not nearly as hardwearing and thus not the best choice for carpets that you want to last for the longer term.

On the positive side, it is so stain resistant that not even bleach can touch it. You'll find that bleach cleanable carpets are polypropylene - apparently even battery acid won't mark it (please don't try this at home)! It is also chemically inert and doesn't fade in sunlight (which should make it a good choice for conservatories (though I have no personal experience or recommendations to back this up).

On the negative side, it is prone to flattening and has no compression resistance like nylon or wool. This is why manufacturers often give a 10 year stain warranty but only a 5 year wear warranty for the same carpet. Check this detail out when buying a polypropylene carpet and make sure this suits you.

Whilst it is practically impossible to stain it with common household soiling, ploypropylene has no resistance to petro-chemical type stains like oil. Think twice about choosing polypropylene if you suffer oil stains treading in from a tarmac drive for example.

The type of floor areas that work well with polypropylene carpets are offices and rented accommodation. Thin looped constructions are already flat and the stain resistance repays investment here, often lasting through multiple tenancies where wool and nylon might be beat (I get to see what tenants can do to carpet when distraught landlords call me to replace it).

Because polypropylene has a much lower melting point than wool or nylon, it is susceptible to friction damage from moving furniture and vacuum cleaners (especially broken belts). Watch out for cats as well, they will love to claw into the loops - dogs on the other hand are less of an issue because (terrible) soiling damage is more their thing (which polypropylene stands).

Cigarette burns are also a bigger problem with polypropylene than other fibres although all artificial fibres are prone to more serious burn damage than wool.

Polyester carpet fibres in more detail

Believe it or not, polyester carpets are often made from recycled plastic pop bottles and so are excellent for the environmentally concious customer. Polyester is a type of plastic and surprisingly does not wear well in high traffic areas (I can hear sheep saying "I told you so").

On the positive side it is very stain resistant and can be dyed exceptionally well resulting in vibrant colours. Considering these points makes it a great choice for bedroom carpets where another of its good points pays off - it is very soft.

Polyester's main use in carpets is as a bonding agent which reacts to heat setting very well. When you see that 20% of a carpet is man made, this could mean that a proportion of it is polyester, often wound around the base of tufts rather than in the tuft fibre itself (where compression would be a disadvantage to using it).

Man made blended with wool

People often ask me which is best, pure wool carpets or 80/20 blends. If you are looking for a twist carpet, then the manufacturers have unanamously decided that 20% man made is best - I think this must be for the heat setting properties of man made fibres which improve the twisting of the yarn, its pin point texture and thus its compression resistance..

When berber style looped naturals are made, the manufacturers seem to have voted for 100% wool or 50/50 blends with polypropylene. Looped piles don't suffer compression damage as badly as twists therefore manufacturers indulge pure wool blends as part of the markets preferred "natural" taste.

We have many high blends of artificial fibres in berber and natural styles but when this exceeds half of the mix they tend to lose all attraction. This seems a British (and possibly European) taste issue as the Americans seem to love their artificial berbers (research seems to suggest).

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