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Carpet Materials And Construction
Variety is the spice of life—and of the carpet industry, too. One large carpet manufacturer alone now makes over 150 different types and patterns of carpet, covering an extremely broad range of price, colors, materials and construction. This is in sharp contrast to a few decades ago, when carpet lines were limited to four basic weaves, a narrow range of colors, and at most two basic fibers. Today, besides offering every imaginable color and shade, carpet manufacturers at least use eight different kinds of fiber for "face yarns." Prior to 1946, wool was the dominant fiber used.
QUALITY STANDARDS
With these new materials and constructions have come new standards of evaluating carpet quality. In the old days before the war there was a strong tendency to think of carpet value and quality in terms of weave or type of construction. The so-called "four basic weaves" were usually arranged in ascending order of quality—Axminster, Velvet, Wilton, and Chenille. Today, because of the many major refinements and improvements in these weaves, plus the addition of many fibers like nylon, and acrylics—and a wholly new process called "tufting"—this simple type of "yardstick" is now old-fashioned and inaccurate.
The material in this chapter is for your own information and guidance in selling and working with carpets. You're not expected to burden the customer with these details; as a matter of fact such information might tend only to confuse a customer. You are expected, however, to know the answers to any question the customer may ask you regarding construction, fibers, wear qualities, and value. Furthermore, you'll do a much better job of carpet laing when you know how the various types of carpet are put together and the kinds of materials used in their construction.
In answering customers' questions on carpet construction, remember to keep your replies brief and to the point. Don't let yourself get carried away; the customer's paying you to install the carpet, not to give a lecture.
LOOM WIDTHS
The width of a carpet is limited by the size of the loom or machine on which it is made. As a result, with the exception of one weave, carpets are made in standard widths. The smallest of these is 27-in. carpet. This width has been standard in the carpet industry since hand looms were first adapted to power machinery back in the early 19th century. The loom widths were gradually increased to 3 ft and then by multiples of three. As a result today carpets are available in widths of 27 in., 3 ft, 6 ft, 9 ft, 12 ft, 15 ft, and 18 ft.
