Carpet Glossary

A wall to wall carpet is a textile floor covering consisting of an upper layer of “pile” attached to a backing. The pile is generally either made from wool or a man-made fibre such as polypropylene, nylon or polyester in synthetic fibre and wool, silk or cotton in natural fibres. Usually consists of twisted tufts which are often heat-treated to maintain their structure.

Fibre crushing is irreparable loss of pile height caused by traffic or weight. To reduce and/or delay the effect, consider berber loop carpets in olefin, nylon or wool fibres. Polyester fibres are more vulnerable against fibre crushes and matting.

Denier is the amount of yarn per area of carpet. A unit of linear mass density of fibres.

Flocking is the process of depositing many small fibre particles (called flock) onto a surface. Flocked carpet is made of tufts of wool or cotton fibre.

Knitted carpet is formed by interlacing yarn in a series of connected loops.

Carpet memory or Underpad (carpet cushion) refers to texture retention.

A pile is a column of carpet fibre.

Heat and humidity can cause ruffles or waves in wall-to-wall carpet. A professional carpet retailer or installer can re-stretch the carpet with a power stretcher.

New carpet tends to shed for a few weeks after installation. Regular vacuuming can resolve this problem. Shedding is more common in cut pile carpet and in wool carpet. Synthetic fibre carpet (such as nylon) does not shed as much.

Sprouting occurs when fluffy particles appear on carpet surfaces. Usually, you can simply cut the sprouts with sharp scissors. If the sprouts are large, however, call in a professional carpet cleaner, retailer, or installer to resolve the problem.

Twist is the winding of the yarn around itself. More twist improves carpet performance (especially in cut pile).

Interlacing strands of fibre into a yarn forms woven carpet.

Density refers to the amount of pile yarn per area of carpet or the closeness of the tufts. Higher density carpet improves resistance to crushing and matting.

Double-glued seams attaches carpet to bare floor to prevent delamination and edge ravel.Installers should double-glue (by using an latex based seam sealer) seams to prevent fuzzing / fraying.

Double-glued seams attaches carpet to bare floor to prevent delamination and edge ravel.Installers should double-glue (by using an latex based seam sealer) seams to prevent fuzzing / fraying.

Fuzzing occurs when fluffy particles appear on carpet surfaces. It is caused by fibres that loosen because of weak twist or snags. Professional carpet cleaners can shear the carpet to remove fuzzing.

Matting is the usually irreversible adhesion of carpet yarn caused by traffic or dirt.

Needle punched carpet is stitched into backing material.

Pile reversal or shading is a feature of cut pile carpet. Traffic bends the carpet fibre in different directions creating an impression of light and dark areas. Regular vacuuming can create uniform shades.

Shading is the same as pile reversal.

Snags can occur when an object tangles in carpet. Usually, you can simply cut the snag with sharp scissors. If the snag is large, however, call in a professional carpet cleaner, retailer, or installer to resolve the problem.

Cold and low humidity often create isolated motionless charges of electricity. Some carpets provide static resistance. Humidifiers also limit static electricity buildup.

Twist level is the number of turns per inch of yarn.

Yarn is made of fibres that are twisted together to form a continuous strand.

Yarn count reflects the amount of yarn packed into a given area.