Carpet Glossary

This Carpet Glossary provides an easy to understand explanation of terms commonly used in the carpet flooring industry.

Carpet

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.

Crushing

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

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

Flocked

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

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

Memory

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

Pile

A pile is a column of carpet fibre.

Rippling

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.

Shedding

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

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

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

Woven

Interlacing strands of fibre into a yarn forms woven carpet.

Density

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 / Seam Sealer

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.

French Cap Installation (Stairs)

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

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

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

Needle Punched

Needle punched carpet is stitched into backing material.

Pile Reversal

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

Shading is the same as pile reversal.

Snags

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.

Static Electricity

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

Twist Level

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

Yarn

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

Yarn Count

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

Face Weight

Face weight is the number of ounces of fibre per square yard in the face of the carpet (not including the backing). The face weight has no affects in relation to performance and durability. A 20 Oz. Polypropylene (Olefin) carpet will perform better than a 100 Oz. Polyester fibre carpet. Durability and performance is DIRECTLY related to the construction method and fibre type. Also face weight is different from density because it varies with carpet height.

Safety / Softens Slips And Falls

Carpet is ideal for cushioning our footsteps, reducing slips and falls and minimizing injuries when falls do occur. Carpet provides safety protection for the whole family, but especially for toddlers and older individuals.

Fibre

Fibre is the fundamental unit of carpet. Carpet fibres are made from nylon, polyester, cotton, acrylics, wool, and recycled material.

Heat Setting

Heat setting is the process of heating or steaming yarns to hold their twist. A thermal process taking place mostly in either a steam atmosphere or a dry heat environment. Most nylon, olefin, and polyester cut pile carpets are heat set. The effect of the process gives fibres, yarns or fabric dimensional stability and, very often, other desirable attributes like higher volume, wrinkle resistance or temperature resistance.

Pilling

Pilling occurs when fluffy particles appear on carpet surfaces. It is caused by fibres that loosen because of weak twist or snags. Usually, you can simply cut the pills with sharp scissors. If the pills are large, however, call in a professional carpet cleaner, retailer, or installer to resolve the problem.

Soiling

Soiling occurs when dirt particles build up in carpet fibres. Regular vacuuming and cleaning will prevent this problem.

Texture Retention

Texture retention or carpet memory is the ability of tufts to retain their shape under traffic. Caring for care will help texture retention.

Tufted

Tufted carpets are pieces of yarn embedded in backing material.

Waterfall Installation / Stairs

Stairs are composed of a tread (the upper horizontal part of a step) and a riser (the upright member between two stair treads). Waterfall installation attaches carpet to two points on each step (one at the back of the tread and one at the bottom of each riser). It is an inexpensive, not suggested method of installation before staple guns where available in our industry. However, in some case this method is still the only option for treads without a nosing and with mouldings beneath the tread nosing.