Whats in a Carpet, Velvet, Wool or Nylon?
AN early woven pile carpet, Wilton, and an early woven looped style, Axminster, are still the best. Weaving packs more fiber into a carpet than tufting, giving a softer, longer-lasting product, said Jim Goddard, a carpet retailer in Oregon with a helpful Web site (www.carpetguru.com). Wilton can cost from $65 a yard to $1,000 a yard or more. Since the 1950’s, tufted carpet has dominated the industry and now counts for more than 90 percent of broadloom sold in this country. Two common tufted carpets are velvet, with a plush, cut-pile surface, and Berber, with a tight, neat looped finish. Another, newer texture is wool sisal, tufted and sheared to resemble sisal. Wool has a richer feel, resists staining and wears better than other fibers. A good wool carpet will start at about $45 per yard. Good amounts of dense wool fiber and good jute backing — not plastic — are crucial, Mr. Goddard said. Otherwise you will be vacuuming up bags of wool.
Related Questions
- I understand carpets are made of different fibres, nylon, wool etc. What type of carpet do you recommend will last longest, especially in high traffic areas?
- I shrunk a sweater made of 50% lambs wool, 40% angora and 10% nylon. Is there anything I can do to reshape my sweater?
- Is 80/20 wool/nylon intimate fibre mix loop pile carpet a good idea?
