How is carpet made video

To be sure, carpet isn't the sexiest topic of conversation you'll ever bring up at a party, but it's actually pretty interesting. Consider this cool little factoid: The carpet you currently have in your home may have been boiled in a vat of water at some point. It's one method of dyeing carpet during production. Don't blame yourself if you don't know much about how carpet is made, even if you're standing or sitting on some right now.

Something as pedestrian and prosaic as carpeting is easy to take for granted. We've been decorating our homes with carpet since nomadic Middle Eastern tribes laid it down in their huts 2, years ago.

Today, more than a billion square feet nearly 93 million square meters of carpeting is produced in the United States each year; about 70 percent of that comes from a single town, Dalton, Ga. Carpet may be somewhat easy to overlook, but if you get down close to the stuff, you'll find not all carpet is alike.

You can learn quite a bit about carpet just by running your fingers over it. You'll find out whether the pile -- the exposed top part of carpet we usually refer to as "carpet" -- is composed of individual strands cut pile or closed loops tufted. You'll also be able to determine the density, or face weight , of the pile. You may also find that what you thought was a monochromatic carpet is actually the result of an optical illusion where several different dyes combine to create what looks like one color.

That plush sea of carpet keeping the floor of your living room nice and soft actually starts off as a bunch of loose strands of fibers called staples.

The staples are put into a hopper where they're heated, lubricated and formed into slivers, which are wound into a long spool of fiber. From there, the carpet-making process is ready to begin. Most carpet made today is tufted, or woven into closed loops. This method was developed in Dalton, Ga. Here's how it works: A needle pushes the carpet fibers through the underside of a piece of fabric called the carpet backing. At the same time, a strong secondary backing is also coated with latex.

Both of these are then rolled onto a marriage roller, which forms them into a sandwich and seals them together. Every piece of carpet that is tufted is inspected to see if any tufts are missing. One person with a single needle tufting gun shoots pile yarn wherever holes are found. Each piece of carpet is then inspected.

The manufacturer checks that the piece is of the proper dimensions and that the tuft height is of the desired length. The static shock potential is also tested. Most states require a flammability test. A methenamine tablet is ignited in the center. If the charred portion in seven out of eight trials does not reach to the circumference of the hole, the carpet passes.

Another important test determines the carpet's resistance to wear. A specimen of carpet is placed in a drum and beaten with a steel ball that has rubber studs on it for 20, to 50, revolutions. The carpet should look fairly new after this test.

To test how the carpet's color stands up to sunlight, a standard light source that simulates sunlight is directed at a specimen, which is then rated according to the number of units of exposure required to produce visible loss of color. The mass per unit area of pile yarn is a significant test because pile density determines the feel of the carpet.

First, the synthetic yarn is removed from the carpet, either by physical means it is ripped off the primary backing or chemical means it is dissolved off. The yarn is then dissolved in a solvent, then dried in an oven to remove the solvent. The dry residue is then weighed and checked to see if the mass is as specified for that type of carpet.

Each type of synthetic fiber has its own recipe. Backing fabrics and carpet padding are tested for strength by being pulled in a vise until they break.

The primary backing's strength is checked both before and after tufting. The delamination strength of the secondary backing is also tested by determining at what force the secondary backing can be pulled away from the primary backing.

Part of the quality control process is up to the customer, who must select carpet of the proper strength and durability for the amount of traffic expected in the room, vacuum regularly, and have the carpet professionally deep cleaned at least once a year. Deaton, Thomas M. Woven carpets often come at a price that is out of range for most consumers. Wilton textures can be in a cut pile, loop pile and a combination of cut and loop pile.

A carved appearance can also be achieved. Normally Wilton carpets come in one to three colors, but can include up to five colors.

May be used for cut or looped pile, or modified for other texture variations. Axminster is a traditional method of manufacturing cut pile carpet. The yarn and backing are woven at the same time to produce highly patterned designs of many colors. Most tufted carpet is manufactured using a greige yarn undyed yarn. During the carpet manufacturing process, once carpet yarn is stitched into place, the carpet is dyed using a variety of methods that will create solids, patterns or effects.

All tufted carpets including cut pile start out as a loop. For cut pile carpet the loops are cut during the tufting process. The face of the carpet is sheared to its desired effect and a secondary backing is applied to the carpet.

This secondary backing will give the carpet its stability and allow it to be stretched during the installation process. The following video will give you a better understanding of tufted carpet manufacturing including both tufting and dyeing.