 |
LAKE CABINET & FLOORING, INC.Are you ready for a new carpet experience ? |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
Carpet Types of Construction (Carpet 101)
Today's carpet manufacturers are combining softer fibers, better stain resistance with backings that block odors, spills and more! These types of features are built into the better-quality carpets offered by the leading carpet manufacturers. Most carpet today is tufted, rather than woven. The tufting process is similar to using a large sewing machine that is about 13 feet wide with 100 of needles that sew the yarn into a synthetic backing. The majority of carpets sold today are made from nylon fibers twisted into yarns and then tufted into carpet. Carpet is basically constructed in two types of piles: loop pile or cut pile . Patterned carpet is a combination of both loop and cut yarns or variations of loops set to different pile heights. Special Note About Berber Carpets: Berber carpets are big bulky, loops of yarn that are either produced in a level loop, or multi-level loop carpet construction. they are usually made from olefin or wool yarns and are ideal for active areas of the home, such as family rooms. Berber carpets are also available in a cut pile construction as well as loop pile. How long a carpet will retain it's like new texture and appearance is based on the type of fiber, how tight the yarns are twisted and heatset, and the pile density. (Obviously, not cleaning your carpets regularly, or improper cleaning methods will effect the appearance as well.) Also, how close tufts are to one another will effect the durability of the carpet. Below is a brief overview of the most common carpet construction types sold in flooring stores in the United States.
Twist or Textured A very popular cut pile carpet that
has alternating twists of yarn creating a two-tone appearance. This carpet
creates a more casual atmosphere in the room and is available in a broad
range of prices. A twist shows less vacuum lines and footprints than its
close companion Saxony. Because of this it looks a bit
less formal and sometime is a more popular choice in higher traffic and more
heavily used areas. Twists are usually the best choice of the
cut-pile carpets for steps.
Saxony has a smooth, soft, velvet plush look and a luxurious feel
with a uniform twist and finish. This style is not a good choice for high
traffic areas or rooms with active kids. Also be aware that this style does
show footprints and vacuum marks. Saxonies appear very formal and
luxurious. They are very popular for less used rooms like living
room, sitting rooms and dinning rooms.
Frieze This is a cut pile style that has a very high twist
level, meaning each strand of yarn is twisted so tightly that they actually
curl over at the end. This creates a textured surface with a knobby
appearance, and a carpet of high durability and very good wear-ability.
Cable A style of carpet constructed of thicker, typically
longer yarn that is better suited for rooms without a lot of activity. It
can matte and crush with heavy foot traffic so it is not recommended for
stairs, hallways and other busy areas in your home.
Berber A looped style carpet is often referred to as a
Berber. Berbers are big bulky yarns with characteristic color flecks that
are either produced in a level loop or multi-level loop carpet construction.
Although many Berbers are made out of olefin fiber, some are made with
nylon, or a blend of various carpet fibers.
Carpet Fibers
Most carpets today are manufactured from a type of three basic fibers Nylon, Olefin and Polyester. Soft Carpet fibers or improved forms of each have moved the carpet industry over the last few years. Each fiber types weakness have been improved greatly over yesterdays carpets.
Tip- Don't make the mistake of shopping carpets by price. As with most products you get what you pay for. A better method is to determine what you want in look and performance and then compare the styles, brands and even the companies your considering. Asking "how much is your carpet" is like calling your local car dealer and asking "how much for a car". There are large ranges in carpet quality and prices from $10-$40 per yard.
Typically when you are selecting a cut-pile, a Saxony, or a frieze you are choosing between Nylon and Polyester. If were to take a two generic hypothetical carpets with the weight, density and pile height being the same, and the fibers were not stain treated or improved (which they all are) the Nylon would resist wear & matting, be more vivid in color than the polyester. The polyester would however be softer, more stain resistant and less expensive than the nylon. Every nylon carpet in our store has a form a stain treatment. Many like our Wunda Weave line of carpets are made from a softened nylon that feels great to the touch.
Nylon: This is the most popular synthetic carpet fiber used today. It offers tremendous value, performance, and ease of maintenance. Nylon provides brilliant colors and hides soil and traffic well. A synthetic fiber. Almost 75% of carpet today is made of nylon. Nylon is the leader in: appearance retention, fade and heat resistance, soil and stain resistance, and color and styling. Because it is a more porous fiber it requires stain treatments. Standard nylons are bit harder to the touch than most other carpet fibers. When comparing nylon to other fibers. Overall nylon is normally the best choice if all other specifications are the same. Today's most advanced nylon carpet fibers actually reduce dirt and soils ability to stick or transfer onto the surface of the carpet. These specially treated fibers will even bead up liquid spills rather than allowing to soak in. This makes carpets manufactured with these new generation fibers much easier to keep clean and looking like new longer than ever before. Soft Carpet Fibers: Some fiber manufacturers are producing fibers that feel as soft as cotton (such as Wunda Weve Smartstrand or Tacttest Stainmaster Tactesse® BCF fibers, Honeywell's Anso Caress and DuraSoft® by Wear-Dated), yet will outperform many other conventional carpet fibers. The difference is the nylon filaments are really much finer than the typical filaments (finer than a strand of hair) but twice as much fibers are packed into the strands of yarn. This gives these carpets its softness and strength.
Tip-Nylon carpets are either Continuous filament or Non-Continuous. Read the section below to understand what the difference means to you.
Olefin: This fiber is also called polypropylene. Olefin is extremely popular in Berbers, level loops carpets and outdoor turf products. Olefin carpets are highly stain, static, mold, and mildew resistant. They can be used for indoor or outdoor carpets. Olefin's resistance to matting and crushing is not quite as good as a nylon.Polyester: Gives excellent color clarity with a soft feel to the carpet. Lacks the durability of a nylon carpet. Naturally a bit softer than nylon. Is more eco-friendly. (made from recycled plastic bottles) Polyesters are normally a bit lighter on your budget when compared to their nylon counter part. A common synthetic material well accepted for its bulkiness, color clarity, and good stain and fade resistance. While not as resilient as nylon, Polyester fiber carpet constructed with today’s new technologies can be a good performer.Acrylic: Has a real wool look and appearance. Used mainly in level loops, bath mats, and some velvet carpet styles. Offers good mold and mildew resistance with low static levels.Wool: Although somewhat expensive, wool still offers great bulk, performance and an elegant look. Wool is not stain resistant and can smell when it gets wet. The coat of sheep and the original staple fiber used in the making of carpet. Since wool is a natural fiber, it ranges in color from off-white to black, with many earthen tones between. Although wool doesn’t stand up to abrasion and moisture as well as synthetics, it cleans well and is known to age gracefully. Wool is the most expensive carpet fiber, and represents less than one percent of the U.S. carpet market.
Fiber Performance in Carpet
| Nylon (filament) | Nylon (staple) | Olefin (filament) | Polyester (staple) | Wool (staple) | |
| Durability | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Good |
| Resilience | Excellent | Excellent | Fair | Fair | Excellent |
| Stain Resistant* | Very Good | Very Good | Excellent | Very Good | Very Good |
| Soil Resistant** | Very Good | Very Good | Fair | Good | Very Good |
| Cleaning | Very Good | Very Good | Very Good | Good | Very Good |
| Available Colors | Excellent | Excellent | Fair | Very Good | Fair |
| Pilling & Fuzzing | Excellent | Fair | Very Good | Fair | Fair |
| Resistance to Household Cleaners | Very Good | Very Good | Excellent | Very Good | Good |
* assuming nylon is treated with a stain resistant chemical.
** assuming treatment with a soil resistant chemical.
Many homeowners choose carpet because it is warm and soft under foot. When you select a carpet you generally buy it with the expectations that your new carpet will look just like the sample in the store for many years. Having some general knowledge about the different characteristics of carpet will help you choose the best carpet to meet your expectations.
- YARN TWIST - When it comes to carpet "tighter is better" . In general terms, the tighter the twist the longer the carpet will perform before it begins to crush and matt. By taking lots of fine fiber strands (called filaments) and spinning them into a tightly twisted yarn and then locking them all together with heat you get a much more resilient yarn for making carpet.
- SHORTER NAP - The height of the carpet's nap is also important to the overall performance of the carpet. The higher the yarn stands above the backing of the carpet the more difficult it is for the manufacturer to make the carpet crush and matt resistant. So the shorter the pile height the more crush resistant and the longer the like-new appearance of your carpet will last.
- STITCHES PER INCH - Like most fabric materials, carpet that has more yarn (or stitches) per inch will also be more crush and matt resistant. Some carpets are so dense that it is nearly impossible to push your fingers in between the yarns. Obviously, the carpets where the yarns are so crowded and packed together will have a easier time resisting crushing.
- CARPET CUSHION - A good quality carpet cushion will extend the life of any carpet, regardless of the quality of the carpet. Carpet cushion serves a vital purpose which is often over looked. Good quality carpet cushion acts as both a shock absorber and a spring which helps improve a carpet's overall performance. Review the carpet manufacturer's cushion recommendations prior to purchasing a carpet.
- Families with pets or worried about spills should look for carpet cushions that are made specially to block spills from penetrating the cushion and are odor-resistant. As examples, Mohawk offers carpet cushions with Odor Eaters™ and Invista's STAINMASTER™ carpet cushion features the DuPont™ Hytrel® breathable moisture barrier to keep spills from soaking into the cushion.
- CONTINUOUS FILAMENT NYLON (CFN) - If you see on the back of a carpet sample a label that says "CFN" , or "BCF" , that means this carpet is made from continuous filament nylon. Continuous filament nylon starts out as one long continuous strand before made into yarn. The other type is called staple nylon , which means each fine filament starts out as a short strand about 7 inches long before it is spun into yarn and then tufted into carpet. As the short, unsecured pieces of staple nylon come loose from the yarn pile you get pilling on the surface of the carpet. This does not happen with a continuous nylon carpet. A non-continuous carpet will typically cost less than a continuous filament of the same weight. The downside is that these carpets shed more, especially immediately after installation. Simply vacuum the carpet to remove these pilings. Over time the "shedding" decreases drastically.
- LOOPED CARPETS - From level loops to berbers there is an important factor to look for when buying a crush resistant looped carpet. This is the density of the loop and how much free space is underneath the loop. Like all carpets the more filaments that are packed into the yarn and the tighter the loops the better the performance will be.
Want the best carpet? ... Anything Goes!
Anything Goes! carpets were originally
developed in 1981 to address the number-one complaint concerning carpet
performance -- matting and crushing. Backed by the strongest warranty
protection available, Anything Goes! Carpets are guaranteed by ShawMark
to resist matting and crushing due to twist lost for a full five or ten
years, depending on the particular Anything Goes! style.
Lew Migliore Floor Covering News
"Pound for pound and dollar for dollar one of the best products on the
market is Anything Goes! This carpet just plain works."
Warren Tyler Floor Covering News
"No residential quality can stand up to it at any price, thanks to its
superior yarn system. In fact, nothing comes close. It retains its
crisp good looks under all circumstances."
SmartStrand
SmartStrand™ Called The "Biggest Fiber Innovation in 20 Years"
New Mohawk® fiber made with DuPont™ Sonora® polymer offers built-in stain resistance, durability, softness
"You're looking at a product that will do things that other fibers just can't."
So says Ed Williams, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Mohawk Industries, about the company's new SmartStrand™ fiber made with DuPont™ Sorona® polymer. According to Mohawk, SmartStrand is the "biggest fiber innovation in 20 years."
"Smartstrand fiber made with Dupont Sorona polymer has the resilience of nylon, coupled with permanent stain resistance and a very soft hand," said Williams. "It's a major step forward."
Unlike many stain treatments that are added to the fiber after manufacture, SmartStrand's stain resistance is engineered into the fiber, so it will never wear off, no matter how many times it is cleaned. And this built-in stain resistance reaches new levels of protection, allowing tough stains such as mustard and red wine to be removed with warm water and a mild detergent or Mohawk FloorCare Essentials.
Tests show that it even resists damage from bleach and acne medications. In fact, its stain resistance is so good that Mohawk is offering its first-ever Limited Lifetime Warranty for stain resistance.
Like nylon, SmartStrand fiber made with DuPont Sorona polymer is readily dyeable, giving carpet designers an infinite range of colors. Testing indicates that wearability and durability performance is equal to or better than equivalent constructions of premium nylon. The product is also inherently soft, and it provides this comfort without having to reduce the fiber's denier and compromise performance characteristics.
Williams noted that one particularly important benefit of SmartStrand fiber is that its advantages can be easily demonstrated. A panel in the SmartStrand collection display features samples of the product and of a stain-treated nylon with red wine, mustard, and bleach stains.
Consumers can see the difference in how the stains can be removed. In
addition, there is a DVD, which shows the value of the product's
engineered-in stain resistance, and actual samples will also show
clean ability.
"We think this is critical," Williams said. "Consumers have come to expect stain resistant treatments, but we want them to understand why the engineered-in stain performance of SmartStrand is a major difference."
SmartStrand fiber made with DuPont Sorona polymer lends itself to a wide range of carpet constructions as well-standard textures, friezes, berber flecks, and high-twist styles-providing the ability to use the fiber readily through all price points.
Where to Shop for Carpet
Today's consumers have more choices than ever on where to buy carpet. This outline may shed some insight or reestablish points of the carpet business you may already be aware of.
Department Stores:
Most Department Stores have lost their carpet business to the floorcovering specialty stores. Although some provide comfortable shopping. The overhead of Department Stores is often too expensive to allow a full service carpet department. Also there can installation or subcontractor hassle. Many Department stores subcontract installation to many different installation crews.
The Big Box Home Center:
They are all trying to convince you that they are the cheapest place to purchase carpet. This is simply a great marketing ploy, and is not true. If you shop this type of store you will find it difficult at best to find a salesperson who knows much about carpet. Secondly, you will find that all the carpet has been private labeled so that you cannot compare apples to apples. Furthermore, if you do select a carpet from their showroom, most of these companies charge between $30 to $50 for an estimate, and the only way you get this money back is to purchase the carpet from them. Finally, the contract labor pool that this type of store must draw from does not assure you of a quality installation.
The Giant Super Duper Carpet Store:
This type of carpet store is characterized by LARGENESS. Large building or warehouse, Large inventory, large advertising budget, large payroll, cheesy ad campaigns, and usually large problems. In order to pay for all the expense of running a large operation, the profit margins still have to be high; thus, the perceived savings of buying from the Super Duper Store is lost buy expensive overhead. As a consumer, it is difficult to feel you are of any importance to the Super Duper Store unless you are going to spend three or four thousand dollars. Furthermore, the Super Duper Store often has carpet labeled under their own name; thus, you have no chance of doing any comparative shopping of their products. There has been marketing studies on companies with these large gimmicky advertising campaigns. Their goal or "trick" is to sell carpet to everyone one time. They don't rely on word of mouth our customer satisfaction. They use outlandish ways to lure their customers into the store. Let's face it if it takes a free trip to Bermuda or no payments for 5 years to get you to buy from them you should know something's wrong. And who do you think pays for all of that. Another common practice of these stores is to advertise things like "free padding". When you get the store you will be told or hopefully realize yourself that the "free" padding is junk and you need to be upgraded (at a cost of course). Or the old "bait and switch" where they advertise a low cost leader to get you into the store then switch you to a more expensive carpet or carpets with higher profit margins.
The Mill Outlets, Discount Centers, Brokers or Wholesalers:
The business usually has some catchy name like "CARPET AT COST". Or names that make you believe you buying directly from the mill, such as "Discount Carpet Mills" or "Georgia Mill Outlet" These places of sell unbranded, discontinues, roll specials, seconds and defectives. Your own labor force will be needed to install the carpet because the brokers doe not supply labor. They have no intent to provide more than minimum service. There is risk in buying carpet this way. If you have a labor problem you, as a consumer, must deal with the person responsible for installation; this is never the broker's responsibility. The other concern is if you should have a material or Installation problem only that part of your purchase (if any) may be warranted and you stuck with the rest.
Carpet from a Van
:There are two types of business that fall in this category.
First is the carpet installer selling out of the back of his truck, or out of his house. This is often a poor option for the consumer. First , you have little or no selection. Second, this person usually cannot buy directly from the manufacturer which means you pay more, not less. Also, the smaller Nomad Carpet dealer has no influence with the carpet suppliers, and therefore no support to handle any claims for manufacturing defects. This can be a big risk to a consumer.
Second is the large National Franchises that offer in home selection and next day installation. While in home selection can be convenient it limits your selections to a few styles and the carpets they stock locally. If they can install your carpet tomorrow you can only imagine the labor pool they are drawing from.
Lake Cabinet & Flooring a Local Owned Dealer backed by Flooring Plus, Mannington, Mohawk & DuPont.
Here is your best place to shop for carpet. They have a stake in the community. Furthermore, you will not have far to go for service after the sale. You can also be assured that complaints will be handled quickly, as you are his neighbor. You should enjoy yourself when selecting new carpet. If you feel like just a number at other carpet stores, try your local store. You will find good old fashion service with professional concern for your particular floorcovering needs. Ask your neighbors. You may find the best deal right in your own backyard. A comfortable place to shop. They offer the name brand best sellers, the latest fabrics, styles an colors. Selling first quality goods unlike those liquidators and so called mill direct places. They can help you understand the different types and styles of carpet available today and help you select carpet that fits your needs whether it’s the best value for your dollar, stain resistance, appearance, texture, color, or crush resistance. They offer professionalism, service and expert installation with prices equal or better than the big box stores. They don’t private label carpets to prevent you from comparing apples to apples. They rely on word of mouth business and want our customers to be completely satisfied. Our goal is to provide comfortable shopping. Although they do run periodic specials we don’t use outlandish promotions and gimmicks or mark up the sticker price of the carpet to market down at the sale, promising to provide you with the right carpet, the right pad, the right price and expert, clean, professional, courteous installation”.