Carpeting For Your Home

Carpet can offer more versatility, comfort, ease of maintenance and health benefits than other flooring options. It is also more "budget-friendly" than most other choices and there are styles to coordinate with every décor.

Here are some general terms for understanding how carpet is made and how to judge carpet quality and durability. Judging how durable your new carpeting will be determines how long your carpet will look and feel good. Ideally, carpet will retain its original texture and appearance for years to come. Durability depends on finding the right balance of three important factors defined below:

Fiber
During carpet manufacturing, natural or synthetic fiber is converted to yarn and tufted, or locked into a backing to form the pile or surface that you walk on. There are five major types of carpet fiber - nylon 6,6, nylon 6, polypropylene (olefin), polyester, and wool; the most popular being nylon.

Ideal for carpeting, nylon 6,6 is a man-made fiber that is wear-resistant (soil and stain resistant). Its natural properties allow for a very wide range of colors and color blends and the newest fibers offer the look and feel of wool, but with much less maintenance and expense.

Twist
The twist of the fiber is the way the fiber filaments are spun into yarn, and how the yarn is in turn twisted upon itself. Twist is usually locked into the fiber with a steam or heat-setting. The tighter the twist, the more the carpet will resist changes in appearance and texture.

 Density
Density describes the amount of pile in the carpet and how close the tufts are to one another. In general, the more dense the carpet the better the quality. Check density by pressing your fingers on the carpet and trying to reach the backing. It will be difficult to reach the backing of a very dense carpet. With the tufts facing outward, bend the carpet into a U shape to see how much of the carpet backing shows. The less backing you see, the more dense the carpet.

Now if clothes make the man (or woman), then we'd like to propose that carpet makes the home. Virtually every season new designer colors and patterns, along with improvements in fibers, are introduced, making it easy to update your décor with a look and feel that captures your personal style.

Color theory studies have proven that the palettes we select for our walls and floors do more than provide a pretty backdrop for our home furnishings. They impact our mood, our energy level - even our appetite. The wall and floor covering colors you choose should be "non-offending" in order to ensure the highest resale value of your home. Most carpet lines feature a range of beiges, off-whites, taupes and soft sisal-like naturals. Selecting a neutral allows for maximum compatibility with prospective buyers' existing furnishings. This way they won't have to move in and redo the walls and floors or their furnishings right away, unless they want to.