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Carpet Fiber Characteristics

Not every carpet is created equally. Various fibers and how they are used in carpet dictates how easy the carpet will be to clean, and how long it will last and retain its bulk, texture and color. Click here for more information on Carpet Cleaning.

Of equal importance is knowing each fiber's characteristics. Each fiber has it's "pros and cons."

Most choices in carpet are based on color, with texture and style following close behind.

There are four main fiber types in modern, broadloom carpet. They are:

Nylon (about 60% of market)
Polyester (about 30% of market)
Olefin (about 10% of market)
Wool (less than 1% of market)

Nylon and durability

Nylon is known as a durable fiber. It's a good choice for heavy traffic areas.

Nylon's favorable qualities include:

Great resiliency

Accepts wide range of colors

Relatively colorfast

Easy to clean (with excellent results)

Not attracted to oily soils

Nylon's unfavorable qualities include:

Easiest of synthetic fibers to stain with typical food and beverage spills (fabric protection helps fight this problem)
Will lose color in presence of bleach, especially chlorine

Olefin and stain resistancy

Although olefin does not have the "strength" of nylon and tends to mat down and "ugly out" faster, it has some excellent qualities.

Olefin's favorable qualities include:

Water resistance (including water-based spills)
Colorfastness (will not lose color like nylon because the color in olefin is "locked in" due to solution dyeing.
Chemical resistance (you can use very strong chemicals when cleaning olefin)

Olefin's unfavorable qualities include:

Poor resiliency, abrades and "uglies out" rapidly
After cleaning, tends to wick to the surface
Has low melting point
Attracted to oily soils

Olefin is a good choice in areas where moisture is prevalent, such as in a basement or around a swimming pool. It's naturally stain resistant, which means it's a good choice when kids and Kool Aid is in abundance.

But it's a bad choice for areas where oils and greases will be prominent, such as in a room close to a garage or right off a city street or paved parking area.

If olefin carpet is installed in such an area, you need solid cleaning techniques.

Polyester

Polyester holds a healthy second place of market share, mainly due to the new designation of triexta.

Polyester's favorable qualities include:

Good hand (soft to touch)
Colorfast
Semi-resistant to bleaches and chemicals
Naturally stain resistant
Not attracted to acid dyes

Polyester's unfavorable qualities include:

Poor resiliency
Attracted to oily soils
After cleaning, tends to wick

Polyester is a good choice for low-traffic areas, and areas that have spot and stain concerns. Because it has a soft hand, it's often chosen due to texture.

Wool — the natural fiber

Wool's favorable characteristics include:

Naturally resilient
Resists abrading
Accepts wide range of colors
"Warm" fiber
Fire resistant
Hides soils
Repels moisture
Easy to clean

Wool's unfavorable characteristics include:

Expensive fiber
Dissolves in chlorine bleach
Some cleaning and stain removal is difficult
Does not react well with strong chemicals, which can limit your cleaning procedure
Color loss (bleeding and crocking)

Wool is obviously a favorite fiber for many, and because of its natural resiliency will last many years in a home or business.

Source: Cleanfax Online Author Jeff Cross

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