With some many types of carpet to choose between, it can be difficult for organisations to choose the right carpet for their needs. The problem is worsened by a handful of carpet specification myths that crop up, time and time again. Today, I’m busting those myths.
1) Solution Dyed Nylon is Your Only Choice
Solution dyed nylon (SDN) is one of the most popular carpet fibre choices, with many people believing that SDN can outperform other carpet types. This is largely because of SDN’s innate bleach resistance, allowing organisations to use bleach solutions to clean their carpets.
However, while this may be beneficial in a healthcare environment, most organisations (like schools and offices) will rarely use bleach cleaning. Even then, most standard SDN products can only withstand a bleach solution of up to 10% concentration. Other forms of carpet can be made to resist the same concentration of bleach through the application of special post-dye treatments – reducing the need to limit your carpet choice to SDN only.
2) You Need a Specific Fibre Face Weight
Face weight often plays an important role in the carpet buying process – and in many cases, flooring decisions boil down to a choice between specific face weights.
If you’re choosing a hard-backed product, face weight plays an important role in determining the appearance retention of your carpet, as it’s the carpet’s fibres that take the strain of foot traffic. However, if you’re choosing a cushion-backed product, face weight plays only a minimal role in determining durability.
In addition to face weight, there are a multitude of factors that determine the appearance retention of carpet. While your choice of backing has the single biggest impact on your carpet’s appearance retention, face weight is one of the least important (ranked 7th out of 8 major factors).
3) Branded Fibres Are Significantly Better Than Unbranded Fibres
Many manufacturers sell both branded fibres (with a manufacturer-specific formulation and name) and unbranded fibres; and it’s a common assumption that branded fibres offer unparalleled performance.
However, the real differences between branded and unbranded fibres aren’t always as clear as manufacturers make it seem. Though branded fibres will typically outperform unbranded fibres, unbranded fibres still provide excellent performance, allowing you to choose from a wider range of products at a significantly lower cost. As mentioned above, fibre type is more important when used with hard-backed products – but its impact on appearance retention is greatly diminished when the product has a cushion backing.
4) All Nylon Fibre is the Same
Many carpet manufacturers use two distinct types of nylon fibre – Type 6 and Type 6,6. Despite their similar names, these types of fibre do have different characteristics. Though many manufacturers claim that Type 6 is the same as Type 6,6, each fibre type will have a different impact on your carpet’s performance.
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