How Your Carpet is Built

Many customers are not really aware of how their carpet is put together or it’s composition. Through our informational blog articles, Preferred Carpet Care of Redding would like to explain the manufacturing basics of carpeting so that you have a better understanding of what carpet is made of and how that affects its design and longevity, when regularly and properly cleaned. This article discusses the two major forms of construction found in commercial and residential carpeting — staple filament or continuous filament.

Staple Filaments

Staple fibers are individual strands of anywhere from three to ten inches that are spun together into yarn. This method of carpet construction is praised for its potential uniformity and regularity in fibers. Staple yarns are also the most versatile, allowing for multiple different carpet design styles. Note that the name does not mean that “staples” are involved in their manufacture, but is the trade name for this manufacturing process.

Staple carpet fibers are available at various price points, both costly and economy. All natural fibers are made with this method, such as wool and cotton. Polyester is generally only available in staple. Cost varies greatly, depending on the material and individual fiber lengths. Some installers recommend a carpet with a minimum of 7-inch fiber length to guarantee good quality.

One odd factor with staple carpets is that they do shed filaments for about two weeks after installation. It’s recommended that until the shedding stops, the customer should vacuum the carpet daily to suck up loose filaments. If the process continues past a month, you should contact your installer for advice.

BCF Carpeting

Bulked continuous filament is just that — yarn made with long, continuous strands of material. Since the individual strands of this material are much longer, every piece is firmly attached to the carpet backing and BCF does not shed like staple carpet fibers. Both nylon and olefin carpets are made with the BCF method (although nylon can be bought in staple form too).

Staple carpets used to have a large advantage in quality, but the two types are now comparable due to advances in BCF techniques. One area where BCF shines is with pets. Dog and cat claws tend to pull up carpet fibers, and here is where the longer strands of BCF are a huge advantage. BCF is far less likely to snag and get pulled out when pets are present, a big plus for animal owners.

Watch for future articles from Preferred Carpet Care in Redding that discuss the advantages of each of the most common materials used in manufacturing carpet strands. Each different type of carpet presents its own special challenges when cleaning, and you should leave it to the experts at Preferred Carpet Care to determine the best way to clean and preserve your carpets. For more information, contact us today!