How Is Carpet Flooring Made?

What started as a thing for the wealthy and prominent has now become standard. Hand-knotted rugs and carpets are now available worldwide. In the past, the hand-knotted style of carpets was more evident in Asian locations. With time, these pieces were later exported to European nations before being embraced in other countries. Clipping lengths make these carpets of yarn. 

The yarn’s trimmed ends create a heap of rags, then arranged in rows across the warps.
There are several picks of wefts that separate each row of knots. The wefts are fixed as an interchanging series of plain weaves. 

What Is Handmade Carpet?

This refers to a floor covering knotted, weaved, or tufted by human hands. Most of the time, handmade carpets are made of natural fiber, especially wool or silk. They feature individual characters and designs, making them stand out. Due to their uniqueness and how rare they are, handmade carpets and rags are more expensive. With technology, more carpet-making methods have been discovered. However, the most common methods in handmade carpets are knotting and braiding. 

The Carpet-Making Process

Many of us have never taken the time to understand how carpets are made. This is because this is not such an exciting topic to discuss. A lot occurs before a single rug is produced, including boiling the wool. Hence, not understanding how that essential part of your house is made is not a crime. 

The raw materials of carpets are loose strands of fibers, commonly called staples. The staples are heated in the hopper and lubricated before forming into slivers. Then, the slivers are wound in a single long spool of fiber. This marks the beginning of the carpet-making process. Most carpets in the market today are woven or tufted into closed loops. This method finds its roots in Dalton, GA, also called the world’s carpet capital. 

The Knitting Process

The yards or staples are connected or knitted on a carpet backing fabric. A looper secures the fibers and then pushes through the backing with a needle. The knitted or braided fibers form a loop. Before machines were discovered, this process was very tedious and time-consuming. However, machines measuring about 12 feet wide, with around 800 to 12,00 needles, are used today. These machines work quickly and steadily to create a single carpet. 

For tufting carpets, the process ends at the loop. However, the process for cut-pile carpets goes through additional steps. The loopers holding the tufted carpets are pulled over sharp knives. This cut the loops into single strands, creating a cut-pile carpet. 

The Coloring Process 

Once a carpet has been knit into place, it is then taken through the dyeing process. There are two different dyeing methods: yarn or pre-dyeing and carpet dyeing. Just as it sounds, the dyeing or pre-dyeing involves dyeing the yarn before tufting. This is advantageous because it produces extensive lot-size dyeing and good side-by-side consistency. 

The second method involves dyeing the yarn after it has been tufted. There are different methods of carpet dyeing, each producing a unique result. These include:

Batch dyeing:

This involves stitching carpet ends together and soaking the loop in dye and water for hours. This option is ideal for heavier face-weight products and smaller production runs. 

Continuous dyeing:

This is similar to beck dyeing, but the carpet undergoes additional processes beyond dye application. In continuous dyeing, the color is directly sprayed or printed onto the carpet. This process can also create patterned or multicolor effects in the carpet. 

Screening: 

This method involves applying color through one to eight silk screens, commonly used for carpet dyeing. The screen method is preferable since it’s cheaper and offers greater color flexibility.

The Finishing Process

This involves the application of latex to both the dyed and the tufted carpet’s primary and secondary backing. Mostly, the secondary backing is made of woven synthetic polypropylene materials. 

A large heated press squeezes the two parts and holds them firmly to preserve their shape. The projecting fibers and little loose ends are removed through a shearing method. Shearing also helps achieve the yarn’s tip definition, as seen in a finished carpet. Finally, the carpets undergo defect inspections before being rolled, wrapped, and sold.

The installation process is the last and most crucial stage of your carpet flooring. Without proper installation, the beauty and uniqueness of your carpet will be lost. At Paragon Flooring, we enhance your carpet’s value and durability. Contact us today for professional carpet installation services.