by Mona Gallagher

Created on: June 12, 2008   Last Updated: June 18, 2008

Most of us don't think about how carpets are made when we walk into a showroom to look at carpets, but there are advantages to understanding the fibers and the processes involved in carpet manufacturing. Armed with that knowledge, we can make wiser choices on carpets that retain their color and durability and what we can expect in performance and value for our purchase.

Carpets are now an affordable commodity, but it wasn't always so. When the first handmade rugs were made around 3000 BC, they adorned Egyptian homes. Later, nomads made brightly colored rugs from hand made looms, and shortly after that, Turkish rugs began to appear in the market. As the textile trade and industry progressed, rug making sprang up all over the globe.

William Sprague set up the first US carpet factory in 1791 in Philadelphia. Prior to that time, carpets were considered a luxury affordable only to affluent families, but by the twentieth century, tufting and carpet dyeing technology came about and carpets became more affordable to households. Today carpets are commonplace in homes and now make up about 72 percent of all flooring, but how do they make carpets?

Carpet making begins with the materials used in construction and of great importance is the fiber used in construction. The choices are synthetic fibers and staple fibers (usually wool) each with their own unique properties and advantages. Natural or staple fibers are expensive but carpet dye is readily accepted by natural fibers. About 1 percent of US carpets are made with natural fibers.

Synthetics are the most widely used fibers accounting for about 95 percent of all carpet manufacturing. Three of these synthetics, nylon, polypropylene, and polyester are the major fiber materials used in carpets. Nylon gives the best overall performance with good fade and heat resistance, soil and stain resistance, and retains its appearance better.

The first process in making a carpet depends on the fiber and the carpet dye. Some fibers must be pre-dyed before they are tufted because of their moisture resistance. The advantage to this pre color application is the ability to make large carpet dye lots and provide uniformity of color.

The fibers are woven onto a primary backing material such as a polypropylene backing by a machine that resembles a gigantic sewing machine. This process is called tufting. The carpet machine is loaded with 800 to 1000 needles that work together to push the yard through the woven backing and a looper pushes it back.

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