by Lynn Edwards

Created on: June 14, 2008   Last Updated: September 03, 2010

Beginning with the first hide being thrown onto a cave floor, man has created a variety of ways to keep his feet from touching his home ground. From rushes tossed onto the dirt or stone floors to the silken carpets of the Orient, what someone walks upon in his home has determined his wealth for centuries. With the Industrial Revolution came a faster way of making carpets, and in the 1950's when the tufting process, along with the invention of synthetic fibers and reliable carpet dyes were invented, the Carpet Boom exploded.

Still, the most valuable carpet remains the intricately hand knotted creation of the desert nomad. These carpets can be sold for sums equivalent to other works of fine art. Though chrome carpet dyes are used in the Middle East today, the pigments derived from plants and insects are still used. The natural beauty of their color and their durability makes the time consuming, expensive process of producing them worthwhile. While it is the women who spin the wool or cotton and tie up to thousands of knots per inch on their collapsible looms, it is the men who pick, dig, dry, grind and steep the leaves, stems and roots of the plants they and their ancestors have known will produce the most vibrant and subtle colors.

In the 18th century, the English towns of Axminster and Wilton were chartered as carpet making towns. Axminster uses massive looms that weave bobbins of carpet yarn and backing together to form complex patterns that can contain up to 16 different colors. Electronic grippers seize the loops and a knife cuts them. These carpets are woven with British and Irish wool for durability, New Zealand wool for its brightness and dyeing properties and an 80/20 combination of wool and nylon, which takes advantage of nylon's resiliency and its resistance to abrasion. Less than 1% of the carpets worldwide are wool, for even though they age well and are easy to clean, they are expensive.

In the USA, its synthetics that have made carpet affordable for the masses. Nylon makes up 70% of all residential carpets. Polypropylene and polyester are also used. Polypropylene resists stains, fading and moisture while polyester is bulky and keeps a clear color throughout its life.

Modern carpets are made by a process known as tufting. A machine resembling a gigantic sewing machine, with anywhere from 800 to 2,000 needles working in sync, pulls the twisted fiber from huge spools through the primary backing and a small hook (looper) grabs it and holds it in place.

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