by Godspower Anthony

Created on: June 14, 2008   Last Updated: January 02, 2012

Carpet is comfortable on our toes but we do not have clear idea how carpet is made .Knowing how carpet is made is very helpful. It enables you to understand the product of the material right from their production. It also helps you understand and evaluate their performance aspects. Understanding carpet manufacturing and material can make you a smarter shopper.

Fiber is the basic material used in making of carpet .There are two types of fiber: synthetic fiber and natural fiber. Examples of synthetic fiber are nylon, polypropylene or polyester.  All three comes from chemical processes of oil and natural gas. Example of natural fiber is wool.

There are basically three steps to manufacturing of carpets.  They are tufting, dyeing and finishing process.

Tufting begins with the process of weaving the synthetic fiber or stable fiber into a primary backing material. The primary backing material is usually made of woven polypropylene and its usefulness is to provide to a base cloth and to hold the yarn in place while the tufting happens.

The tufting machine looks like a really big sewing machine. Its needles penetrates the backing , enabling a small hook called a looper to grab the yarn and holds it in place resulting in what is called loop pile construction.

An alternative step is where the small loops of yarn are cut creating what we call a pile carpet . The cuts are controlled by a computer and sometimes programmed to cut some of the loops.  Loop pile products maintain good appearance. Since there are no exposed yarn tips, only the sides of the yarn are exposed to wear and stress.

The second step of carpet manufacturing is the application of dye.  There are two dyeing processes.

The first process is yarn dyeing or pre-dyeing where the color is applied to the yarn prior to tufting. Its advantages include good side-by-side color consistency, a large lot sizes and uniformity.

The second method is called carpet dyeing .It involves applying color to the yarn after the carpet has been tufted. There are several carpet dyeing methods in use each producing a unique end result. There are also techniques used in dyeing.

The first technique is often referred to as BECK or batch dyeing.  It involves stitching the ends of the carpet together and then running the tufted carpet loop through large vats of dyeing and water for several hours. The beck process is ideal for smaller production runs and heavier face weight products.

Similar to beck dyeing

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>