Understanding Carpet Fibers
What You Need to Know About Carpet Fibers
There are six types of fibers that have been used in carpets over the years: nylon, olefin, acrylic, polyester, cotton, and wool. Understanding the ups and downs of each fiber will help you make the better choice for your home.
Natural Fibers
Cotton and wool are the two types of natural fibers. Cotton, although not as durable or resilient as wool and synthetic fibers, is soft and takes dye very well. It is used most often for specialty handmade rugs. Wool is used in loose rugs and wall to wall installations. Wool hides soil well, is resilient, and is considered the luxury fiber.
The disadvantage to any natural fiber is that it is soft and absorbent. Absorbency permits easy staining. Soft fibers require a greater density to withstand traffic. Considering the cost of wool fiber and greater density normally used, wool carpets tend to be more expensive.
Synthetic Fibers
Man-made fibers comprise over 90% of the market today.. Nylon, which is 80% of the residential market is extremely strong, durable, and is the most resilient synthetic. This means that when compressed by foot traffic, it does the best job of springing back to its original shape. The Latest “stain resistant” nylon fibers even include warranties against wear and staining.
The next two types are olefin and acrylic. Olefin and acrylic fibers are naturally resistant to water-based materials which means they are almost stain-proof. Olefin is also resistant to sun fading and bleaching which makes it good for laundry rooms, outdoors and around swimming pools. The problem with both fibers is that they crush with heavy traffic and they absorb oils. This creates traffic pattern problems in main walkways.
Polyester Fibers
These type of fibers make up a very small market share. Advantages of polyester are that it feels soft like wool and it is possible to get very bright colors not always possible with the other fibers. Polyester has some problems with appearance loss however, especially crushing and fraying of the yarns.
Services Offered
IICRC certified truck-mounted hot water extraction. Handle all varieties of carpet. Cleaning includes pre-vacuuming and spotting as well as pre-conditioning all carpets. 
Our technicians will at all times exercise the utmost care in the handling and cleaning of your upholstered furniture. Cleaning includes pre-inspection of all fabric types to ensure proper cleaning. We offer water based and solvent based cleaning as well as dry cleaning. 
On-site cleaning of all area rugs. Please call us for an in office evaluation. 
Soil retardant is designed to repel dry soils and keep them from penetrating carpet or upholstery fibers. Proper carpet/upholstery preparation, dilution of chemical, and application are essential to obtaining the highest level of performance. Nothing will make a carpet bulletproof, but soil retardants offer extra protection. They are a preventive and make maintenance more effective. 
We offer several types of deodorizing for pet, smoke, and general odor control. These can be injected into the area of concern or put into the emulsifier solution and administered to all the carpet throughout your office. 
The use of natural stone and tile has been on the rise over the years. All stone is taken from the earth in the form of raw block. Explosives, large saws and specialized equipment are used to extract the stone form the earth. The stone blocks are then cut into thinner, more easily handled pieces called slabs. The slab itself is then processed, depending on the intended use of the stone. It may be left natural or given a high shine and shipped to a marble fabricator, who will ultimately turn it into a very expensive floor. |