Carpet Glossary

Also called zigzag crimp, this is a two-dimensional crimp that gives yarn cohesion, texture and bulk.

A cut-pile carpet texture consisting of plied, heat-set yarns in a relatively dense, erect, configuration, with well defined individual tuft tips.

See "Backing systems."

The edge of the carpet. Most commercial carpets are shipped with the selvage on. Residential carpet is usually trimmed to the face yarn.

Refers to a pattern in a carpet which continues straight across the installed carpet at right angles to the seams.

Shading

Apparent color shade difference between areas of the same carpet caused by normal wear and/or random difference in pile lay direction. It is a characteristic of cut pile carpet. It is not a manufacturing defect.

Finishing process in cut pile carpet manufacturing to create a smooth carpet face. The shearing process can also be used to create texture, as in random shearing. See "Random sheared" or "Tip shearing."

One yarn end of either continuous filament yarn or spun yarn. Singles yarn is most often plied, twisted, or air-entangled with additional singles yarns to create a "two-ply," "three-ply" or "four-ply" yarn bundle.

Singles yarn that has been skein dyed. Yarn is wound in skeins and dyed in dye vats. This method yields small to mid-sized dye lots, but has custom color advantages. See "Dye methods."

An intermediate stage in the production of spun yarns from staple fiber. It is a large, soft, untwisted strand or rope of fibers produced by carding or pin drafting. See "Parallel spinning."

Smoke chamber test

Method that assesses smoke generating characteristics of a carpet sample due to pyrolysis and combustion by measuring the attenuation of a light beam by smoke accumulating in a closed chamber under controlled conditions.

The ability of a fiber to mask the presence of soil.

The ability of a carpet fiber to resist dry soil and maintain its original appearance after intermittent or restorative cleanings. The amount of soil resistance can be determined by fluorine analysis. See "Fluorine analysis."

See "Dye methods."

See "Dye methods."

The device (similar to a showerhead) which forms strands of filament as molten polymer is pumped through. It is at this stage that the fiber cross section, fiber size and the number of filaments in a yarn bundle (for continuous filament) are determined.

The conversion of staple fiber into spun yarn. See "Parallel spinning."

Yarn that is made up of short lengths of fiber, either synthetic staple or natural fiber. See "Parallel spinning."

The ability of a carpet fiber to resist the absorption of stain and maintain its original appearance. For carpets to resist stains, some manufacturers use a topical stain resist treatment that may be removed after hot water extraction.

Also called staple. Short lengths of fiber which have been chopped from continuous filament in lengths of 4" to 7 1/2". Staple fiber must be further processed (spun) into yarn before it can be tufted/woven into carpet. Nylon and polyester are examples of synthetic fibers available in staple form.

See "Antistatic properties ."

A measurement of the amount of static discharge that occurs under specified conditions.

Buildup of electrostatic energy on a carpet and the subsequent discharge to a conductive ground such as a file cabinet. Various static control conductive systems are used in commercial carpet to dissipate static charge before it builds to the human sensitivity threshold, which is 3.5kV.

Number of yarn tufts per running inch along the length of the carpet (as opposed to the gauge which is the number of stitches across the width of the carpet).

Stock dyed

See "Dye methods."

A trade name of a German manufacturing company and its continuous heatsetting process. In Suessen setting, dry heat is applied to twisted yarn. The heat builds bulk and locks twist into the thermoplastic fiber's "memory." See "Heatsetting."

A trade name of a French manufacturing company and its continuous heatsetting process. In Superba setting, steam and pressure are applied to twisted yarn. Heat and pressure are applied to build the bulk and lock twist into the thermoplastic fiber's "memory." See "Heatsetting."

The perimeter of an individual fiber filament or multiple filaments.

Technical measure of the tendency of a surface - in this case, the carpet yarn - to repel molecules of another substance. Low surface energy refers to a repelling action.

Produced by man-made means, not available in nature in the same form.