Cut pile: plush, velvet, saxony, textured and such

ut pile carpets fall into three general categories: saxony, textured and frieze. All of these cut pile carpets can be know by other names. For instance, a saxony carpet can be called a velvet or a plush carpet primarily due to it's formal look. A textured cut pile can be called a textured plush or even by a very old and out-dated name: trackless. And frieze can be called a cut pile berber (amazingly, the Mohawk website page titled "Types of Carpeting" does not even list frieze as a carpet type, rather lists "berber cut pile" - something that should be corrected). All of this can be confusing as consumers surf the web looking for carpet information. So, this post will help set things straight.

Saxony
Saxony, velvet and plush are all descriptive of a cut pile carpet that has a very smooth pile surface. The very dense version of a saxony has a velvet look to it, but at what point does a saxony become a velvet? And they all have a plush, formal look to them. The official term of this carpet type is a saxony. Note in the illustration to the right (both are borrowed from the Mohawk website) that the pile surface is smooth. This means that as you vacuum this carpet - as you push and pull the vacuum, the pile surface will lay in a certain direction. As light hits this pile surface, the color changes (and the change can be significant). Many people see this as a formal look. This is saxony carpet.

Textured Cut Pile
Years ago, "trackless" carpet was introduced. Carpet mills had uncovered a way to reduce the appearance of vacuum marks in carpet. To a certain degree, footprints were reduced as well. But, the carpet industry must have gone overboard touting the benefits of this new process and consumers got the idea that such carpets would not show any vacuum marks or footprints. Homeowners simply saw less pile variation in trackless carpets (which is what a homeowner will see with this type of carpet). Footprints and vacuum marks remained and complaints ensued. Evidently this term meant something different to the consumer and trackless as a descriptor has since been abandoned.

The replacement terminology is "textured cut pile." And that is what the pile surface is - textured. The tips of the yard turn in random directions which helps scatter light and create a more uniform color on the pile surface. It is still possible to see some vacuum marks and footprints are a sure bet, but you will notice less of this when compared to a saxony. You may hear the terms "textured plush" or "textured saxony" and these are technically correct terms, but we simply call these carpets textured cut pile.

Frieze
I have written separately about frieze carpet here. See these posts for details about this carpet type.

There are other types of carpet that have variations of different carpet construction. An example would be pattern carpet that has both cut pile yarns and loop pile yarns. This is viewed as a separate carpet type from cut pile. Then you have cable yarn carpets which I group more with frieze than cut pile.

So, I hope this helps you wade through a sea of carpet terminology. If you have a question about any of this leave me a comment and I will respond.

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A train wreck waiting to happen

he other day, I received a call from one of my flooring dealers. The lady on the phone asked me if I had a particular look in a pattern carpet. I happen to have what this dealer is looking for, but she said a few things that caught my attention. First, this was a large job, about 600 square yards. I said, "that's a big house." The reply, "It isn't for a house, it is for a church." The problem is that what the church was looking for is residential carpet. Residential carpet in a church auditorium, hallways, etc. is a train wreck waiting to happen.

This situation comes up from time to time. I am talking about a residential carpet being requested for a commercial or institutional use. Usually the chief benefit being sought is a thick, great feeling carpet. Commercial carpet is never thick and it rarely feels good - this is as it should be. Thick carpet and high, severe traffic don't go together very well. As a matter of fact, I can't remember that last time I was in a office building and walked on thick carpet. And, I'll bet that some of the carpeted areas of the church in question would be rated as severe traffic.

Using commercial carpet in a residential setting can be a good idea. If you are looking for a short, dense, typically patterned carpet with a lot of color, then commercial carpet would be a good consideration for you. The opposite is not a good idea - residential carpet for a commercial application. Note the photo above - it's a train wreck.

The real big picture.
I helped the dealer understand all the ramifications of using residential carpet in a church:

• First - residential carpets carry a residential warranty. They do not carry a commercial warranty. Furthermore, the installation of a residential carpet in a commercial environment will surely void whatever warranty it has.
  
• Second - all carpet should be installed properly. A proper installation of a residential carpet requires it to be stretched in over a carpet cushion (I am sure there are some speciality residential carpets that don't require a cushion, but probably 95% of them do). The church wants to glue down the residential carpet without a cushion. This would then be an improper installation.
  
• Third - no cushion means the carpet will wear out faster.
  
• Fourth - this is a foolish purchase. The church will not be happy with the performance of a residential carpet. Should the church ultimately choose a residential carpet, despite my best efforts or the retailer's best efforts to advise them otherwise, they will probably blame the store and the manufacturer for future performace issues.

So this is a no-win situation for everyone concerned, the church, the dealer and the manufacturer. It is very important that consumers and end users understand to select carpet based on what it is designed for. It is also important that proper advise be given to the consumer, even if it means they walk and purchase the carpet from another dealer who simply gives them what they want.

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New products: Heavy Hitter and Clever Choice

With this post I am unveiling a new look for I like carpet! The old Blogger template I have used since earlier this year has served me well, but I have out grown it and have selected this template from my favorite source - Our Blogger Templates. I highly recommend this site if you are considering an upgrade to your blog. Their templates are very flexible, very pleasing to the eye, and are easy to install.
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t is always a lot of fun receiving new products. Today when I got home from making sales calls, there was a 2' x 2' box next to the garage door - a sure sign that samples have arrived. And the box contained two new carpet styles that I have been anxiously waiting for called Heavy Hitter and Clever Choice. These two new styles are part of Mohawk's 2010 new product offering.

Heavy Hitter, right out of the box. A nice looking textured cut pile carpet.

Good colors. I especially like all of the colors in the middle rows.

Heavy Hitter. This carpet fills a need in the entry level end of our product line-up. As consumers try to revive the economy, value has become extremely important and Heavy Hitter is a homerun in the value department. It is a very handsome traditional textured cut pile carpet. The product guru's at Mohawk did a very good job of designing a carpet that has a good feel at a very reasonable price. And this is accomplished utilizing a BCF nylon yarn (BCF stands for bulked continuous filament - it's key benefit is no shedding or fuzzing) that has just a little luster to it which gives the carpet a rich look. So, as you can see, Heavy Hitter is perfect for someone who needs a good looking value oriented carpet.

The little brother. Clever Choice is just as nice looking, but not as thick.

Not as many colors. Note the nice neutral colors in this sample.

Clever Choice. The step down or as I like to say, the little brother to Heavy Hitter is Clever Choice. I think the product people at Mohawk picked this name because Clever Choice is just as good looking as Heavy Hitter, but not quite as thick, and therefore lower in price - the same good look, not as expensive - a clever choice in carpet.

The colors are good, but not as broad a selection as with Heavy Hitter and this again allows us to price it more economically.

Look for these two carpet samples at Mohawk Aladdin dealers in the very near future.

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Mohawk EverStrand BCF polyester adds recycled content

DALTON (October 30, 2009)—Mohawk, long known as the industry’s recycling leader due to its 100% post-consumer recycled EverStrand ™ staple polyester fiber, has developed technology which allows the use of post-consumer recycled content in its EverStrand BCF fiber styles.

Effective immediately, all of Mohawk EverStrand BCF and Mohawk EverStrand BCF XtraSoft fibers will include post-consumer recycled content from plastic bottles. Additionally, Mohawk will provide On Demand Certification Letters to document recycled content for all EverStrand carpet styles.

“This provides retailers with the advantage of having a “green” benefit associated with all Mohawk EverStrand products,” said Jenny Cross, Mohawk’s Director of Sustainability. “No matter which EverStrand style fits a consumer’s home, they know it’s one that offers noteworthy positive environmental effect.”

David Duncan, Mohawk’s Vice-President of Marketing, said new EverStrand filament styles are being introduced that will contain the new fiber. “We’re expanding the EverStrand BCF collection, particularly with new products in our EverStrand BCF XtraSoft fiber,” he said. “This gives retailers a wider breadth of product to satisfy consumer tastes and preferences.”

EverStrand BCF XtraSoft fiber brings a superior level of aesthetics, performance, and feel to the polyester category. Introduced last year in Mohawk’s “Sensationally Soft” line, the fiber offers “quality, durability and softness that reaches new heights for polyester,” Duncan said. It also offers a lifetime stain resistance warranty.

Duncan and Cross noted that Mohawk has a heritage in recycling plastic bottles into carpet, and plans to further develop its EverStrand BCF technology to include more post consumer recycled content in the future.

Mohawk has recycled more than 24 billion soft drink bottles for use in carpet fiber, and continues recycling more than 3 billion bottles each year. One out of every four bottles recycled in North America becomes Mohawk carpet. Mohawk’s EverStrand fiber is a staple polyester that has long been produced entirely from recycled soft drink bottles.

Because the US Food & Drug Administration requires top quality PET (polyethylene terephthalate) for beverage bottles, the recycled product offers superior performance characteristics over many fibers used in making other brands of carpet yarns. On average, 30 plastic bottles are recycled to make one square yard of Mohawk EverStrand carpet.

To learn more, visit http://www.mohawkgreenworks.com/.

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Product Profile: Charming Character and Charming Nature

f you spend any time at all on this blog, you know that I like to write about Smartstrand carpets. For this post, I decided to do something totally different from my recent posts and take a look at a texture loop pile carpet called Charming Character. While this carpet is a berber, it is decidedly different from the typical berber. It is way more stylish; really more like the carpets a decorator might specify for a home. And for this reason, I am going with a more technical term when describing Charming Character - a "texture loop" carpet.

Classic pattern. Charming Character has a classic back and forth pattern.

Earthy colors. Colors that are similar to sisal carpets.

As you can see from the photos, Charming Character is classic in look - no complex, loud pattern, rather one that is subtle and traditional. The colors also add to this classic look - they are all neutral "heather" colors. Heather in that they sort of look like wool. The colors have a slight variation that gives Charming Character a natural look.

Charming Character is made from Mohawk's Permastrand olefin yarn. The chief benefits of this fiber are it's resistance to stains (Mohawk adds Scotchgard stain protection to Charming Character), it is a good performing fiber and it is economical. Charming Character is also designed to feel a little more soft than other olefin carpets.

Charming Character has a companion carpet that has no pattern called Charming Nature.

No pattern. Charming Nature is a level loop carpet.

Charming Nature is the same construction as Charming Character, sharing the same colors. Charming Nature is considered a level loop carpet which means no pattern at all.

See these two carpets in the Aladdin Fashion Avenue berber collection, through your local Mohawk Authorized Retailer.
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Product Profile: Nature's Blend

I
t's really tough writing this blog. The responsibility of choosing a product to write about, I mean from the hundreds of products available to me, can weigh a person down. Just kidding. There are many good and interesting products in the Mohawk line, but there are several standout products that come to mind and today's featured carpet is such a product.

Nature's Blend is from Aladdin's Smartstrand line and is new this year. When we previewed our new introductions for 2009, this product was probably the most interesting. I would think that if someone is looking for something truly different, modern, even a little daring, then Nature's Blend deserves a look.



I think this is a cool carpet. This is one of those products that is a frieze, but has a little shag in it and ultimately shows a lot of texture. This carpet features twelve unusual colors - unusual in that the colors are mostly dark and very muted. They have what one retailer called "salt and pepper" accents. By that, the dealer meant that some of the yarn within each color features both light and dark accents. Hopefully you can see this in the photo below.


Some key features of this carpet: First, it is from the Aladdin Smartstrand collection. If you have not heard about how much I like this fiber, how I see this as the best carpet fiber EVER, click here. Nature's Blend is extremely soft, stain resistant like nothing else, it holds up to foot traffic, has excellent warranties and is affordable.

Check out Nature's Blend in the Aladdin Complete Confidence collection available at your local Mohawk Authorized retailer.

Also, there is an upgrade to this in the Horizon line called Stone Peak.
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My carpet isn't in stock!

I

I imagine this kind of look when someone is advised of a backorder.

obody likes it when something is out of stock. And in 2009, consumers have had to deal with this situation like never before (in the business, we call this a "backorder"). As the depth of the recession grew earlier this year, inventory of goods from manufacturers across the country declined. I saw this news report on Floor Daily earlier this week:

"Wholesale inventories fell by a larger than expected 1.3% in August, marking the 12th consecutive month of inventory draw-downs, the Commerce Department said.

Economists were expecting inventories to fall 1.0% after reportedly falling 1.4% in July. Total inventories are now down 14.7% over the year.

Last month's inventory cut back was carried by a 1.6% decline in durable stocks, including a 2.3% decline in auto inventories. Non-durable goods inventories declined 0.9%."

Well, how many carpets do you make anyway?
In years past, Mohawk and our competitors did a really good job of having carpet on hand when orders were received. When you consider the thousands of products Mohawk sells, to have a very healthy number of products in inventory was quite something.

Not only does Mohawk have thousands of products, these products are available in a wide range of colors. Consider this: I sample in my van about 130 products. The Aladdin carpet line is quite large and what I sample is just a portion of that line. These 130 products have on average about 20 colors. That means I sample about 2,600 SKUs. Some of these carpets come in both 12 foot and 15 foot widths. I estimate about 20% of my products have this option. So, with this in mind, the SKU count grows to 3,120!

It used to be that the housing market was red hot and we were making some pretty good money at Mohawk. It was really unusual to hear a carpet being out of stock. Take that red hot condition away and no wonder the inventories of a broad and diverse product catalog have been drawn down (and I am talking only about residential carpet. We make a broad line of commercial carpet as well as hard surface products. We also have a fashion division and we are a large manufacturer of area rugs).

What's the thinking behind this post?
In two different flooring stores this week, I heard retailers complain about backorders. I suspect their customer, the homeowner shares in this sentiment. I understand this frustration. I have ordered carpet for my own home as well as carpet for my mother, only to find out the carpet isn't in stock. I know what it is like to have to wait for carpet to be made. Plus, I don't get paid until your carpet ships, so my paycheck doesn't like backorders either. But backorders are simply a sign of the times.

I was talking to a retailer. He told me a story heard from one of his home builder accounts. The builder commented on how many things used in building a home are on backorder right now.

Things will and are improving. And hopefully the carpet for your house will be in stock when you order it. But, if not, the wait won't be too long.
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