Common Carpet Terms to Know

When shopping for carpet, you are likely going to see phrases like blooming, cut and loop, and face weight. What do these and other common carpet industry terms mean? Allow us at Nip & Tuck Carpet Repair to explain.

Blooming

Blooming is a term here used to refer to, not flowers unfortunately, but to the untwisting of carpet fibers.

Face Weight

Face weight is quite simply the weight of the carpet pile sans backing. Sales people often use face weight as ploy to trick customers into thinking they are getting a higher quality carpet than they are. So, be mindful of this.

Density

Often misconstrued with face weight, density is actually the measure of how close together fibers are stitched into the carpet backing.

Broadloom

Literally translating to “wide loom”, broadloom refers to large carpets made on a loom. Basically, referring to most wall to wall installations today, broadloom and carpet can be interchangeable terms.

Cut and Loop

Cut and loop is a very common style of carpet made up of both looped and cut fibers.

Berber

Berber is another style of carpet that is common today. Berber consists of looped fibers that contain specks of a second color throughout.

Frieze

Often referred to as a shag or twist carpet, frieze is a type of carpet that has long tightly twisted fibers. It is very durable and popular.

Saxony

Probably the carpet we picture most, Saxony is easily identified by its uniformly cut fibers.

Twist

The term twist refers to the number of times a one-inch fiber has been twisted. This is important to measure since it is the number one way to calculate durability of carpet.

Synthetic fibers

Nylon, polyester, triexta, and olefin are all synthetic fibers. And synthetic fibers are man-made fibers.

Natural Fibers

The opposite of synthetic fibers are natural ones. Among the most popular natural fibers are wool, sisal, seagrass, and jute.

BCF Fiber

BCF stands for bulked continuous filament. This term refers to how long the fibers are and how they are constructed. BCF fibers are woven continuously through the backing.

We hope you find this reference key useful in your carpet buying process. For more tips on things like cleaning carpet and guides revolving carpet, be sure to browse the rest of our blogs!

By Nip Tuck Carpet Repair 3-10-2020