CARPET SELECTION OVERVIEW

There are four very basic considerations which you should be aware of when selecting new carpet.

Resistance to wear
Resistance to staining
Ease of maintenance
Long range appearance

Some questions to ask yourself are...

What kind of traffic will be in the building or on that area? Will there be a lot of foot traffic? Will it be concentrated in patterns or traffic lanes? Will there be heavy objects like push carts or dollies moved over the area?
What kind of installation will it be? That is, will be glued down or tackless installation? Tackless might not withstand a lot of water being applied without shrinking and stretching.
What kind of soil will be encountered? Will people be tracking in dirt or mud; oils and grease? Is it in a food service area where food may be spilled? These questions need to be addressed before selecting the color. For example – if there is a lot of anticipated dirt and mud trackage , you might wish to stay with earth tones.
What type of maintenance do you plan on performing? Limited maintenance might require a short nap, mottled, dark colored nylon. Versus a light colored plush which requires a lot of maintenance.

As for fiber selection, Nylon or Olefin (Polypropylene) type carpet if best for heavy traffic. Polyesters and acrylics are okay for medium to light traffic.

Color selection is a very important consideration. If the carpet is going in an entrance way off an asphalt parking lot , heat softens the blacktop and people can track it in. You may wish to select a dark colored tweed to show less staining. Try to stay away from solid colors. Even solid colored floor tile is harder to work with than marbleized or patterned floor tile.

An extremely important aid in the care of carpets is walk off mats. Walk off floor mats are one of the greatest savers of floors in the industry. Of the proper type and size they can remove up to 80% of the soil before it reaches the tile or the carpet. Naturally, the larger the ;mat the more it will remove and retain. It is recommended that these mats be long enough to catch at least 5 steps or foot falls. To aid in the prevention of soil trackage into the building it is important to keep outside areas such as sidewalks and parking garages free of sand and grit.

NYLON FIBER GENERATIONS

5^th generation nylon has ACID DYE RESISTERS added in the manufacturing process. These resisters block most common household food and beverages stains. Although 5^th generation carpet is being used in commercial locations, the manufacturers currently will only warrantee residential installations.

In order to validate the warrantee on 5^th generation carpets certain guidelines must be followed.

Cleaning chemicals must have a pH under 10.0 in the use dilution.
Do not use cationic cleaners. (All quaternary compounds are cationic)
Extraction should be the cleaning method.
Reapply soil retardants after aggressive cleaning.
Do not apply any silicone based products.

6^th generation nylon is made of crush resistant fibers and incorporates 5^th generation technology. Manufacturers of 6^th generation carpet are recommending cleaning be done by professional carpet cleaning contractors. However, anyone following 5^th generation cleaning guidelines will not have a problem.