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NYLON This is the most commonly used fiber in carpet today because it is:
There is still no stronger carpet fiber on the market. If you have medium to heavy traffic a nylon carpet will out perform any other type of fiber. There are many manufacturers of fiber, but the top companies are:
Stainmaster and Weardated are the most well known brands of nylon types. Both are simply triloble fibers with fluorocarbon added to resist staining. Invista and Solutia have done an excellent job of marketing to convince you theirs is the best. Also, their yarn is type 6.6 nylon and is marketed as being better then the type 6 nylon. However recent studies by leading chemical engineers suggest that the differences between the two types have little to do with carpets overall performance and further studies suggest that carpets construction is more important than fiber.
Soft Nylon This type of fiber has been around for a long time, it takes more of the fiber to go into the carpet in order to give the carpet a good soft feel. The fiber is softer due to its finer diameter. The new soft feeling nylons are made from very fine fiber, so it takes a lot more of this fiber to feel and look like other carpets that may be full of air. These new nylons are Tactesse, DuraSoft and Anso Caress. If you are willing to pay a little more for this fiber – You’ll love it!
P.E.T POLYESTER (Polyethylene Terephthalate)This fiber has natural and permanent stain resistance. P.E.T. fiber is stronger than the old polyester and has better abrasion resistance. The P.E.T. product has a higher melting point and is more resistant to abrasion.The fiber is made from P.E.T. chips, some of which come from recycled plastic containers. Recycling does not affect the quality of the fiber, so this product could be a future fiber that could be recycled time and time again. P.T.T. POLYESTER This fiber is stronger than P.E.T. polyester and retains color and cleans even better than P.E.T. Being as colorfast as solution dyed nylon this fiber is extremely soft and behaves better than a staple nylon especially in a shag construction. This would be a choice if you have high traffic areas with kids and pets and are looking for a product that will last for 10 + years. OLEFIN / Polypropylene:Being one of the most color fast fibers on the market and one of the most naturally stain resistant, this fiber is best suited for indoor-outdoor carpet. Olefin is a cheap fiber but it performs well in wear tests if the pile height is super low. Olefin has a very low melting point and oil is added to the fiber so it will survive the manufacturing process. Most manufacturers do not clean effectively to rid the fiber of all the oil, so the carpet crushes even faster. "Comfortouch" by Shaw Industries is a new fiber that is softer to the feel because this olefin fiber is scoured three times during the making. Then the fiber is treated with Shaw’s R2X producing a fiber that feels like cotton, resists soil and stains, and wears better than other olefin carpet. If you like the Berber carpets be sure to stay away from the larger loops that are made of Olefin and Polypropylene.
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