e Carpet Protection

Natural fiber carpets are made from insect, animal or plant fibers. Protein fibers are fibers from insects and animals while vegetable fibers come from plants. Both protein and vegetable fibers are very absorbent. Because these fibers also take a while to dry when they are wet cleaned, carpets made of natural fiber are prone to mildew, shrinkage and dry rot. Wool, silk, cellulose, cotton, jute, sisal and rayon are natural fibers used in manufacturing carpets.

Wool
Produced from lamb or sheep fleece, wool is regarded as the oldest and finest of all materials used for carpeting. Wool used for carpets is imported from Australia, England and New Zealand. Wool is an ideal carpet material because it can be stretched up to 40% of its normal length. Wool is highly resilient, being able to bend back and forth over 180,000 times without breaking. Wool carpets are the highest quality and durable carpets you can buy, but they are very expensive.

Silk
Larvae of silk worms produce silk. Silk worms can spin 300 to 1,600 yards of silk to create cocoons. Silk fiber is not flammable. Despite how fragile silk may appear, it is a very strong fiber. And even in low humidity, silk fiber is not static.

Cellulose
Cellulose fiber is made by plants and is usually used as backing materials of tufted and woven carpets.

Cotton
A vegetable seed fiber, cotton is derived from the cotton plant. Cotton fiber is commonly used as yarns woven in carpets and rugs. Cotton is stronger when wet and it is highly resistant to alkaline solutions. Among all the fibers, cotton is the most absorbent and takes a long time to dry after wet cleaning. Acids can easily damage cotton. Cotton can also become stained rather easily and matted down. Carpets made of cotton tends to soil rather quickly and are prone to shrinkage, mildew and dry rot.

Jute
The jute plant that originates from South America, India and Pakistan produces the jute fiber. The fiber is derived from the stalk of the plant, specifically between the outer bark and inner pulp. Jute fiber is an inexpensive material that is commonly used as backing material for tufted and woven carpets. Unlike cotton, jute fiber is weak when wet. Like cotton, carpets with jute fiber are prone to shrinkage, mildew and dry rot.

Sisal
Sisal fiber is derived from the leaves of the agave plant. Sisal fiber, because of its strength, is a material commonly used to make rugs, ropes, sacking and carpets. However, carpets made of sisal fiber stain easily and are hard to clean. When wet, sisal fiber can shrink.

Rayon
Rayon is a synthetic fiber derived from cellulose fiber, which comes from cotton or wood pulp. This cellulose fiber are chemically treated, and the end result is a synthetic fiber. Rayon has the appearance of silk, which is the reason it is popularly used to create area rugs. However, rayon is easily damaged by acids and it is not abrasion resistant.