All About Natural Fiber Carpet
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. |
