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Fibers (page 2 of 2)
By
Alan
J. Fletcher - 30-Year Carpet Expert & Consumer Advocate
How to Compare Carpet Fibers - Nylon
vs Smartstrand?
POLYESTER (also
called P.E.T. Polyester)
(May be
manufactured from recycled materials like clear plastic water bottles)
Don't be fooled by
the softness of this fiber. When new, polyester looks great
and feels very soft to the hand. It's a very soft synthetic fiber available in
many wonderful colors, however the Polyester fiber has very poor
resiliency. That means it does not spring back to its original upright
position after being crushed or walked upon.
A
fiber with poor
resiliency means in medium to heavy foot-traffic applications, fibers like Polyester
and PET polyesters are well-known for matting down quickly, especially in
main traffic lanes and
stairs and once
the tufts fall over and become crushed, they won't spring back, not even after
a professional cleaning. Polyester is cheap to manufacture and there are huge
profits to be made by retailers and manufacturers selling it to you. This
is why they push it so hard and say it is as durable as Nylon. (it is not)
"If
you feel like the salesperson is pushing you hard to buy a carpet made from
polyester, it's likely because they can make more PROFIT selling you a
Polyester carpet than they can make selling you a carpet made of Nylon."
Sales people often
recommend this type of carpet to consumers without sufficient fiber knowledge
or experience. Because polyester is so inexpensive to manufacture and higher profits using this fiber, carpet manufacturers continually try to
enhance carpets made with polyester hoping that they can somehow
"miraculously" create a new and improved Polyester carpet that
wears well and resists matting and crushing. So far they have had limited success.
Because prices are
lower for polyester carpets you may be tempted to buy a carpet made from
polyester, just be sure that your expectations are not very high.
Generally, I
do not recommend buying carpets made from polyester fibers to those who need a
carpet that wears well and resists matting and crushing. It might perform
reasonably well in a low-traffic application for a life span of 10 years or
less.
No
Matter What Carpet Salespeople Tell You...
When
you go out to shop for new carpet, you may hear some salespeople say that
carpet made from Polyester are better today than they were a few years ago.
They might tell you that polyester is new and improved. They might tell
you that Polyester is almost as durable as Nylon. They may try to
convince you that Polyester would be a good choice for you.
Polyester's
Bad Characteristics.
Here
is the truth
about Carpets made from Polyester... If you have very low foot-traffic in your home or
if you only want your new carpet to last 3 to 7 years, then you might consider
buying a carpet made of polyester, or a P.E.T Polyester Carpet. But if you have medium to
high foot-traffic or if you want your new carpet to last longer than 7 years,
then you need to avoid Polyester and P.E.T Polyester and buy a carpet made
from NYLON instead.
Do
you think you have low foot-traffic in your home? Take
my Free Carpet Foot-
Traffic Test to find out what
grade of carpet you need to buy.
Polyester /
P.E.T Polyester's Good
Characteristics:
-
It
is a strong fiber that resists abrasion.
-
It
is very soft.
-
There
are brighter colors available than with the Nylon Fiber
-
Holds
Color Well / Is highly Fade Resistant
-
Resists
Stretching and Shrinking
-
Quick
Drying
-
Mildew
Resistant
-
Abrasion
Resistant
-
Resists
Most Stains and Cleans Easily
Sorona® Polymer
by DuPont™
Smartstrand® by
Mohawk™ (also
called Triexta or PTT)
A relatively
new fiber on the market (about 12 years or so) is also called Sorona®, or Smartstrand®
by Mohawk™, and is a
polymer derived from corn (Actually it was originally invented back in the 1940's).
Invented
by Dupont™, they claim this new fiber has great anti-stain properties and
that it is
very durable. Some folks really like their carpet made from this fiber and say
it is absolutely wonderful. Other folks say their new carpet has stains they
can't remove and their carpet is quickly matting down in the traffic lanes.
Obviously Sorona is not going to replace Nylon as the most popular and
most durable fiber.
Mohawk has trademarked it's carpet made from this fiber
and calls it Smartstrand. I have been hearing more and more complaints about
carpet made from this fiber lately.
Should you buy
carpet made with this new fiber? If you want a carpet that resists stains as
well or maybe better than other fibers on the market today, then perhaps you might want
to consider buying a carpet made with Sorona. If you want your carpet to last as long as
possible and still resist stains and clean easily then I suggest you buy a
carpet made from Nylon. Learn more about Nylon
Fibers
Learn
as much as you can about Carpet Fibers before you make your final carpet selection. Your Carpet
Fiber choice must be made based on your needs, goals, expectations
and your lifestyle. If you have kids or pets that needs to be considered too.
If you choose a carpet that cannot handle the amount of foot traffic you have,
your new carpet will wear out much sooner than you might expect.
More
Free Carpet
Information:
