What Materials Are in Carpets?

Natural Carpet Materials

• Natural materials include wool, silk, cotton, goat hair and yarn. Wool is the primary choice in both natural and synthetic carpeting and accounts for 8 percent of commercial carpeting content in terms of material usage. Wool harvested from sheep in cool climates during the spring is considered the highest quality wool.

  Silk is used for decorative purposes in carpeting and is the most costly material used in organic carpets. Cotton is inexpensive and used to provide both warp and weft threads for the carpet's base. Goat hair is infrequently used but found as carpet edging in Oriental carpets. Yarn spun from cotton or wool is applied both as a warp and weft material in addition to providing carpet face material.

Synthetic Carpet Materials

• Human-made carpeting is created from nylon, which accounts for over 80 percent of all carpeting sold in the United States for commercial use. A synthetic petroleum by-product, nylon is the most durable and stain-resistant of all available materials. Polypropylene, known as P.E.T. or olefin, is used in producing berber carpeting. Polyester or acrylic yarns are found in inexpensive carpeting.

Dyes and Chemical Materials

• Dyes used in carpeting maybe be organic or synthetic. Organic dyes include plants, berries, insects, sea snails, or metal compounds. Synthetic dye materials such as aniline, alizarine red, magenta and methyl violet were first created in the late 1800s. Modern synthetic dyes are colorfast. Most synthetic dyes are manufactured in Germany. Carpeting contains various chemicals used in the process of carpet manufacture. Chemicals that are used in carpeting include formaldehyde, PVC (polyvinyl chloride), urethane and latex.

Carpet Backing

• Carpet backing typically consists of a primary backing material, adhesive and a secondary backing material, which is some type of fabric. Backing materials are polypropylene, polyester, jute, PVC (polyvinyl chloride), recycled PVC, PVB (polyvinyl butyral), EVA (ethelene vinyl acetate), polyurethane, polyethelene,synthetic rubber and styrene-butadiene latex. The vast majority of carpet backing materials are petroleum-based, although jute, cotton and wool are natural resources used most often in handloom carpeting. Tile carpeting utilizes more backing materials than any other form of carpet.