Carpet Springs

A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester have often been used, as these fibers are less expensive than wool. The pile usually consists of twisted tufts that are typically heat-treated to maintain their structure. The term ''carpet'' is often used in a similar context to the term ''rug'', but rugs are typically considered to be smaller than a room and not attached to the floor.

Carpets are used for a variety of purposes, including insulating a person's feet from a cold tile or concrete floor, making a room more comfortable as a place to sit on the floor (e.g., when playing with children or as a prayer rug), reducing sound from walking (particularly in apartment buildings), and adding decoration or color to a room. Carpets can be made in any color by using differently dyed fibers. Carpets can have many different types of patterns and motifs used to decorate the surface. Carpets are used in industrial and commercial establishments such as retail stores and hotels and in private homes. Today, a huge range of carpets and rugs are available at many price and quality levels, ranging from inexpensive, synthetic carpets that are mass-produced in factories and used in commercial buildings to costly hand-knotted wool rugs that are used in private homes and houses.

Carpets can be produced on a loom quite similarly to woven fabric, made using needle felts, knotted by hand (in oriental rugs), made with their pile injected into a backing material (called tufting), flatwoven, made by hooking wool or cotton through the meshes of a sturdy fabric, or embroidered. Carpet is commonly made in widths of and in the US and and in Europe. Since the 19th and 20th century, where necessary for wall-to-wall carpet, different widths of carpet can be seamed together with a seaming iron and seam tape (formerly it was sewn together) and fixed to a floor over a cushioned underlay (pad) using nails, tack strips (known in the UK as gripper rods), adhesives, or occasionally decorative metal stair rods. Wall-to-wall carpet is distinguished from rugs or mats, which are loose-laid floor coverings, as wall-to-wall carpet is fixed to the floor and covers a much larger area.

Etymology and usage

The term '' carpet'' comes from Latin ''carpita'', Old French ''carpite''. One derivation of the term states that the French term came from the Old Italian ''carpita'', from the verb ''carpire'' meaning 'to pluck'. The ''Online Etymology Dictionary'' states that the term ''carpet'' was first used in English in the late 13th century, with the meaning 'coarse cloth', and by the mid-14th century, "tablecloth, rbedspread". The word comes from Old French ''carpite'' 'heavy decorated cloth, carpet', from Medieval Latin or Old Italian ''carpita'' 'thick woolen cloth', which may derive from Latin ''carpere'' 'to card, pluck'. The meaning of the term ''carpet'' shifted in the 15th century to refer to floor coverings.

The terms ''carpet'' and ''rug'' are often used interchangeably. A carpet is sometimes defined as stretching from wall to wall. Another definition treats rugs as of lower quality or of smaller size, with carpets quite often having finished ends. A third common definition is that a carpet is permanently fixed in place while a rug is simply laid out on the floor. Historically, the term ''carpet'' was also applied to table and wall coverings, as carpets were not commonly used on the floor in European interiors until the 15th century.

The term ''rug'' was first used in English in the 1550s, with the meaning 'coarse fabric'. The term is of Scandinavian origin, comparable to Norwegian ''rugga'' 'coarse coverlet', from Old Norse ''rogg'' 'shaggy tuft', from Proto-Germanic ''*rawwa-''. The meaning of ''rug'' "evolved to 'coverlet, wrap' (1590s), then 'mat for the floor' (1808)".

Types

Woven

The carpet is produced on a loom quite similar to woven fabric. The pile can be plush or Berber. Plush carpet is a cut pile and Berber carpet is a loop pile. There are new styles of carpet combining the two styles called cut and loop carpeting. Normally many colored yarns are used and this process is capable of producing intricate patterns from predetermined designs (although some limitations apply to certain weaving methods with regard to accuracy of pattern within the carpet). These carpets are usually the most expensive due to the relatively slow speed of the manufacturing process. These are very famous in Turkey, Iran, India, Pakistan, and Arabia.

Needle felt

Needle felt carpets are more technologically advanced. These carpets are produced by intermingling and felting individual synthetic fibers using barbed and forked needles forming an extremely durable carpet. These carpets are normally found in commercial settings where there is frequent traffic, such as hotels and restaurants.

Knotted

On a knotted pile carpet (formally, a "supplementary weft cut-loop pile" carpet), the structural weft threads alternate with a supplementary weft that rises at right angles to the surface of the weave. This supplementary weft is attached to the warp by one of three knot types (see below), such as shag carpet which was popular in the 1970s, to form the pile or nap of the carpet. Knotting by hand is most prevalent in oriental rugs and carpets. Kashmir carpets are also hand-knotted. Pile carpets, like flat carpets, can be woven on a loom. Both vertical and horizontal looms have been used in the production of European and oriental carpets. The warp threads are set up on the frame of the loom before weaving begins. A number of weavers may work together on the same carpet. A row of knots is completed and cut. The knots are secured with (usually one to four) rows of weft. The warp in woven carpet is usually cotton and the weft is jute.

There are several styles of knotting, but the two main types of knot are the symmetrical (also called Turkish or Ghiordes) and asymmetrical (also called Persian or Senna). Contemporary centres of knotted carpet production are: Lahore and Peshawar ( Pakistan), Kashmir ( India), Mirzapur and Bhadohi ( India), Tabriz ( Iran), Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Northern Africa, Nepal, Spain, Turkmenistan, and Tibet. The importance of carpets in the culture of Turkmenistan is such that the national flag features a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five carpet guls (designs used in producing rugs). Kashmir and bhadohi is known for handknotted carpets of silk or wool.

Tufted

These are carpets that have their pile injected into a backing material, which is itself then bonded to a secondary backing made of a woven hessian weave or a man made alternative to provide stability. The pile is often sheared in order to achieve different textures. This is the most common method of manufacturing of domestic carpets for floor covering purposes in the world.

Others

A flatweave carpet is created by interlocking warp (vertical) and weft (horizontal) threads. Types of oriental flatwoven carpet include kilim, soumak, plain weave, and tapestry weave. Types of European flatwoven carp