Carpet Styles

There are a variety of surface texture options available, all of which affect the appearance, feel and importantly performance of your carpet.

By and large, the more luxurious the surface, the more care it will need. Shorter pile usually wears better than long pile carpet but is not as luxurious. It all comes down to personal taste and room usage. The most common styles are:

Twist piles - These have a coarse, rugged finish

Velvet pile - Have a smooth luxurious appearance, rather like suede.

On a like for like basis the only difference between these is aesthetic.

Loop pile - These replicate the look of natural flooring such as coir and sisal. A tip here is that cats and anything with long claws are not a good idea with loop pile carpet.

Saxony - Has a deep pile with a pronounced sensuous feel. Popular in bedrooms they do flatten so are not recommended in heavy traffic areas

Patterned carpet - Usually has a smooth velvet surface with excellent appearance retention

 

Plain or Patterned?

Plain carpet

Plain carpet is safe, timeless and ageless. It will suit any room or decorating style. It gives you greater flexibility with wallpaper and fabrics and is easier to build schemes around - both now and in the future. It also opens up a room and using the same colour throughout, either upstairs or downstairs, does give a feeling of space and link rooms. If you want a surface texture, such as the popular 'natural look' that replicates coir and sisal, then it has to be plain carpet.

Patterned carpet

Patterned carpet does not mean swirly 1970's style! There are some beautiful ornate patterned carpets from traditional designs to smart motifs and colourful stripes that will look at ease in any home. Patterned carpet can be the basis of a subtle contemporary look that has lasting appeal.

Remember to choose carefully to ensure the design will fit in with your scheme and not date too soon. Classic florals and motifs work well in a smaller space whereas a smart stripe, for example, will hold its own in a hallway.

Manufacturers like Brintons and Ulster actively encourage and promote the co-ordination of plain and patterned carpet.

As for colour, the same basic rules apply to carpet as to soft furnishings; light carpets will make spaces look bigger but equally if they are too pale they will show the dirt. Dark colours could make a room look smaller but they don't show up the dirt so much.

 

Glossary of carpet terms:

To help you, we have created a list of regular carpet terms below with their explanations that have been used throughout the site.

80:20

The 80% wool 20% nylon mix, developed by Brintons in the 1950s; the softness of wool combined with the strength of nylon creates the perfect carpet yarn.

axminster

Axminsters use a way of making woven carpets that offers great pattern definition. Most axminster carpets are patterned.

berber

Traditionally berbers were made from natural-coloured wools, but what we refer to these days as a berber is a heather with a 'homespun' appearance.

heather

Carpet yarn made from more than one fibre colour, giving a flecked, multicoloured effect.

pile

The pile is the bit you stand on. 'Total pile weight' refers to the amount of yarn used to make the carpet. Deep-pile carpets feel more luxurious, while more rows of yarn are harder-wearing.

tufted

Tufts of yarn are punched through a backing membrane and secured by latex. Tufting is a less time-consuming, and therefore less costly process than weaving, but it does mean the construction of the carpet isn't as solid.

twist

A type of carpet that uses yarn with a higher twist than usual, to create a textured surface.

velvet

Staighter than twisted yarn, with the cut ends at the top, giving a soft, velvety surface.

wilton

The oldest method of weaving, offering limited colour choice but a variety of textures. Ideal for producing textured plains.

woven

A traditional process where the pile and backing yarns are woven together, offering unrivalled strength and stability. You can spot a woven carpet by the warp and weft threads on the reverse. Both axminster and wilton carpets are woven.