The finishing touches to the twist pile is when the loop tips of the carpet are sheared using a large blade similar to a lawn mower blade, this is what we term as a cut pile.

Using tightly twisted yarns constructs a slightly textured twist pile surface. This type of carpets is proving the most popular because of their resilience & durability, they are either a solid plain colour or a Heather mix which creates a speckle effect & is great for disguising pathing & everyday dirt.

They can come in a variety of qualities & weights.

The different type of qualities can be:- 

• 50/50 wool blend (50% wool & 50% manmade fibre)
• 80/20 wool blend (80% wool & 20% manmade fibre)
• 100% Manmade fibre
• 1/8th gauge & 1/10th gauge (8 rows or 10 rows of yarn across the width of the carpet) the denser the yarn the better the carpet.
• Single, twin, triple & 4 ply yarn, again the more yarn spun together the better the quality.

The weights can vary anywhere from 28oz to 70+oz per square yard

(to convert to square metre + 20%)

Because of the varying qualities Twist Pile carpets offer good value for money & a variety of colours.  The unique British environment produces the best wool for carpet in the world. The British sheep survive the harshest of Britain’s weather making it ideal wool for carpet, withstanding the rigours of day to day living in a modern house.

The high degree of ‘natural crimp’ in British wool offers more resilience than most other carpet wool it will withstand heavy footfall & pressure, which over time helps maintain the appearance of the carpet. A natural source & grown throughout the year it`s a renewable resource, with no harm to the planet British Wool is a truly ‘Green’ fibre.

Wool is a natural insulator, which reduces heat loss, noise reduction & condensation, it also provides improved air quality and makes a comfortable home environment. Naturally flame resistant and producing less toxic fumes than other household materials & makes it a safer product in public areas and in your home.

 Carpet made from British Wool is far easily maintained with an inbuilt resistance to soiling because of its natural oils and will always come up like new with professional cleaning.

Tufted or Twist Pile is a post from: Carpets & Flooring

Velvet carpets have an elegant, smooth finish, with their quite short, very dense pile they are very low maintenance & add luxury to any room. Looking & feeling good they come in a variety of solid colours.

Shag Pile

Best known from the 70`s this type of carpet is becoming popular again. This is an extremely luxurious carpet which is manufactured in the same way cut pile carpet but to give it that shaggy look has extra long tufts.

Saxony

Longer tufts, a soft feel, a dense & luxurious feel cut pile carpet that`s smooth in appearance the Saxony comprises of a twist pile which is a cut pile giving it it`s appearance.  Ideal for that luxurious feeling in a bedroom but because of its soft pile will show footprints so is not recommended for the heavier traffic areas in your home such as hall, stairs & landing or lounge.

Loop Pile or Berber carpet (as it`s commonly called)

Depending on the quality Loop pile or Berber can be hard wearing, excellent in maintaining appearance. Unlike some other carpets it doesn`t show footprints. The yarn used for these carpets is wide & quite heavy, the loops been at a varied height making a textured finish or can be at an equal height to give a more uniformed finish.

Cut and Loop

Using both loop pile & cut pile in different areas of the carpet to give a patterned effect using the different textures.

Flatweave

By interlocking the horizontal threads (weft) & the vertical threads (warp) the pile is looped & has no height which gives the appearance of the pile been flat, which means it won`t show signs of flattening. The down side to all this is that the pile feels firm underfoot.

Other Types Of Carpets is a post from: Carpets & Flooring

A beater bar is used to push every row of tufts and weft shots tightly together to form the carpet. The rows or “beatup” as they are known can vary from as low as 5 to 14 rows per inch, if required they can be higher. Dependent on the design different coloured ends of yarn can be selected from the yarn carrier; this is raised or lowered by means of a punched card mechanism or jacquard. Using this weaving method many different colours can be used. The more modern looms have electronic punched card mechanisms enabling the manufacturers to produce very complicated designs with an almost infinite pattern repeats.

It`s worth noting that Axminster carpets are only made from a blend of wool & man made yarns usually 80% wool & 20% man made yarns.

Axminster is a post from: Carpets & Flooring

Traditional Wiltons are made from 100% wool but modern day techniques have allowed cheaper man made Wiltons to be made, there are different qualities of manmade Wilton, some of exceptional quality the wool Wilton will offer more longevity. These manmade are not woven in the traditional manor & have more design; generally they are made abroad too.

Wilton carpets is a post from: Carpets & Flooring

What overall look are you trying to achieve – the type of carpet or flooring should compliment your room.

Is it easy to maintain – some carpets and flooring will need regular treating and resealing; before buying your flooring consider whether or not you will have time to maintain your flooring type if not consider a less maintenance type of flooring.

Take a sample home – this will reassure any doubts you have about the flooring type as you will be able to see if it suits your homes personality

For enquires about carpets and flooring fill in CarpetnCare free assessment form

Three questions to consider before buying carpets and flooring for your home is a post from: Carpets & Flooring

• Check the company before hiring their service; this can be done by going to their website and check fro recommendations from their previous customers.
• Guarantee a price before the company start the cleaning.
• Prepare your house for the cleaners could reduce the time the cleaners spend at your house. Move furniture, small and breakable items from the cleaning area.
• Vacuum the carpet before the cleaners arrive.
• Point out any areas that need special attention i.e. areas with spills or stains.
• Don’t try and hide problem areas to save money, tackle the problem straight if the cleaners are trustworthy they will help you fix the problem at minimum cost.

Hiring a professional carpet cleaning service is a post from: Carpets & Flooring

• Vacuum your carpets weekly – If you do not vacuum your carpets regular you are at risk of letting dust, dirt, food crumbs getting grinded into your carpet; by letting these grind into your carpet you are at risk from harmful bacteria and mold brought in by everyday activities which can multiply and become harmful.
• Air circulation – by allowing air to circulate throughout your home it helps prevent dust particles from being fixated into the carpet, circulation helps to filter the dust.
• Taking off your shoes – taking off your outdoor shoes helps prevent outside dirt from being trodden onto the carpet.
• Cleaning spilled liquids – when cleaning up spills do not use detergents, the best way to clean up spills and maintain your carpet is by using warm water and blot out the spill.
• Professional cleaning – invest in professional cleaning at least once a year. Professional cleaning helps remove dust mites, spores, bacteria and mold; it can also help  allergies.

How to get the most out of your carpet is a post from: Carpets & Flooring

A room can be radically changed by considering a change in the following:

• Colours
• Patterns
• Textures

Colours

When considering colours you need to have the room in mind, bold bright colours won’t go well in a room you want to relax in, whereas light colours can create a spacious effect. Get the colour right and you will have immediately transformed your room.

Rich tones look nice in living/dining areas and softer shades in bedrooms.

If you are not completely redecorating your room take a sample home to make sure it works with your existing furniture.

Patterns

Patterns can either make your room look bigger or smaller; larger and bolder patterns are ideal for bigger rooms. Patterns can also help disguise day-to-day wear and marks in busy rooms.

Texture

Texture adds interest to neutral tone carpets and can be used in almost every room, although texture carpets shouldn’t be used in rooms such as dining rooms as food spillages can be hard to remove.

If you’re considering home improvements have a look at our carpets and flooring range.

Home Improvement is a post from: Carpets & Flooring

Underfloor Heating

Underfloor heating is becoming increasingly popular in the UK as more & more people realise the benefits that it can bring. In this article we aim to find out just what is underfloor heating & its various types, thadvantages of underfloorheating, & fianally the disadvantages of underfloor heating

What types of underfloor heating are there?

There are 2 different types of underfloor heating that are avaialable in the UK. These are electric underfloor heating – this is where wires are layed into the flooring screed as its being layed & is then insulated & “hooked” into the mains to provide flooring heat. This is probably one of the best ways to do underfloor heating as it doesnt require as much maintainance as a regular heating system or water driven underfloor heating system option. in fact on average this system generally only needs a maiantainance check every 10 years or so which should be carried out by a fully qualified electrician & on all electrical items to ensure full electrical safety within the home

As I said before there is however a second option this is the water driven solution that I spoke about earlier. The way that this option works is that piping (instead of wire) is layed/ plumbed into the mains & added under the floor in a coil fashion (just as with the wire option) whilst the flooring screed is being layed. This is then plumbed into the boiler (for an underfloor heating system its perferable to have a condensing boiler as these are far more effiecient for this type of operation), before the connection is made to the boiler though to complete a curcuit the system may need to go through a pump that has a higher rating than is currently installed in your heating system. This is because the back pressure from the UFH system can be much higher than in a conventional heating – your installer should be able to advise you as to what will be the best for you system being installed & your current heating system

What are the benefits of UFH?

There are many benefits to having UFH installed in your home such as:

• Better Cosmetic Design of a room
• Provide healthier living environments
• A much better safety record than a typical central heating system

UFH provides a better cosmetic design within the room, this is because ugly, unsightly radiators can be removed as they would no longer serve a purpose. Now that the radiators have been removed you will have more wall space which can be as you like, you may even choose to add a new plasma TV in that space or leave it blank. There are now limitless design ideas that you can bo with the free space you have gained

With UFH now installed your living area health would also be massively improved as well becasue there is now no breeding ground provided for microscopic nasties. A regular heating system causes warm, dampish environments behind radiators which are a breeding ground for dust & microscopic nasties. With UFH that has been correctly installed there is no breading ground available for these microscopic nasties – this will dramatically improve the health of your living rooms & of yourself particularly if you suffer from alergies

The safety record of UFH mainly comes from the fact that once installed there is little to go wrong with the system (provided that the system has been installed correctly). For a lot of people though its the child friendly aspect of UFH. UFH has an impecable safety record wher young children are concerned, this is because there is no chance of grabbing hold of scalding hot pipes or radiators.

Are there any downsides to having UFH

As with anything else there are a few downsides to havig UFH installed but these are few & pretty much limited to these below:

• UFH will take a while to warm up
• UFH can realistically only be installed in rooms that are going to have fixed furniture – such as bathroom or kitchen

Due to the way that UGH works as I have said before it can take quite a while for the flooring to heat up – this can be a bit of a bind particularly if you are in a hurry, there is though a plus side to this as well in that it take UFH a similarly long time to cool down as well after it has been switched on for some time. The length of time that it takes to warm up & cool down though does depend on the type of flooring that UFH has been installed under.

Realistically when installing UFH you need to ensure that it will be uinstalled in a room that will have fixed furniture such as a bathroom, this is because if it is installed in a room that has dynamic furniture (such as a living room) the you could inadvertantly do some dame to the furniture within that room – the wooden furniture inparticular could beome damp & suffer from rot. Ideally UFH should also be installed only on vancant floor space such as the space between a bath & sink or space that wouldnt have furniture build on it

Underfloor Heating is it worth it? We take a look is a post from: Carpets & Flooring

Carpet Cleaning as we have said before can be quite a chore for many of us (most of us). Well Vanish have come up with a great solution for helping reduce the time for getting those annoying stains & marks out of your carpets. Its the Vanish Stain Remover Carpet Power Shot, advertised on TV this little beauty will speed up your cleaning times & ensure your carpet will look its best.

Where can I get this 400ml wonder well this 400ml wonder is available in most supermarkets & is available for as little as £3.50. This little carpet cleaning beauty will speed up your carpet cleaning & any other floor care that you have to do that is carpet based such as a rug.

Carpet Cleaning With Vanish is a post from: Carpets & Flooring