The Skill and Appeal of Machine Made Carpets

Machine made carpets, an epitome of modern manufacturing, offer a blend of affordability, durability, and variety, making them a popular choice in homes and commercial spaces. These carpets, produced through advanced techniques such as tufting, weaving, knitting, flocking, and needle-punching, showcase the marvels of technological progress in textile production.

Types of Machine Made Carpets

Tufted Carpets: The most prevalent type, tufted carpets, are manufactured by stitching yarn through a pre-constructed backing to create loops or tufts. These loops are then held in place by coating the backside with latex. This method is cost-effective and swift, allowing for the production of carpets with diverse patterns and surface textures.

Woven Carpets: There are three primary kinds of woven carpets: Velvet, Wilton, and Axminster. Velvet carpets, the simplest in construction, typically feature a solid colour or a tweed effect. Wilton carpets, more intricate, are produced using a Jacquard loom capable of handling up to six different yarn colours. Axminster carpets are known for their elaborate designs and extensive colour variations.

Knitted Carpets: Knitted carpets are produced quickly, as several sets of needles create loops that are stitched together before the backing is applied. These carpets can be solid or tweed, with the pile either uniform or of varying heights.

Flocked Carpets: Similar in appearance to velvet carpets, flocked carpets boast a dense cut pile of short fibres embedded into an adhesive-coated backing, creating a plush texture.

Needle-Punched Carpets: Initially used for indoor-outdoor carpets, needle-punching has evolved for indoor use. This process involves locking fibres into a backing using hooked needles, then compressing them for durability.

The Manufacturing Process

Step 1: Preparing the Yarn

Synthetic yarns arrive at the manufacturer in either staple fibre or bulk continuous filament form. Staple fibres, averaging 18 cm in length, are blended, lubricated, and spun into slivers by a carding machine. These slivers are then pulled, straightened, and spun into single yarn, wound onto spools. Both single-ply staple fibres and bulk continuous filament are twisted together to form thicker two-ply yarn, which is then steamed, heat-set, and wound onto tubes for tufting.

Step 2: Dyeing the Yarn

Carpets are generally dyed after tufting, though sometimes the yarns are pre-dyed using various methods. These include pressurised vats, continuous baths, or printing rollers. Dyed yarns are then steamed, washed, and dried.

Step 3: Tufting the Carpet

Yarns are placed on a creel behind the tufting machine and fed into nylon tubes leading to the tufting needle. The needle pierces the primary backing, pushing the yarn into loops controlled by photoelectric sensors. A looper hooks and releases the yarn, forming the pile. To create cut pile, a knife attached to the looper snips the loops, producing a plush surface. This process involves hundreds of needles, allowing a single tufting machine to produce vast amounts of carpet daily.

Step 4: Dyeing the Tufted Carpet

For solid-coloured carpets, multiple rolls are sewn together and dyed in a vat or under rods that bleed colour into the pile. Printed carpets are created by passing white carpet under screens with pattern cut-outs, applying up to eight colours. Another method uses embossed cylinders to press designs into the carpet. Post-dyeing, carpets are steamed, washed, dried, and rolled for finishing.

Step 5: Finishing the Carpet

The dyed carpet ends are sewn into a continuous belt, coated with latex on the underside, and bonded with a secondary backing. The carpet is then cured in an oven, steamed, brushed, vacuumed, and clipped to ensure a uniform surface. Finally, the carpet is rolled into lengths, packaged, and shipped.

Machine made carpets offer a perfect balance of innovation, versatility, and cost-efficiency. With their diverse manufacturing techniques and intricate designs, they cater to a wide range of aesthetic and practical needs. Whether for a home, office, or commercial space, machine-made carpets provide an elegant, durable, and economical flooring solution, reflecting the ingenuity of modern textile production.