Jim Walker, CEO and Executive Director of the International Certified Floorcovering Installers Association (CFI) and I gave three 45 minute crash course presentations to the members of Star Net organization a couple of weeks ago. We covered inherent carpet characteristics, product defects, installation procedures and techniques and installation compromises. StarNet is the largest single commercial carpet sales and installation coop in the industry. It is made up of the top commercial carpet dealers in the country who have, in my opinion, more business knowledge and professionalism than any group of carpet dealers in the country. This group is responsible for over $1 billion dollars in commercial carpet sales per year.

One segment of my presentation covered carpet fiber characteristics and carpet styles and constructions. These two subjects always generate a lot of interest and questions and this presentation was no exception. Carpet dealers, whether they be the best in the business or a small Mom and Pop operation all suffer from the same malady, not enough information about characteristics of the product. Jim Walker and I both used examples of situations we’ve been involved in to paint a picture of some of the problems we’ve seen. I’ll share a few with you.

A cut pile carpet and a loop pile carpet are very different in their construction obviously but there are other differences are not so apparent that you may not even think about when looking at these two styles of carpet. For one thing the twist in the yarn of a cut pile carpet makes a huge difference in performance and appearance retention. The looser the twist the more the yarn will come apart or blossom and the more it will mat and look ugly. The higher or tighter the twist the more resiliency the carpet has and the better it will maintain it’s original appearance. A Frieze style nylon carpet is very resilient and, with proper care, will maintain it’s look for a long time. A base grade cut pile nylon will ugly out in a short period of time, matting and crushing. The same fiber, in different configurations, can have very different inherent performance characteristics. The importance in you knowing this is either having or not a satisfied customer. Granted, if you are selling base grade carpet you are selling into a market, be it apartment complexes or new home builders, where price, not performance and longevity, is the primary concern. But selling into an individual home or business where the carpet is expected to last requires much more than minimum performance standards in the product.

Here’s a simple test you can conduct yourself to determine if the yarn will perform well. Take a small piece of cut pile carpet in your hands and bend it over so you can get some face yarn to stand straight up. Now take your index finger and gently press down on the very tip of the yarn. Notice what happens. If the yarn starts to open up, untwist or “blossom” with very little pressure you can expect this carpet to mat and crush rather quickly. This is not a product you would want to sell into an environment that expected longevity out of their carpet. If the tip does not open up and the yarn springs back up when you release pressure it will do the same with foot traffic. You can use this simple example when your customer asks you the difference between a cheap cut pile product and a more expensive one. Also, the more yarn packed into a square inch the more density the carpet has and the better it will perform. Try this on several products to teach yourself.

Loop pile is much the same though, by it’s very nature, loop pile carpet will perform better than cut pile carpet and generally stays looking better longer. Because resiliency is built into the looped construction inherently, depending on the yarn system, it is considered a more durable piece of goods. Remember though that this statement also has to be put into perspective because cheap loop pile carpet will perform cheaply. The advantage is the yarn will not blossom and the look will remain closer to it’s original performance even when it does mat and compress because it has a loop. You can still twist the yarn, texture it and make the carpet denser in a loop pile carpet to improve performance to varying degrees.

This is all important stuff to know whether you are a small dealer or a big one. The same questions you may have about carpet, or any other floor covering from that matter, other people have as well. The more you know about the products you sell, no matter your size, the better you can serve your customer which will make you more successful.