Having just spent a day in the hospital with my youngest daughter who had her tonsils out, I couldn’t help but notice the carpet. What else would I notice first?

CARPET IN A HOSPITAL

This facility, like so many other hospitals, has grown dramatically and continues to do so. In the process, carpet is used all over; in the corridors, waiting areas, elevator cabs, offices, etc. Much of it is installed using borders and feature strips, giving a very nice presentation and eliminating the “one color and style fits all” concept.

It is gratifying to see so much broadloom being used. What’s frustrating is seeing a great deal of it looking ratty because someone picked the wrong color. Most of what looks bad is light blues and lighter shades of mauves and greens; almost to the light shade of teal. These colors, especially the light blues, are particularly susceptible to “ugly out,” that is, a rapid loss in the original appearance because they quickly look worn, soiled, and faded. This appearance loss is common with most very light colors in any shade used in high traffic areas.

The high traffic load will first compress the face yarn, a normal reaction to high density traffic. The face yarn compression will change the light reflectance value of the fiber and cause the traffic lanes to appear an even lighter shade. In fact, they take up a whiteish cast, or washed out look.

This is often interpreted as fading. It isn’t fading, but a physical change in the carpet face giving the appearance of fading. If you were to pile lift thecompressed area of the product, the color would most certainly come back to near its original appearance.

Because of the presumed fading, the next concern would be the carpet is wearing out when, in fact, it is not. The faded look is perceived as wear since there is now a textural change resulting in an actual change in appearance of the material from high traffic lanes to the areas not being walked upon.

To the person interpreting the problem, it is wear, since any physical change in the product will most often be perceived as such. If the carpet uglies out, it is worn out to most observers.

With the compressing of the face yarn making it look lighter and faded, the carpet is now subject to increased soiling or the visibility of more soil. This is because there is no depth of color to hide any soil, and instead of being masked on the face of the carpet, it is magnified.

Hence, the carpet will look dirtier without being able to thwart any significant volume of soiling from normal traffic or liquid spills. This leads to complaints of the product not performing, solution dyed yarns staining, cleaning efforts being ineffective and frustration for not being able to keep the carpet looking good.

As a result of these conditions, the merchandise is thought to be defective. After all, it must be when it looks this bad after a relatively short period of time. This thought is incorrect, because in the described condition, someone picked the wrong color to begin with.

If and when you mention this, it’s like you got on the last nerve that person had, especially if it’s the designer or architect who picked the colors. The response is usually, “So what you’re saying is, this carpet is incorrect for use here?” Correct. “Then why didn’t someone tell us that?”

What you’d like to say here is, “Would you have listened and if so, would you have actually used carpet in a color which would not have shown as much soil?” Common sense would tell you a very light color will show a great deal of soil and with this, an ensuing very ugly carpet. That’s not the product’s fault. If the carpet could talk it would say, “Hey fellas, you picked the wrong color. How intelligent was that?”

But some poor dealer and manufacturer will suffer the wrath of an irate end user because someone chose a product which failed to work as a result of the color. In most cases, a slightly darker shade of the same color with maybe some patterning or mottling would have made a world of difference, and actually maintained the appearance and aesthetics expected.