Hicksville, N.Y.—The changing face of carpet design, especially in the commercial market, is driving dynamic new changes for what’s under the patterns. The days when simpler designs only needed to look good upon installation are long gone. Now, facility managers are holding specifiers accountable for carpet performance and longevity. Architects and designers are more educated and are demanding product improvements from the mills. The mills, in turn, have put high expectations on their suppliers. All these dynamics create an environment where value-added features, like high performance backings, are now the expectation instead of an option. Add to this, the increased focus on worker comfort and workplace ergonomics, and carpet backings, although not new, have taken on a new focus and prominence, especially in commercial settings, though their importance in the residential market is also growing.

The explosion in design sophistication is challenging carpet mills in their ability to manufacture intricate patterns in the tufting process. Patterned broadloom accounts for approximately 60% of commercial carpet, and is a growing segment in higher end retail markets. The newer designs require precision needle punch alignment, and the new generation of backings and binders helps make that possible. Both primary and secondary backings, plus the bonding and binding agents, have evolved to help facilitate the manufacturing process for patterned carpets.

In addition to the high expectations placed on carpets for design integrity, end users expect the products to look perfect when they go down, with no bow or skew. Customers demand carpets with no distortion upon installation, so backing products have evolved to help installers do the job with less hassle, less stretching, fewer callbacks and reduced claims. At the other end of the spectrum, design professionals and end users are increasing their specifications for products with high performance and long life cycles. This is giving rise to increased usage of backings and binder materials that help carpets stay good looking, including improved maintenance characteristics and better appearance retention over the long haul. Here’s a situation where the technology isn’t necessarily new—but where customer expectations have generated a new focus in using materials that will meet their demands.

Of course, interest in environmentally friendly products is growing, if not mandated, in many facilities. Today’s carpet backing materials need to have low VOCs for indoor air quality issues, and cause no harm in the disposal process. Industry associations and companies have environmental initiatives that are leading to newer and more environmentally responsible products and programs.

Finally, there’s a more collaborative effort between designers, mills and backing suppliers to work together for total customer satisfaction. Backing technology and materials are taking a more prominent role in providing solutions for the carpet industry instead of being the invisible, after-installation product foundation. While backings and backing materials are getting more sophisticated, so are industry marketing efforts. The backings industry is hoping to drive demand for what’s underneath the carpet, not just what the face looks like.

From associations and suppliers that produce raw materials and license technology to the backings manufacturers and the carpet mills, marketing is getting more aggressive to educate end users about backings and to generate brand preference. “We see a growth in the proliferation of backings advertising and publicity aimed at the design community, target markets and end users,” notes one mill executive. “They are employing the classic ‘pull’ technique to drive brand loyalty and encourage product selection by name at the point of specification and/or purchase.” As a way to better understand what is taking place in the world of carpet backings, next issue we will examine the notable changes and trends in industry products.

Associations And Material Suppliers In this area, there are primarily three main players—two organizations and one supplier—with each having its own unique function within the industry. > Alliance for Flexible Polyurethane Foam (AFPF): AFPF is a joint program of the Alliance for the Polyurethane Industry and the Polyurethane Foam Association, and claims newer foam properties overcome negative impressions. AFPF claims recent improvements in commercial polyurethane foam cushioning create a padding that is thick, has a high density, and is flat and resilient. These qualities overcome objections to earlier generations of cushions that impeded wheeled traffic and made office reconfigurations difficult.

In contrast, today’s commercial polyurethane foam has a positive impact on carpet performance in office environments. According to the AFPF’s Helen Sullivan, the benefits that carpet cushions bring to the office workspace include an increase in carpet lifespan of up to 50%, improved appearance retention, better acoustics for open and modular office spaces and enhanced worker comfort and ergonomics. With this in mind, the organization has a new program targeted at office facility managers to promote the use of carpet cushions. AFPF has zoned in on the office market because although 34% of commercial carpet sales are installed in offices, only 25% to 30% of those installations use carpet cushions.

Because there is increasing accountability for designers and facility managers to specify carpets that look good and perform well upon initial installation as well as years down the road, Sullivan said the group sees an opportunity to educate customers about the benefits today’s polyurethane foam cushioning brings to commercial carpet installations. To make its case, AFPF has a brochure for office designers and end users that cites tests and quotes experts to demonstrate the superior performance carpet cushions provide in all stages of an office carpet’s life. Beginning with the initial installation, the cushions are installer-friendly because they’re allergen-free, lightweight, easy to cut to size and require no adhesive.

Benefits versus direct glue-down installations include longer lifetime and fewer replacements, which translates into time and money savings. For office occupants, AFPF claims cushioned carpet offers more than twice the noise reduction coefficient of carpet alone. Most polyurethane carpet cushions have an Rvalue of 1.0 or higher and, although worker comfort can only be measured in subjective terms, AFPF notes cushioned carpet is more ergonomic for workers because it is more comfortable to walk on, and causes less stress on the lower legs and feet.

Maintenance benefits are also cited for using unattached cushions. The space between the floor, the cushion and the carpet allows air circulation through the carpet backing, lifting 15% to 58% more dirt. At the end of the cushion’s service life, the it is recyclable, and may well end up in a newly manufactured cushion. There is also a positive cost/value relationship, Sullivan said. The up front costs of using cushion are rationalized to facility managers with positive costing studies that demonstrate longer appearance retention and longer service life versus direct glue-down installations. Even moderately priced carpets look better longer, justifying the investment. For more information on AFPF, call 800/696-2373.

 > Dow: The company is responsible for much of the chemistry behind cushion-backed products, and licenses the technology to multiple manufacturers. Dow introduced its Enhancer polyurethane cushioned carpet backing in 1985, so the product category is not new. What is new, as in so many other overnight success stories that take 10 or 20 years, is the increasing role attached cushions like Enhancer are playing in assuring tuftability for intricate patterns, contributing to appearance retention, improving longer term performance, enhancing maintenance characteristics, and providing better ergonomics.

Along with AFPF, Dow is riding the popularity crest polyurethane cushions are now enjoying in a number of end use commercial markets. The original Enhancer product now has many iterations, all variations and/or upgrades on a basic set of properties. The product consists of a polyurethane moisture resistant layer applied to the carpet primary backing, encapsulating and locking yarn tufts. That is bonded to a non-plasticized, microcellular cushion, which in turn is bonded to a woven or non-woven fabric on the exposed undersurface. The backing is said to provide better long-term appearance retention characteristics and more dimensional stability to reduce rippling and buckling, plus better bonding characteristics. “The high density cushion flexes imperceptibly to reduce crushing and matting,” said a spokesman. “It extends the appearance and performance characteristics of commercial carpets. Combined with a low pile carpet, the cushioning also reduces lower leg muscle fatigue.”

Polyurethane cushions also create a thermoplastic moisture barrier between the carpet surface and the backing. This reduces the likelihood that moisture from spills, humidity and wet cleaning will penetrate the carpet backing and promote deterioration, appearance problems and odors. The Enhancer’s newer value added characteristics include optional additives that inhibit the growth of bacteria, mold and mildew. Lifespan polyurethane carpet backing was developed as the next generation for the non-cushion commercial broadloom industry. Introduced in 2000, it is a woven composite fabric backing with a unique terra-cotta color. The company claims Lifespan is a cost-effective, high-performance product that capitalizes on the four key attributes of polyurethane: high polymer strength and elasticity; excellent adhesion to fibers; moisture resistance, and retention of properties over time and in a wide variety of indoor site conditions. “The polyurethane chemistry used in the backing creates a molecular bond between the primary and secondary backings, reducing the occurrence of product failure from delamination,” the spokesman explained. The backing also includes a tough elastomeric film precoat applied directly to the primary carpet backing, which provides moisture resistance over the life of the carpet, and reduces the potential for mold, mildew and resulting product delamination. The bond also allows Lifespan backing to be cut lengthwise, crosswise or at any angel without predisposing yard to dropout or edge ravel. It is available by individual carpet specifications to offer performance assurance for the life of the installation and is geared for professionals who have tight budgets and scheduling issues. For more information on Dow, call 800/847-4212.

 > SB Latex Council (SBLC): Styrene Butadiene Latex (SB Latex) is used in over 90% of carpets made in the U.S., primarily to attach face fibers to a backing material. Although there are no product or technology breakthroughs from this alliance of industry members, Bob Fensterheim, SBLC’s executive director, said two current issues surrounding carpets continues to validate the product’s popularity—maintenance and indoor air quality. The inherent quality of SB Latex to resist moisture enables carpet backings made with it more resistant to the negative effects of thorough maintenance.

Today’s carpets are expected to last longer, so they’ll undergo more routine maintenance and occasional deep cleaning cycles before being replaced. Fensterheim says the more SB Latex content in the backing, and the less calcium carbonate filler, the more moisture resistant and less water permeable the carpet becomes. “These qualities make it easier for the carpet to maintain its structural strength and original shape after repeated cleanings with liquid cleaning and disinfectant solutions.” With mills facing so much pressure for longer lasting carpets, the binders are being made with less and less filling and a higher percentage of SB Latex.

The other issue driving the continued popularity of SB Latex is human allergy reactions to natural latex. Ironically, the chemicals used to make synthetic SB Latex are not associated with the sensitivity some people show to latex products made with natural materials. “As awareness to natural latex reactions and allergies grows, so does the desirability of products made with SB Latex, including backing adhesives and coatings,” he said. To learn more about the SBLC, call 202/637-9040.

Backing Manufacturers The newer generation of backings combines traditional woven technology with newer non-woven technology to create products that provide the best of all worlds in a very cost effective way. These backings are able to accommodate the new, intricate designs and greater physical stress being placed on carpets. Here is a look (in alphabetical order) at what some of the major carpet backing manufactures are doing to not only enhance the performance properties of their products but make them easy for the mills to work with.

> BP: More than a year-and-a-half ago, BP introduced Polybac GL for commercial markets and higher-end residential use as part of its goal to provide industry-driven improvements. It is a synthetic woven primary backing that offers the qualities of the original Polybac introduced in 1993 (tuftability, pattern definition, strength, moisture resistance, durability and versatility), with a few added features. Polybac GL offers a straight pick weave that helps with pattern straightness during tufting. It also adds a visual guideline that allows carpet manufacturers to monitor fabric straightness during the manufacturing process.

Mark Williams, sales and marketing manager for BP carpet backing, said this product is becoming increasingly popular as straightness in designs with no design shift becomes more of an expectation instead of an option. The product comes in straight pick counts up to 22, with several color options to meet specific needs. The newest product from BP is a primary carpet backing that combines woven and non-woven technologies. Matrix, introduced at last year’s Surfaces, is a composite backing that provides the versatile production characteristics of a woven and the dimensional stability of a non-woven. Williams said Matrix features the characteristic of traditional woven primary backings that makes manufacturing easier, including tuftability, mendability, wet dye processing and stitch lock. It also features superior pattern definition and pattern matching characteristics during installation as well as outstanding tuft bind and delamination performance.

Matrix is formed by joining a polypropylene woven primary and a polypropylene non-woven to form a versatile, stable, two-layered tufting platform that resists bow and skew in the tufting, dyeing and finishing processes. BP says the all-polypropylene composite is less expensive than a non-woven, and Williams noted, better tufting efficiencies, better pattern definition and lower cost make Matrix a tremendous value. For more information on BP, call 800/872-0765.

>Colbond: The goal of the company’s Colback non-woven fabrics is to bring its non-woven backing products, already being used in modular tile and automotive carpet, to the commercial patterned broadloom market. Colback EasyTuft backing was specifically designed to meet the exacting tolerances of today’s patterned carpets by virtually eliminating bow and skew in the manufacturing and installation process, noted Don Brown, director of sales and marketing for Colbond Flooring/Automotive Products. “The backing structure provides a stable foundation from tufting to finished carpet, with greater dimensional stability for less pattern distortion. The result is, perfectly aligned patterns that stay true without hooking, greater control over pattern run-off, clean edges, no hooking, easier installation and increased pattern flexibility.”

The technology behind the product involves Colback fabric, a spunlaid fabric composed of a bi-component fiber with a polyester core and a polyamide skin. Brown said the controlled lay-down process used to manufacture Colback, coupled with the thermal bonding of the bi-component filaments, gives the product exceptional uniformity, even in lower weight products, while allowing unidirectional properties. And, although the technology is a few years old, using it to solve broadloom problems is new. Colback EasyTuft is said to be particularly suited for the patterned carpet markets because the tufting base will not ravel, prevents needle deflection, and resists water, rot, mildew and chemical degradations. The nylon skin also exhibits better adhesion to most backcoatings. On the horizon, Brown says Colbond is working to continually improve qualities germane to the carpet industry, including stitch lock characteristics. For information on Colbond, call 828/665-5060.

> SI Flooring Systems: In 2000, SI (formerly Synthetic Industries) introduced the PaternLoc foundation system. Jule Smith, vice president and general manager, said it was developed to reduce bow and skew and provide an excellent foundation for even the most detailed carpet pattern. Now, SI has upgraded this family of commercial backings with a modified yarn component to provide a smooth and consistent foundation for improved pattern integrity and enhanced tufting definition.

PaternLoc 2.0 features the company’s Truline technology for reducing bow and skew and it also includes a modified yarn component to enhance the overall appearance of the finished product. The yarn system in PaternLoc 2.0 reportedly creates a premium foundation system with enhanced tufting definition. The company is targeting the product to designers and manufacturers. The performance-based foundation system gives mills more latitude for intricate carpet designs, Smith noted because of such benefits as improved carpet mendability, improved appearance, increased tufting performance with less needle deflection, and improved energy efficiency because tufting needles penetrate the fiber system more easily.

Another new introduction from SI is PaternLoc Tru-Composite fabric. Smith noted commercial carpet mills now have a dimensionally stable foundation that locks-in stitches, enabling them to run custom color processes without worrying about yarn pulls or other process damage. PaternLoc Tru-Composite mechanically interlocks two fabrics with complementing physical properties into once backing system. It combines the pattern alignment technology of PaternLoc woven foundations systems with a non-woven fabric, he explained. The result is a premium, ultra-stable commercial carpet backing designed to withstand the toughest production processing. SI said the structure allows architects and designers to specify custom carpets, either special dye colors, patterns or both, while increasing on time deliveries through a reduction of off-quality rework issues. Smith said the resulting carpet is much more stable and resilient. “The structure reduces pattern match issues which cause mill waste and installation problems; provides excellent dimensional stability while reducing shrinkage and ‘neckin’ during finishing; reduces yarn pulls during the Beck or other wet mill processing steps, and eliminates the need for complicated and costly double-feed backing systems for tufting. Additionally, the PaternLoc Tru-Composite features technology that provides a visual monitoring system for process alignment.” A company spokesperson also cited the recent name change from to SI Flooring Systems as evidence of the company’s focus on partnering with flooring companies to produce products tailored for the industry. To learn more about SI’s products, call 800/635-2308.

> Textile Rubber & Chemical Co: The company’s Polyurethane Products Division cites the growth of its attached cushioned business for both residential and commercial carpeting. The products have a renewed focus and interest as consumers flock to home centers and independent retailers for home projects. A company spokesman said the marketing and sales challenge is to first educate residential and commercial customers about the value high quality cushioning brings to carpet installations, and then to convince D-I-Yers as well as professional installers that attached cushions are the way to go. “The benefits include eliminating the need to purchase a separate product under the carpet, and eliminating a step in the installation process, saving time and money.” Also, its Kanga cushions are 100% polyurethane, with no fillers or extenders. The higher the polyurethane content, according to the company, the better and longer the cushion performance.

The company says Kanga products are unique in that they are the only backings on the market that can be installed professionally or by D-I-Yers. The residential product is KangaBack, which comes in three thicknesses for a variety of performance characteristics. The residential/light commercial crossover products are KangaHyde and KangaGold (formerly called Great Strides). The latter is being promoted as a premium residential and light commercial product, and has the highest cushion density of all Kanga residential products (7-lbs./cu.-ft.). These products are targeted to customers who shop at home centers and independent dealers. Textile Rubber wants to increase product awareness and is encouraging homeowners and designers to ask for Kanga attached cushion products by name. To this end, it has began consumer advertising for Kanga cushion products last fall and plans to continue this spring on HGTV on the Ladies Home Journal show. The products will be featured on D-I-Y segments about flooring. Attached cushion use is also growing in the commercial market.

Cushion use in general is being targeted as a commercial growth opportunity, especially in office environments, where it helps with everything from enhancing acoustics to adding comfort to the workplace. Attached cushions provide the added value of eliminating a step in the installation process, while providing the same physical performance as unattached cushioning or padding, said Paul Sikorski, vice president of marketing. The reduced number of installation steps also results in fewer installation errors, fewer claims, and overall, reduced cost in labor and materials. The commercial products, KangaTrac-24 and -30, and System TR/18, are being targeted for use under patterned commercial carpets. He noted there is a common misconception you cannot successfully install a patterned commercial carpet with an attached cushion. “The reality is, most all of Textile Rubber’s commercial backings production has been on patterned carpet, with virtually no installation problems. Attached cushions have as much ability for pattern matching as most of their action-backed counterparts.” According to sales manager Terry Wilson, this fact is validated by the increase of patterned styles and the double-digit growth of attached cushion business experienced by Textile Rubber and its licensees.

The company says that end users, architects, facility managers and specifies are gaining confidence in polyurethane attached cushions because of the value they bring to the product, including appearance retention, comfort, and life cycle improvements. For more information about Textile Rubber, call 888/706-1300.

> Wayn-Tex: Seeing the trend in precision graphics in the commercial broadloom market, Wayn-Tex, the second largest producer of woven primary carpet backing. Teamed with Colbond to create Stabilok. The two leading producers of primary carpet backing joined forces in introducing the product last year. Stabilok is a combination of woven and primary carpet backings bonded together. The product is targeted for the broadloom industry to help prevent side-match problems in patterned graphics. It is designed to eliminate end skewing during the tufting, dyeing and finishing process. Wayn-Tex’ Durwood Knight, vice president of sales and marketing, says Stabilok combines the best properties of woven and primary backings, providing carpet manufacturers with savings in time and money. Colbond’s Don Brown says the product is providing dimensional stability and is the backing of choice for a growing number of the industry’s highest quality commercial carpet manufacturers. “The product is proving to reduce fallout, or off-quality goods, especially in more difficult, intricate pattern production.” For more information on Stabilok, call Wayn-Tex at 706/279-1900.