Parts of a Carpet
Yarn
New Zealand Wool: Generally the quality of wool improves as you move away from the equator and into cooler climates, higher elevations, and even vegetation. New Zealand wool is known for being purer in color, soft and longer in hair length than other wools in the world. These qualities help make a longer lasting carpet. We also select silk from the best parts of the sheep, the wool from the neck, underarms and belly is the finest (Most thin) and softest
Silk: Our silk is custom spun in China. The gauge of the yarn and color are selected to suite the requirements of the designer.
Color and Dye
While Island Weavers has 1600 standard Chromo-tone colors in our line and can also custom match yarn to meet your specifications; the yarn used in your carpet is always dyed specifically for your individual project using color fast and environmentally friendly dye.
Pile weight
The pile weight of a carpet refers to the weight of the yarn per square unit of carpet. Typically quality levels of carpet are defined as 450, 550, 650, 750, and 850 weight quality where 850 quality means there is 8.5 pounds of wool per square yard of carpet (Or 4800 grams/square meter).
Carpets in the third dimension
While it is possible to create masterful art in carpets by combining colors and patterns, incredible works can also be achieve by using a single color and using different pile heights, tuft type, thread type, over-tufting, needle point stitching, and by carving patterns into the carpet:
Carving: systematically shaping the height of a group of piles by cutting the pile
Cropping: trimming a group of cut pile tufts to a uniform height
Cut Pile: A Carpet Fabric in which the face is comprised cut ends or yarn
Cut Pile Loop: A Carpet in which the face is a combination of cut ends and loop
Loop Pile: Carpet style comprised of series of loops
Needle Point: A type of embroidery in which stitches are worked with a needle into a canvas foundation
Saxony: A cut-pile carpet with twisted yarn in dense, erect configuration – showing well defined tuft tips.
Multi-layered Carpet: 6mm Needle Point; 8mm Loop Pile; 10mm Loop Pile with tip sheering and carving; and flowers in 12mm Loop Pile
Carpet Backing
Island Weavers builds its carpets on a cotton canvas. After all tufts have been properly positioned on the carpet, the tufts must be locked into place. A secondary cotton scrim is applied and specially compounded latex is applied to the underside of the carpet. The Specialized Latex flows through the pores of the scrim and welds the canvas, tufts, and scrim together and also stays soft and pliable throughout the life of the carpet.