How Carpet Is Made

Carpet making is an art in itself, though technological developments have added new possibilities and new dimensions to the process. Carpets may be hand woven, machine woven, tufted or bonded.

Traditionally, carpet making was done by hand involving a lot of team work that lasted for months. Now we have the most sophisticated machines churning out carpets by the bulk. Some of the most common methods of carpet making are:

1) Weaving : Machine and Handmade
2) Tufting
3) Needle punch
4) Bonding and Knitting
5) Chromo jet

Weaving: Weaving is one of the earliest methods that was used to make carpets. Most traditional carpets were made on hand operated looms. Modern and commercial carpets are being woven on sophisticated power looms and machines.
Weaving, whether on machine or on hand operated loom, involves interlocking warp (vertical) and weft (horizontal) threads.

The carpets may be woven flat or as knotted pile. The warp threads are set up on the frame of the loop, and knots are tied in a row which are then cut and secured with the row of weft threads. The knots may be symmetrical, asymmetrical or single wrap.

Wilton and Axminster are two such well known examples of machine woven carpets that have a warp and weft of linen with a pile of worsted yarn drawn into loops by means of wires.

Tufting: Tufting involves inserting tufts into a woven or even a non woven backing using needles. The tufts are held in place with a latex compound that is applied on the backing. An additional backing is often required to give more body and add strength to the carpet.

Needle punching: is a relatively new technique that is gaining popularity. The technique uses a needle loom that has boards bearing barbed needles. These needles are loaded with layers of yarn which are then pierced into the backing fibre at great speed and interlocked placing the yarn firmly in place.

Bonding and Knitting: Bonding also involves inserting tufts into a backing fabric. A PVC compound is coated on the backing to bond the tuft with the fabric. Knitting involves simultaneously stitching the backing and the pile yarn.

Chromo jet: Chromo jet involves spraying different colored dyes on to a good quality backing material according to a pattern. It requires very precise spraying to get the right design. The fabric is then treated for fastening the colors.The technique uses computer generated designs.