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Carpet

Nylon Carpet Fiber

Nylon is the strongest fiber of all the carpets. It has excellent resistance to abrasion, insects, molding, mildew, rot, and many chemicals. It is also easy to maintain, and dye, while upholding its color admirably.

With all of these advantages, nylon makes quite a formidable carpet. Thus, it is the main choice for residential use, accounting for 9 of 10 homes. With such a large hand in the residential carpet business, it would be expected that nylon carpet holds up well in traffic, hides soil, and is available in brilliant colors. Which indeed it does all very well. Nylon carpet is priced averagely, not quite as expensive as wool, but more expensive than polypropylene, and polyester.

Nylon does have its disadvantages. For example, nylon carpet is quite susceptible to stains. Nevertheless, manufacturers have developed methods for increasing stain resistance. One method, adding acid dye stain blocker to the carpet, greatly increases its stain resistance. The longevity of nylon carpet depends on the quality you buy.

Midlevel and high-end carpet can last up to 12 to 15 years. However, it does come at a cost. Prices range anywhere from 25 to 50 dollars per square yard. On the other hand, you can buy it quite cheap if your willing to have a lower grade of quality. At 8 dollars per square yard, you will get you basic nylon carpet. Then again, it will lose its color brightness and fade at a much quicker pace. It will also tend to lose its bounce, and relax. However, this is the case with any low-end carpet.

Pros:
Strongest carpet fiber(highly crush resistant)
Longevity
Value(the advantages far outweigh the price)

Cons:
Susceptible to stains(purchase of stain blocker is a must)
Price (more expensive than olefin/polyester)
Melts(wool carpet does not)

Polypropylene Carpet Fiber

Polypropylene, (also called olefin) is the prime choice for commercial carpet, and outdoor carpet. Depending on the cut, it will wear very well, clean easily, and is suitable for high traffic areas. It is inherently stain resistant. In fact, its stain resistance is so high you can spill chlorine on it, or other harsh chemicals, and it will have little effect. Coupled with these two factors, it is also very cheap, cheaper than wool, nylon, and polyester. For these reasons, polypropylene continues to gain popularity. Due to its high resilience to sunlight, mildew, and moisture; polypropylene is an excellent choice for an outdoor carpet, and is actually used for artificial sports turf.

However, with all these benefits, comes disadvantages. Polypropylene is not exactly ‘crush resistant’ and can be prone to matting, crushing, and general scuffs. This also depends on the pile cut. It is also difficult to dye. Additionally, polypropylene attracts a lot of oily soil. Though this can be canceled out by the fact that strong chemicals may be used to clean it.

Pros:
Lowest priced carpet
Best outdoor carpet
Inherently stain resistant

Cons:
Susceptible matting, crushing, and scuffs.
Attracts oily soil (more so than any other carpet)
Does not dye well

Polyester

The polyester known as "PET" (polyethylene terephthalate) is used in carpet manufacturing in both spun and filament constructions. After the price of raw materials for many types of carpet rose in the early 2000s, polyester became more competitive. Polyester has good physical properties and is inherently stain-resistant because it is hydrophobic, and, unlike nylon, does not have dye sites. Color is infused in a molten state (solution dyeing). Polyester has the disadvantage that it tends to crush or mat down easily. It is typically used in mid- to low-priced carpeting.

Another polyester, "PTT" (Polytrimethylene terephthalate), also called Sorona or 3GT (Dupont)or Corterra (Shell), is a variant of PET. Lurgi Zimmer PTT was first patented in 1941, but it was not produced until the 1990s, when Shell Chemicals developed the low-cost method of producing high-quality 1,3 propanediol (PDO), the starting raw material for PTT Corterra Polymers.