There’s a lot of terminology around flooring products that isn’t commonly used otherwise, sometimes we know our customers feel like they need a dictionary to keep up (theres’s an idea!). We’re always happy to help, but also want to your to be as knowledgeable as possible about what you’re buying.
One of the most important terms we think you should know is the difference between a solution dyed carpet and a pressure dyed carpet.
Solution Dyed
Solution dyed carpets are only available with synthetic fibre carpets such as nylon, polyester or polypropylene. These types of carpets start out as a thick liquid and dye is added to the mixture before its created into fibres, so the fibres are dyed all the way through from the inside out. The best way to imagine this is a carrot:
When you cut a carrot, you see that the colour is the same all the way through, which is the same as with a solution dyed fibre. This type of dyed fibre is much more resistant to fading by sun, cleaning or from high traffic use. We generally always recommend this option with synthetic fibre carpets.
Pressure Dyed
Pressure dyed carpets are available with both synthetic and natural fibre carpets such as wool. This type of dye technique is done from the outside in, so the carpet fibre is made and the colour is put on second. We’ll stick with the vegetable theme and use a radish as an example:
Although the colour is bright red on the outside, the inside colour is white. Pressure dyed carpets are more sensitive to discolouration or fading from sunlight, harsh cleaning or heavy traffic. All wool carpets are pressure dyed, but the porousness of the wool fibre helps hold the colour better than with pressure dyed synthetic fibres.
Hope this helps when you’re looking for your next carpets!
Happy flooring,
Sara
