Maintaining carpet can be a constant battle between quality and staying within the confines of a reasonable maintenance budget. The correct carpet specification will minimize these difficulties and make it easier to maintain the appearance of a building. When selecting and writing specifications for new carpet, consider maintenance requirements for each selection and the ease or difficulty to keep the flooring looking good on a daily basis. Although design is important for the image of a building, practical use must be considered for longevity, cost of maintenance and appearance retention.
An owner can install white carpet throughout a facility, as long as they have the budget to clean it almost every day. Design selection without considering practical use and maintenance can be a costly, nagging burden to the facility manager and owner. During initial planning, general topics for selection such as overall budget, expected lifecycle, use requirements and the basic maintenance program are usually considered. Dig deeper into the specification to select the best product within your budget that includes the design elements but also keeps the long-term appearance high and overall maintenance costs low.
Finding a commercial carpet dealer, professional maintenance company or manufacturer’s representative that is well educated in all portions of carpet construction and maintenance can be helpful in your research. The topics that require more detailed research include fiber type, backing system, density of the construction, color choice and diversity of pattern to hide soil.
Fiber Type
Nylon type 6.6 branded fibers are quality fibers. Branded fibers provide a proven track record for being cleanable and wearable and are used in products with balanced construction for higher appearance retention. The fiber shape, polymer structure and stain resistant properties for branded products are key performance attributes of their specification, so quality will always be consistent. Unbranded fibers that take on the name of the carpet manufacturer, or a name that is unique to the carpet manufacture, can have more variance in fiber shape and inconsistent or unknown quality characteristics because many of them do not have clear industry-wide recognized specification.
Backing System
Backing systems are another important area of construction and performance in quality commercial carpets. Most products in the market utilize “actionbac