Carpet Recycling UK reports growing support

Carpet Recycling UK (CRUK) reports that around half of Britain’s carpet manufacturers and distributors support its schemes to recycle used carpets. They say that this shows increasing support for their aim to reduce wasted textile flooring and resources.

At the 2022 Harrogate Flooring Show, CRUK manager, Adnan Zeo-Khn said:

“We want to have more conversations with raw materials suppliers about the supply of recycled and more sustainable materials as well as, the challenges of decommissioning carpets at the end of life, what is being done and how can we help.”

He said that he had positive talks with manufactures and suppliers of carpets at the show and hoped that more will join CRUK.

Many carpet manufacturers are committed to the circular economy where products are made from recycled materials. CRUK advises carpet companies on how to reduce costs and resources by using more recycled materials.

Another sector that CRUK helps is carpet contractors, who often have substantial amounts of waste carpet after completing a large flooring contract. If they become members of the CRUK scheme, they will be assisted in ways to recycle leftover carpet pieces.

CRUK is working with organisations that train carpet fitters. They want educational programs to include a section on how waste carpets are collected, sorted, and processed.

When choosing Carpets for North Wales homes, an option is carpets that include recycled materials. Wool carpets are made from natural sustainable fibres, which can easily be recycled at the end of the carpet’s life.

Museum of Carpet designs inspire modern carpets

The Museum of Carpet in Kidderminster stores historical records related to the carpet industry from the 18th century to the present day. The museum plans to increase their income by licensing many of the designs from their extensive carpet archive. The patterns of carpets for Chester, Wrexham and North Wales homes and businesses could soon be influenced by traditional patterns recorded in the museum

The Museum is appealing to raise £20,000 to make up for a reduction in their income caused by rising energy bills and a shortfall in visitor numbers following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The chairman of the museum trustees Vicky Bagnall told visitors to the museum’s tenth anniversary celebrations that they need extra money to cover costs for the next six months. She said that extra staff had been recruited and:

"Over the last two years people have been nervous to come out into closed environments. School visits have picked up, but group visits have also fallen."

She said that they needed to pay these staff and, earlier this year, their gas bill went from £4,000 to £16,000-a-year.

Kidderminster, where the museum is located, used to be known as the “Carpet Capital of the World,” due to the many carpet manufacturers based in the region. Though carpet manufacturing has declined in Kidderminster and the rest of Britain, there are still some flourishing UK brands, especially in the luxury carpet sector. British sheep are used to provide the wool for premium quality UK wool carpets.

Global carpet markets forecast to be worth $40.2 billion by 2027

A report by MarketGlass Research reveals that the worldwide carpet market was worth US$32 million in 2020 and is expected to grow to be worth $40.2 billion in 2027.

Carpet manufacturers face fierce competition from hard surface flooring manufacturers. There are several reasons why there is a continuing high demand for carpets. In many countries, there has been an increase in construction activity. In commercial buildings, carpets are still regarded as a quality floor covering by businesses.

Carpets are visually appealing and available in both traditional and contemporary designs. Innovation helps drive the carpet market. Manufacturers have developed carpets that are long lasting, stain-resistant and easier to keep clean. Self-cleaning carpets have been created that require little maintenance. Waterproof and pet-friendly carpets are also available.

In Europe, carpets are mainly produced by machines. However, in Asia, hand woven carpets dominate the market.

Manufacturers have made improvements that make carpets more environmentally friendly, with many carpets fully recyclable. Wool carpets are made from natural sustainable materials.

Carpets are a two-dimensional floor covering, although optical illusion techniques create a sense of depth and deep textures,

There has been a significant increase in the high-end luxury carpet market in the residential sector. Carpet tiles are mainly used in commercial buildings, but many consumers are installing tiles in their homes.

Though there has been an increase in online sales, carpets in Cheshire and Wirral homes are usually bought from local carpet retailers.

Are carpet seams acceptable?

Seams are a vital part of the manufacturing of everything from clothes to carpets. For all that though, we do not often pay much attention to them and indeed it is easy to forget that they are there at all.

They only time that people are reminded of the seams on their clothing is when they start to fray and become too apparent to others. We think of seams as things that no one should really notice.

That is true of carpet seams as well, but does that mean that visible seams in a carpet are something that should be considered unacceptable?

When carpet seams are necessary

Most carpeting comes in one of three standard sizes – 12 inches, 13.6 inches and 15 inches. However, the rooms that carpets will be fitted in are often a lot less standardised in terms of size. If a carpet is to be laid in a room that is considerably bigger than any of the typical carpet sizes, then seams will be necessary. That is because more than one piece of carpet will be needed to cover the entire floor of the room.

This is particularly common in either very large rooms or in houses or buildings where the hallways are long. There is no way of avoiding carpet seams in that sort of situation.

Seams may be unavoidable in those circumstances, but if you employ a professional to install the carpeting, they will know methods that help to make them less overtly noticeable than if you were doing it yourself. That is partly a matter of reducing the actual visibility of the joins between the different pieces of carpet, but also of fitting the carpeting so that these joins are in less central places on the floor.

Situations in which seams are regarded as acceptable or unacceptable

There are different types of carpet seams, with some viewed as being less acceptable than others.

Unacceptable

A highly visible seam that marks the join between one piece of carpeting and another piece – which is termed a ‘split seam’ within the trade – is generally considered to be unacceptable. This will look unsightly and spoil the effect of the carpet.

Seams that are not fitted together well are also seen as being unacceptable, because they will leave large, visible gaps between the sections of carpeting. Again, the problem here is that they have a clear detrimental effect on the look of both the carpet and the room.

Another example is called ‘seam peaking’ and sees the seams of a carpet rising as peaks. That happens if the carpet gets stretched when it is being fitted, which sometimes happens when amateurs install it.

The last example of an unacceptable carpet seam is one that occurs when a carpet spends a long period folded up, causing a very visible crease. As you can see, seams that destroy the look of the carpet are regarded as bad.

Acceptable

An example of a carpet seam that would not generally be regarded within the trade as a problem is one where the carpet backing is flush all over the room it has been fitted in. This type of seam should have no tuft fibre gaps or overlays and will not be visible to the majority of people using the room, unless they are looking for it or are overly conscious of it.

The differences in seams between carpet types

Carpet seams will be more noticeable with some types of material than they are with others. Thick carpets are able to conceal the seams much more easily than thinner ones, so if visible seams are a deal-breaker for you, opting for something like a shag pile may be best.

Reasons why seams show

There can be various reasons for visible seams, with most of them caused by bad installation.

Seams unravelling

This happens when the carpet is not stuck to the floor properly. If it is not glued down securely, the movement can cause the seams to fray and unravel, which increases their visibility.

Seams splitting

If the carpet is fitted in a room that gets a lot of use and is not laid properly, its seams may split over time. A flooring professional will always lay the carpet so that the seams are well away from the main floor area and will deploy a seam roller to make sure the backing sticks properly.

Seam discolouration

This can happen if the carpet is installed using a sealing iron with too much heat. Again, it is not a mistake a professional will make, as it will ruin the effect of the carpet. Overly heavy seam weights can also bring about discoloured seams by preventing moisture from escaping.

Carpet seams are really only acceptable in certain limited circumstances and your carpet should be laid by a professional to avoid them.

What is the safest floor covering for seniors?

When it comes to putting down floor surfaces in the houses of older people, there are specific considerations that apply. Many people become less steady on their feet when they are elderly, so any choice of flooring should not exacerbate that by being slippery when it gets wet.

Equally, older people often have more brittle bones than those who are younger. This means that a fall can cause much more serious damage and, therefore, the floor choices should militate against that by providing some cushioning.

There is more than one type of flooring that will be a safe option for the elderly though, so we have provided more details of each of them in this piece.

Carpeting

Putting carpets on the floors of a home that will occupied by an elderly person is by far the best and safest choice. For one thing carpets provide just the sort of softening effect that will help to ensure that, if he or she does suffer a fall, it is less likely to result in a major injury.

Another big benefit of fitting carpets on the floors of an elderly person’s home is that they are very effective at retaining warmth in a room. That is because carpets seal off gaps, preventing heat from escaping. We all tend to feel the cold more as we get older, so carpets are a great choice for frequently used rooms like the living room and bedroom.

It is important to vacuum them regularly though, as the dust and dirt they trap can lead to respiratory issues. Also, they are not really suited to kitchens and bathrooms, where spillages and water could damage them.

Carpet tiles

Having carpets fitted is an option that can sometimes be costly, but there are cheaper alternatives like carpet tiles. These are smaller, square tiles made from the same sorts of materials as standard carpets but are generally less expensive to buy and easier to fit.

They provide the same benefits for an older person as regular carpeting, being soft under the feet and helping to stop the heat escaping from a room. This will be the second-best flooring choice for the home of an old person if carpets are beyond their budget.

Vinyl

At first vinyl might seem like it would be a bad choice, because it can be slippery. However, it is possible to get vinyl floors that have been finished in a way that takes away that slipperiness. The best way would be to go for luxury vinyl tiling (LVT) floors rather than standard vinyl.

One reason for this is that luxury vinyl is more likely to have that finishing added to it before installation. Another is that it is always thicker than standard vinyl.

Often luxury vinyl can be up to 8 mm in thickness, whereas standard vinyl floors are a lot thinner than that. Older people will find that luxury vinyl feels much more comfortable underfoot while also giving them greater cushioning in the event of a fall.

Linoleum

Linoleum flooring will be a good choice for the homes of older people in those rooms where carpets are not suitable. That means the likes of the bathroom and the kitchen.

One reason for this is that it can be cleaned very easily after spillages, by wiping it with a wet cloth or a mop. That is very important for the elderly, as they will not want to have to do a lot of hard cleaning work and easy to maintain flooring will ensure they do not need to pay out for a cleaner.

Another benefit of linoleum is that it does not rot when water gets on it, which will be an issue in bathrooms. Finally, it is a very smooth, flat type of floor surface, which means that both walkers and wheelchairs will be able to move easily over it.

Floor surfaces to avoid

Those are the four best flooring choices to make when you are furnishing a home for someone who is elderly, but there is one that should be avoided too.

Laminate

Laminate flooring is a less than ideal option for the home of someone advanced in years, because it provides almost no traction underfoot, which will increase the risk of a fall. If that does happen, a laminate floor will also do very little to break the impact.

Then there is the fact that it is not a floor surface that provides much insulation, so it will not help to trap the heat in a room. This may leave an older person having to pay more in heating bills during the cold months, especially if they live somewhere like Wrexham or Chester where the winters are chilly.

Now you know what the best floors for older people are and more detailed information can be secured from professional flooring experts.