When shopping for carpet, you will come across many different styles, materials, loops, and colors. Carpets can all have added pros and cons, depending on how they are manufactured and what material is used to create the fibers. You may be interested in a natural material such as wool or go another route such as a synthetic carpet fiber like polyester. There are two types of ways that synthetic carpets are dyed. While how your carpet is dyed may not seem like a big deal to you, there are benefits that may interest you in purchasing a solution-dyed carpet. Let’s take a look!

Traditional Dyeing Methods

There are many ways carpets are dyed, but generally, the traditional way is through dipping the fibers. Fibers are created with a very neutral color like grey or beige. These fibers are created then ran through a dye to stain the fibers. While this process is very complex and can have different stages in the process, this is, traditionally, how color is added to fibers. Imagine an apple. When you see an apple, it has a red coat on the outside of it. However, when you cut a knife through the apple, you can reveal the true white color beneath the skin. This is how the traditional dyed method affects carpets.

Solution-Dyed

Carpets have been engineered to be constructed through synthetic materials. These materials can consist of liquid polymer compounds and chemicals being converted into fibers. Unlike the traditional method, where the fibers are dyed after the carpet fibers are created, solution-dyeing adds the color with the chemical compounds. This allows the fibers to be dyed pre-production and be the true color all the way throughout the carpet. The liquid is then fed through spinnerets and created into yarn to make carpet fibers. So, unlike an apple, you now have a carrot. If you cut the carrot in half, you will still have the orange all the way throughout the vegetable.

Added Benefits

While this can only be done with synthetic fibers, there are many added benefits to the process. The fibers hold the color through themselves. This makes them very difficult for color to fade from sunlight or foot traffic. They are also more stain-resistant since the fibers have already been fully stained. This makes it much more difficult for them to absorb a new stain. Some solution-dyed carpets can also be cleaned with very heavy-duty cleaning compounds such as bleach without color fading!

Whether you are looking for commercial or residential carpet, understanding some of the added value to solution-dyed carpet may help you in the decision-making process. While non-solution-dyed carpets are still excellent choices, this added benefit should not be ignored. For more insight on flooring and manufacturing benefits, make sure to subscribe!