ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 4 1 0 /C & RL News Carpeting your lib rary By Evelyn Minick, J . Thom as Becker, and Stacia Brokaw Advice from those with experience in textiles C arpets have long been the floor covering of choice for libraries, and for good rea­ son. In addition to their obvious aesthetic quali­ ties, carpets provide sound absorption, ther­ mal insulation, and create a safe walking surface for library users. Unfortunately, librarians of­ ten face carpet selection and specifying deci­ sions with little warning. Like most people, our knowledge is limited to our last household purchase, or visions of the crazed toddler on the TV ad who flings food from his high chair and is ultimately saved by “DuPont Stainmaster.” In our m om ent o f need , relying on our architect’s expertise (or, heaven forbid, the sales­ person) can leave you with a glorious-looking product, but one that retains that look only weeks beyond the library’s dedication. Before you enter into discussions with your architect or designer, there are a few things you should know about carpet fibers, construc­ tion, density, padding, installation, and main­ tenance. As all carpeting decisions should be based on the intended use of the product, we are focusing here on those high-traffic, public areas of libraries that are most problematic for library managers. Choosing the right fiber The fiber content of your carpet will determine how well it will wear and resist dirt and stains. There are two fibers that should be considered for library applications: nylon and olefin. Nearly 80% of commercial carpeting produced today is made of nylon because of its excellent per­ formance, appearance, and competitive cost. Olefin is commonly used for indoor/outdoor carpeting because it is virtually indestructible and does not absorb moisture. It is available in softer constructions for commercial applications but, because of its dye process, olefins have limited color and design choices. Olefin crushes easily, but if it is limited to very dense, low- pile carpeting, it remains a viable option, par­ ticularly if your library has moisture prob­ lems. Our first choice for library installations is the new generation nylons. They are especially stain, static, and soil resistant, easy to main­ tain, won’t mildew, and hold up well to abra­ sion and crushing. They will cost more than regular nylon carpets, but are well worth the investment. Cut pile or loop pile? Most carpets are produced by a process in which hundreds of yarn “tufts” are threaded through rows of needles and pushed through a back­ ing material in a process called “tufting.” The yarn tufts are then locked in place with a latex backcoating. The two most common construc­ tions for commercial use are “cut pile” where each loop of yarn is cut so that the strands of yarn stand upright on the carpet’s surface (il­ lustration #1) and “loop pile” where the yams on the face of the carpet form a loop with both ends anchored in the carpet backing (illustra­ tion #2). Cut pile carpets such as velvet, saxony, frieze and plush are far more popular in residential use and can achieve different looks and feels with the amount of twist and heat applied to the yarns. If you have a preference for the smooth, soft appearance of cut pile, make sure it is very short and dense to cut down on crush­ ing and soil collection. For high-traffic library applications, we rec­ ommend loop pile construction. High-density Evelyn Minick is library director at the Philadelphia College o f Textiles a n d Science (PCTS), e-mail: minick@shrsys.hslc.org; J. Thomas B eck er is assistant vice-president f o r operations at PCTS; a n d Stacia Brokaw is associate professor o f textiles at PCTS mailto:minick@shrsys.hslc.org July/August 1 9 9 4 /4 1 1 Illustratio n 1. Cut pile co n s tru c tio n . loop pile offers fewer opportunities for dirt to collect and absorb, is more durable, and shows very little visible crushing under constant foot traffic. You will lose some o f the soft luxurious look, but loop pile will be much easier to maintain and it will retain a new look long past your tenure at the library. Illu Carpet tiles or broadloom? Carpet tiles offer an enticing feature— the abil­ ity to replace only the worn areas o f your library’s carpet, while leaving the unworn ar­ eas in tact. However, it is important to note that you cannot expect the color of the replaced carpet tiles to match after any length o f time. If you are interested in that flexibility, use color to define the areas where you anticipate the greatest wear and the change w on’t be so no­ ticeable. Carpet tiles com e in an amazing array o f colors and patterns. To ensure that they lay flat and resist buckling, they are often manu­ factured with a thick, stiff backing which makes for a harder walking surface. Although easier to install, good quality caipet tiles are more expensive than broadloom. The decision to go with broadloom in our library was motivated by our desire for padding and loop pile con­ struction, features that were not available in carpet tiles. Denser wears better As we mentioned before, carpets are made by hundreds o f needles pushing yarn through a backing and forming loops as the needles push in and out. The spacing between those needles, the spacing between the rows o f tufts o f yarn, and the thickness of each o f those yarn tufts all contribute to the total face yam or the density o f your carpet. As a basic rule, the denser the caipet the better. The denser the carpet the less chance o f dirt or soil working its way into the carpet and wearing it from the inside out. The denser the carpet the tougher it is to crush and ben d the yam s underfoot, thus wearing away the sides o f the yams. Carpet will wear much better if you restrict the abrasion to the top surface o f the yarn. The best way to judge the density o f a car­ to your carpet’s strength as the padding becomespet is to simply feel the sample. Is it easy wiggle your fingers down to the back­ ing? Press down on the carpet and see how easily it flattens. Bend the carpet yarn side out and see how much of the carpet backing is exposed. Because yam tufts support each other in dense carpeting they are more likely to remain stand­ ing up than matting down. ratio n 2. Loop p ile co n s tru c tio n . If you look at the back o f your carpet samples, you will see density expressed as tufted yarn weight, gauge, tufted pile height, and stitches per inch. Trust your senses and look at a large number o f samples. The quality o f each carpet will be obvious to you. Extend a carpet’s life with padding Most architects and designers will argue that padding is not required in a commercial instal­ lation. There are several reasons to challenge this assumption. For starters, padding will ex­ tend the life o f your carpet by up to 40%. For libraries struggling with finances (and who isn’t?), that is a significant figure. Another rea­ son for padding is comfort. Many librarians stand at service desks for hours and padding can reduce leg strain. When you throw en­ hanced sound absorption and thennal insula­ tion into the mix, padding becomes quite cost effective. The quality of padding, just like carpeting, is measured by its density, not its thickness. Pads o f equal thickness can be o f widely vary­ ing densities. The type and method o f carpet pad appli­ cation is critical to the success o f your overall installation. The most common methods are: tackless, double stick, and direct bonding. With direct bonding, padding is actually fused to the backing o f the carpet during the manufactur­ ing process. In a tackless installation, the pad­ ding is fastened to the floor and then the car­ pet is stretched over the pad with no direct b o n d b e tw e e n the carp et and pad. In a doublestick installation, the padding is glued to the floor and then the carpet is glued to the pad. W e recom m end the direct bonding ap­ proach. Direct bonding can actually increase st 4 1 2 /C & R L News a unified part o f the carpet during construc­ tion. These products come in various densities and can also be purchased with a scrim for ease o f future removal or repair. The trick here is to find an installer who is certified to handle this product. If not, you may end up with sloppy seams and bubbles where the carpet comes unstuck. If you go with a tackless installation, you may have the problem o f needing to restretch the carpet periodically, not an easy ta s k w ith a lib r a r y ’s h e a v y lo a d s. T h e doublestick method can give you a quality in­ stallation if done correctly. However, look out for carpet buckling and carpets separating from the padding. You can’t overvacuum All of this information is meaningless if you don’t take care of your carpet once it is in­ stalled in your library. The most critical issues in carpet maintenance, however, are decided before the carpet is selected. The simplest rule is to keep … our kn dirt as far away from your carpet as possible. If you limited to have the luxury of designing the crazed your facility from scratch, keep the carpeted areas as the TV ad far from the outside entrance food from as possible. Use grates or walk-off mats to eliminate as chair and much of the dirt, mud, snow, ly saved band salt coming in before it hits your carpet surface. Stainmast The color and pattern you choose can also simplify your maintenance. Avoid solid colors, or if you must have a solid, keep to a mid-range color value. A carpet that is not too dark and not too light will hide soil. There are literally hundreds o f carpets on the market in wonderful m ulticolored tweeds, speckles, textures, and patterns that conceal dirt effectively. Limit your rich, dark, solid car­ pets to areas you can easily replace. Once your carpet is installed, the very best thing you can do is commit your cleaning per­ sonnel to consistent, systematic vacuuming— y o u c a n n o t ov erv acu u m a carpet. The more dirt you pick up, the less gets ground in. In a busy library, your carpet must be vacuumed at least once a day. Also, all stains or spills should be dealt with immediately. Whether you treat stains with a wet or dry process will depend on the inst facturer. ructions from your carpet’s manu­ ow visi to wh his is u y “ er. Cost vs. budget ou may agree that following our recommen­ ations will ensure a high-quality installation, ut will cost you upwards o f $40 per square rd, way out of reach o f most library budgets. arpet selection, like all phases of design and nstruction, is a series o f compromises. To d to the problem, carpet decisions generally ke place near the end of the building process hen cost overruns have already put an un­ mfortable edge on your deliberations. In our case, we were attempting to balance very assertive creative team with an equally allenging budget. Our total budget for car­ eting the 5,200 square yards o f our new li­ ary was $22.00 per square yard installed. Our designers presented a palette of colors d blends to our major donors and adminis­ ation that, while spectacular, was difficult to plicate in standard commercially produced oods. By disregarding our request for loop pile construction, the design­ ledge is ers put us in the awkward position o f choosing to de­ ons of lay the project while they re­ ddler on designed and re-presented the interiors, or to have cus­ o flings tom carpets produced. We high chose the latter, but our ad­ vice would be to try to avoid ltimate­ this expense. There are liter­ DuPont ally thousands o f great “stan­dard” carpets. Even though ” we were struggling with bud­ g e ts , w e s till fe lt v ery rongly that carpet padding was a long-term lue that could not be sacrificed. We decided lower our yarn weight from our preferred oz. to 28 oz. This allowed us to afford the p-of-the-line Dow Enhancer III padding for l three floors o f our library. Our affiliation ith the textile industry also allowed us to uy the bulk o f our carpets directly from the ills. This saved us about $2.00 per square rd. After much hard work, haggling, and ersistence, our net cost for installed carpet me in at $22.11 per square yard. If we had sed all standard carpets, we just might have ade budget. So when it’s time to make your carpet deci­ ons, don’t be afraid to ask the hard questions, d make sure you are prepared with clear riorities. You just might end up with a beauti­ l installation that will remain that way for ars to come. ■ Y d b ya C co ad ta w co a ch p br an tr re g st va to 32 to al w b m ya p ca u m si an p fu ye July/August 1 9 9 4 /4 1 3