If you are shopping for carpet, you’ve probably noticed that some carpets are softer than others underfoot. Carpet One explains the science behind the carpet, explaining things like density, fiber, and pattern.
Carpet Fibers and Filaments
To explain why some carpets are softer than others, we need to take a closer look at the fiber. Each fiber is made of tiny filaments bundled together. The fibers are then bundled together to make your carpet. The finer the filaments, the softer the carpet. Denier is a unit of measure for filament size. Let’s do a quick comparison to help explain this:
The range for “normal” carpet is 20-24 denier. A carpet with a denier of 10-12 is considered super-soft. But there are also carpets that are even softer. Today’s manufacturing technologies have created fibers that are as small as 3-4 denier!
The Softest Carpets – Are They Weak?
Soft things don’t really have a great reputation for being strong (think kittens and bunnies) but you walk on your carpet every day so you need it to be somewhat strong, right? Have no fear. You can have both. A quality soft carpet will give you the soft touch and durability. How can this be so?
Even though the fiber filaments are super fine, there are a lot of them. The more filaments per square inch, the stronger the carpet will be.
Soft Carpet Styles
There must be a downside, right? All soft carpets probably look the same…boring, right? Nope! Soft carpets come in all different styles from plush and casual to textures and patterns. It’s the same fine filaments, packed tightly together. The difference is how the fibers are cut.
This article is brought to you by McCall’s Carpet One.
McCall’s Carpet One, 232 Franklin Rd, is Franklin’s locally-owned carpet, flooring & tile center with free estimates and local installation of carpet, hardwood flooring, kitchen and bath tile – plus furniture and appliances by DT McCall’s in the back! Everything home, all in one place – all at great, low prices!
Visit McCall’s low-budget showroom 
on Franklin Rd next to The Factory in Franklin, or click for a free in-home estimate.
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