Help &
Advice

Is my new fitted carpet faulty?
Tufts are coming out particularly around the edges.

Because the tufts seem to be falling out, the instinctive reaction from most customers is that the carpet is faulty. In most cases the problem actually lies with the fitting and is not a manufacturing fault at all.

When a carpet is fitted it needs to be stretched tightly onto the carpet gripper. To achieve this the fitter has various tools. Generally the device used is known as a knee kicker and sometimes in large rooms he may use a power stretcher. Both these devices have downward steel pins sloping forward that engage in the carpet. The pins are very sharp. On the knee kicker, at the other end of the shaft from the 16 pins is a square heavily padded buffer. It is this that the fitter thumps using his knee to spread and stretch the carpet tight. On the power stretcher are about 60 pins similarly set but the method of use is different. Instead of the pad there is a system of extendable rods to enable the tool to be braced against the opposite wall and then using a powerful levering system to stretch the carpet down the room.

In both cases the pins have to be kept sharp. If they are allowed to become blunt or damaged in any way, tufts can become snagged by the damaged pins and so become partially or completely pulled out.

In this highly price competitive market carpet fitters are under considerable pressure to lay as much carpet a day as they can. This can lead to tools not being properly maintained. The result, the complaint above. See Free Fitting

Something else that can cause tufts to rise up or fall out is vacuuming too soon after the carpet is laid. This is particularly true of quality traditional woven carpets as against what are known as tufted carpets. Tufted carpets rely on latex to anchor the tufts in. The pile in traditional woven carpets is held in by the tightness of the weave and maybe some resin.

How does this happen?

Carpets are made from a continuous spun yarn and are cut into tufts during manufacture. Tufts are effectively a U shape. Over the course of the first months the two ends of the tufts go through a process known as bursting. This is where the raw ends open up a bit like a flower. The effect of this is that the ends are now more bulky than the middle and thus more secure. Until the pile has burst vacuuming can cause tufts to come out completely or partly.

If one end of a tuft does stick out NEVER pull it right out. This will make the weave at that point looser and adjacent tufts are more likely to get pulled out.
The best course of action is to carefully cut down the bit that sticks out to be flush with the surrounding pile. The correct tool for this job is called napping shears. Personally I use scissors to cut the worst off and then an old electric shaver to get it to finally smooth the last bits.