When you want to buy a carpet, you are likely to ask the question: what’s the best carpet? The only answer you get from all carpet manufacturers and suppliers is Acrylic Carpet. However, no one has ever explained to you what’s an acrylic carpet and what features does it have?
In this article, we, Shadrokh Kavir Kashan Carpet Industrial Group, intend to comprehensively address the topic of acrylic carpets, their specifications, advantages and disadvantages, and how to recognize an acrylic carpet. Stay with us to find out the answer.
What is acrylic carpet?
Acrylic carpet is a carpet made of acrylic yarn. So, we need to address the question “what’s acrylic yarn and how it is manufactured” to answer the main question of our article.
What’s acrylic yarn?
Acrylic yarn or yarn is a kind of industrial yarn made of a polymer called polyacrylonitrile, which is derived from crude oil.
Despite the fact that Iran is one of the major oil-producing countries in the region, most of the yarn used in the carpet industry is not manufactured domestically. Thus, the price of carpet is highly dependent on the dollar exchange rate.
Now, it’s time to define the acrylic carpet. You need to know what the features of an acrylic carpet are and why it is one of the best machine-woven carpets.
What’s acrylic carpet features?
Before anything, we want to remind you that acrylic yarn is derived from oil. Now, let’s discuss some basic features of acrylic carpets.
Lightweight yarns and lighter carpets
As discussed before, the acrylic yarn is made of a polymer called polyacrylonitrile with a molecular average of 1,900 monometers. So, it is one of the lightest yarns available for carpets, leading to lightweight carpets.
Due to being light, acrylic yarn is similar to woolen yarns.
Being warm
One of the main features of an acrylic carpet is its warm feeling. This feature is due to the texture of the acrylic yarns.
Low price
Acrylic carpet is significantly cheaper than carpets made of cotton, wool, or silk because acrylic yarns are artificially manufactured. Higher production rates and lower manufacturing and storage costs are among other factors leading to the lower final price of acrylic carpets.
Excellent Colorability and Durability
An important feature of acrylic carpets that puts them among the best carpets in the world is the high colorability of acrylic yarns. Thus, acrylic carpets are available in a wide range of colors.
Another advantage of such carpets is their higher durability compared to other machine-woven carpets. Acrylic carpets can be washed several times, and they are easier to maintain. In the following, the main reasons for this higher durability are explained.
The high thermal resistance of acrylic carpets
Contrary to carpets woven with BCF and polyester, acrylic carpets have a higher resistance to high temperatures, and they will not burn in case of contacting hot objects.
Profound reversibility of acrylic carpets
Acrylic carpets are rarely compressed or dented. If the carpets are pressed by sofas or wardrobe legs, the carpet will return to its original form shortly after the pressure is released. This prevents the carpet from being torn.
Thermal insulation
Carpets made of acrylic yarns do not conduct heat between the interior space of the building and the ground. This prevents energy loss and the unpleasant feeling of cold for people walking on the carpet.
So far, we have addressed the question of “what’s an acrylic carpet, and what features does it have”. In the following section, one of the best acrylic yarns called “heat set acrylic yarn” is introduced, and the question of “what’s the heat set acrylic and what are the advantages and disadvantages of acrylic carpets” is addressed.
What is a heat set acrylic carpet?
Heat set acrylic carpet is one of the highest quality machine-woven carpets. The yarns used for these carpets are heat set or steamed. The heat setting prevents lint formation and offers an anti-allergic feature to the carpet.
Advantages and disadvantages of the acrylic carpet
Although the advantages and disadvantages of these carpets have been discussed before, here we provide them as bullet points to review.
What’s advantages acrylic carpet
- High thermal resistance
- High reversibility
- Heat insulation
- High color diversity
- Low price
- Relatively low weight
- Being warm
- Higher durability
- Resistant to washing
- Easy maintenance
What’s disadvantages acrylic carpet
Traditionally, there have been two major issues with acrylic carpets: lint formation and being allergenic. The two issues have been resolved by heat setting the acrylic yarns.
Different kinds of acrylic carpets
The acrylic carpets of Kashan are usually categorized based on the number of reeds and density or/and whether the yarns are heat set. The machine-woven acrylic carpets have a knot count of
- 500 reeds
- 700 reeds
- 1,000 reeds
- 1,200 reeds
- 1,500 reeds
Now, we have addressed the questions of what’s an acrylic carpet, what its features are, and what are its advantages and disadvantages. The last remaining question is how to recognize acrylic carpets.
How to recognize acrylic carpets
One of the easiest and best solutions is to buy acrylic carpets from distinguished suppliers such as Shadrokh carpet Co. However, it is not the only way. There are three ways to recognize an acrylic carpet:
- The reliable way is to send the carpet to a laboratory which is unfeasible for customers.
- Rub your hand on the carpet. If your hand becomes hot and you get a burning feeling, the carpet is not acrylic.
- If the carpet yarns are brighter than other carpets, the carpet is not acrylic because acrylic yarns are opaque.