‘Decorwool’ is the brand name of Wools of New Zealand, and is applied only to wool carpets which meet very high standards. Some twenty different performance tests are carried out on Decorwool-branded carpets, and these must be met before they can carry this Wools of New Zealand brand mark. A number of British carpet manufacturers make Decorwool branded carpets; for example, the ‘Madrigal’ range of stain-resistant and crush-resistant carpets from Cavalier Carpets which contain 80% wool, 10% nylon and 10% polyester.

Silk

Little used except in fine quality hand made rugs.

Jute

Used mainly in backing materials but occasionally in surface fibres for flat woven rugs.

Coir

Coconut husks contain a strong and flexible fibre. The husks are harvested and soaked for many months before being beaten, washed and dried. The pale yellow fibres are then spun into yarn which is finally woven into either flat weave carpeting or cut pile rugs and mats.

Flax

Used occasionally in loop pile and flat weave rugs and carpets.

Man-Made Fibres
Popular since the early 1950’s, great advances have been made in the performance of man-made carpet fibres.
Main benefits of man-made fibres.

Acrylic

Not as hard wearing as Nylon and less fire resistant than wool, Acrylic is a fibre with good bulk and resilience however the fibre has a tendency to fuzz & pill.

Polyamide (Nylon)

Many different brand names, such as Antron, Anso, Timbrelle, BASF, Allied Chemicals.   A tough fibre and with stain resistant treatments is less prone to soiling than earlier nylon carpets. More flammable and prone to static than wool. Nylon is often added to wool to increase resistance to wear especially in lower pile weights and densities. It is easier to die and print.
The most popular branded nylon in the UK is Antron. Made by DuPont. Stainmaster nylon and Wear Dated nylon are simply triloble (cross grain magnified picture looks like a clover leaf) fibre's with a florocarbon added to resist staining. DuPont. and Solutia have done a super job of marketing to convince you that theirs’ is best. Also, their yarn is a type 6.6 nylon and is marketed as being "better" than type 6 nylon. However, recent studies by leading chemical engineers suggest that the differences between the two types have little to do with a carpet’s overall performance, and further suggest that carpet construction is more important than fibre. The reason the consumer has to pay about £1.OO/sq.mtr more for Stainmaster or Wear Dated than unbranded nylon fibre is that DuPont and Solutia spend millions of advertising dollars to convince you their fibber is better. This cost is passed on to the mill, and then to the dealer, and then to you. DuPont. did help the consumer by breaking their fibber quality into groups. The lowest quality Stainmaster is now Stainmaster Plus; then Xtra-Life Stainmaster , with Grand Luxuria Stainmaster as their top of the line. If you really want the ultimate in SOIL hiding from a nylon look for Dupont’s Antron nylon. This fibber is only available in some residential styles. Your light-weight sparse carpet will not carry the Grand Luxuria label, heck it may not even carry the Stainmaster Label at all. Don’t be confused. You can purchase a super tightly twisted, medium dense carpet that is multicoloured to help hide traffic and soil, and you will love the way it looks new for years; it just will last even longer if the fibber is nylon.

Polyester

Used in luxury Saxony styles, less resistant to flattening than some fibres but wears well. Some manufacturers give warrantees against flattening and crushing on this fibre.

PET Polyester
This is a new type of fibre that has the long chemical name: Polyethylene Terephthalate, but still falls in the class of fibres known commonly as polyesters. This fibre has natural and permanent stain resistance. PET fibre is strong and compares well with nylon in strength and abrasion resistance. Unlike the old polyester, the PET product has a high melting point equivalent to type 6.6 nylon

Polypropylene & Olefin

Hard wearing and not as resilient as other fibres. It is very easy to clean ( stain resistant ) and is colourfast  but will scar if exposed to flame. It has a low specific gravity ( bulky ). This fibre does have a tendency to flatten rapidly In traffic areas and has been the subject of many complaints. SEE Trafficking

Viscose

Not as resilient as many other fibres it is prone to flattening. But it is relatively inexpensive fibre and it brings fitted carpets within a wider reach.