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Carpet Use and Wear Project

For this project I used a tufted broadloom carpet sample from Shaw Industry carpets. The carpet quality is based on many factors such as the color type and the amount of fiber, the density of the carpet, and the twist level. Each piece is carefully tested and then rated according to the industry scale. The style is QS877 12' and QS878 15'. The color is 00302, the width of the carpet is 12' & 15' and the fiber content is 100% nylon. This carpet has Shaw's R2X combined with stain and soil resistance system to prevent soiling and liquid spills in which they have a 10 year warranty for. Shaw carpets also have a 10 year texture guard warranty which means that it will not have a significant loss of texture due to foot traffic for a period of ten years. And lastly the carpet is FHA approved meaning that the Shaw carpet meets the standards that are set by bulletin UM-44D for the use of projects for HUD and FHA.

To begin with I cut the piece of carpet in half, the carpet was very thick so it was extremely difficult to cut. I placed the control sample in the trunk of my car so that it will be placed in the dark. The experimental piece was placed in the driver's side of my car as a floor mat. There it would be exposed to the sun daily and experience foot traffic from either wiping off my feet or simply from driving. After several weeks of exposure I took out the carpet from the driver's side so that I could compare it to the control sample. To my surprise there wasn't much change at all.

The coloration of the experimental sample stayed completely the same as the control. Even after wiping my feet on the carpet several times on a daily basis it did not leave any soiling spots or stains. Because the carpet remained clean, I did not use any cleaning methods. But I also had to take into consideration that the carpet was dark green. I do not know how the results would have been if my carpet was white or some other