Carpet Fuzzing, Shedding and Pilling

Curious why the pile yarn on your carpet is fuzzy, has little balls on it, or the vacuum canister is filling up quickly? Are you worried that your carpet is defective or wearing out? Below I describe some of the methods that professional inspectors will use to make this determination. Follow these step by step instructions and determine if your carpet is fuzzing, shedding or pilling and what the cause of it is.

Is the Cut Pile Carpet Fuzzing of Shedding?

Rub your hand across the carpet in a brisk tempo to check for loose or attached fuzz. If fuzz develops do not jump to any conclusion as yet.

• Is the fuzz short and releasing or minimally attached? This type of fuzz is not unusual on cut pile constructions with spun yarn systems. Staple yarn filaments, which are cut during the tufting process and not bound at the backing by latex, are free to be pulled to the surface by traffic and abrasion. This type of surface fuzzing is known as shedding and it diminishes and becomes less noticeable with time. Shedding is a characteristic and not a defect.
• Check for long fiber that is not releasing. Grasp fibers between the thumb and forefinger and pull upward on them. If this results in a lot of long strands that are not releasing this is called fuzzing or bearding and may indicate inadequate latex saturation on the yarn bundle. If the latex penetration into and around the yarn bundled is inadequate the fuzzing is a manufacturer-related condition.
• Check the yarn bundle for latex penetration and encapsulation. Checking penetration and encapsulation requires some special knowledge so you may need to send a piece of the carpet to a laboratory. If you have both heavy fuzzing or bearding combined with inadequate latex saturation of the yarn bundle the problem is often manufacturing but many manufacturers will require that you send a scrap of carpet to them so they can perform there own test.
• Do you find some sprigs of fiber that are considerably longer than the other fibers in the yarn bundle? Using magnification, check some of the tufts that these long sprigs are coming from. Do you see fibers that are curled and tangled within the tuft shaft which, when straightened, extend well above the carpet surface? This problem appears to be directly related to the processing of the fiber. Again verification by a lab, manufacturer or both will be required as positive identification does take specialized knowledge.

Is the Fuzzing Being Caused by Poor Maintenance?

• Obtain and check a small sampling of the vacuum cleaner bag or canister contents. Determine the fiber length and debris content. Commonly you will find abrasive soil, short lengths of fiber, human and animal hair. The vacuum debris can tell you a lot about the soiling conditions the carpet is subject to.
• Check the carpet for excess soil or lack of maintenance. If you are not vacuuming regularly and deeply, have pets or gritty soil gets tracked into the house these all are hard on carpet.
• If you have an animal that is having accidents on the carpet or using cleaning chemical that leave residues on the pile you should be aware that urine and chemicals damage carpet. Beware that a qualified carpet inspector will usually find these concerns with ultraviolet light or other testing.

Type of Claim

• Consumer: Embedded dirt and grit is cutting fibers but leaving them still bound at one end.
• Manufacturer: Poor latex penetration and or encapsulation, which should be at least 75% - 80% on most cut-pile carpets. Need sample for testing the yarn bundle for latex penetration and encapsulation.
• Fiber: Poor yarn spinning, twisting or heatsetting. Need sample for testing.
• Normal Characteristic: If staple yarn and no consumer, manufacturer or fiber problem has been identified.

Correction of Fuzzing

Fuzzing can be removed by micro shearing. This will not be a permanent correction if maintenance problems continue or the carpet has poor saturation at the yarn bundle.

Why is the Loop Pile Carpet Fuzzing or Could it be Shedding?

Loop synthetic piled carpets rarely shed as most all of them are made with continuous filament yarn. In the rare situation that you are dealing with a spun synthetic yarn or a natural fiber such as wool you will find the same type of characteristics including shedding as described under cut pile carpets.

Fuzzing will appear on loop pile continuous filament products as a beard or fuzz on the surface. Poor or improper maintenance will cause it and so will inadequate latex encapsulation and penetration of the yarn bundle. At times you may find both poor maintenance and poor yarn bundle saturation. As with cut pile carpet a yarn bundle with poor saturation will allow fibers to slip and work its way to the surface with traffic and abrasion. Since the sprigs of filament are continuous and the synthetic fiber is strong it is difficult for them to break loose and this results in the fuzzy appearance.

Inspectors will often test a loop carpet with a “Velcro Roller.” This roller looks like a paint roller with Velcro on it. The test is most commonly performed by running the roller over carpet10 times in two different directions as they watch for the development of fuzz. Whenever possible this test should be made in a closet or on a scrap of the carpet for if your installed carpet fuzzes and it is not a covered claim you may have a fuzzy spot to live with. It should be noted that this test is very controversial and not recognized by some manufacturers.

• Check carpet for excessive soil or lack of maintenance.
• Check vacuum for samples of its contents, improper setting or damaged beater bar. If this is direct glue down carpet a rotating brush is usually okay but a beater bar can pound and damage the carpet.

Type of Claim

Manufacturer if poor latex encapsulation and penetration of the yarn bundle. 75% minimum level loop. 50% minimum heavy, loop piles such as bulky Berbers. Inadequate latex coverage will allow a continuous filament fiber to slip without release. A sample will usually be required for testing in the manufacturers own lab.

Consumer if the fuzzing is due to improper cleaning, abrasive soil or vacuum problems.

Glossary

Foreign Fiber or Foreign Matter:This is any material, which does not belong in the make-up of the floor covering such as dirt, soot or shear lint. When a carpet arrives from the manufacturer with foreign matter it is often correctable by vacuuming, picking out the debris or cleaning.

Fuzzing: (also referred to as bearding): A hairy effect on the carpet surface that develops when fibers work loose under foot traffic. Individual long filaments work free from the fiber bundle and began to extend above the pile surface and become visible as a taller sprig of fiber. These taller filaments are in fact bound in the backing system, which makes them difficult to remove. Fuzzing can occur on both staple and continuous filament yarn systems.

Pilling: A condition in certain fibers in which strands of the fiber separate and become knotted with other strands causing the appearance of little balls of fuzz or a rough appearance. Pilling on loop-pile wool carpet is less common than on synthetic carpets because wool fibers tend to break before the pill forms.

Shedding: New carpeting, especially cut pile, will shed little bits of fiber for a period of time. Eventually, these loose fibers are removed through vacuuming. With natural fiber and spun yarn (staple) the carpet may continue to shed some but to a lessor degree.

The Weinheimer Group LLC

Certified Inspectors / Consultants