by Terry Weinheimer, The Weinheimer Group LLC
Pooling and water marking are forms of shading and pile reversal that the pile of a carpet can experience. Pooling and watermarking are one of the most aggravating and most understood problems in the carpet industry. Pooling can truly result in rapid ugly out of carpet. To pool a carpet need not be soiled nor does it require texture change due to abrasion or foot traffic. Pooling and watermarking is unrelated to a carpets cost, maintenance and traffic. The best and worst maintained carpets can pool. Carpets and rugs of any fiber and any construction can pool and water mark. The worst news is that you may be decorating your home for the first time and unless the carpet in the house has a history of pooling, no on can determine if it is likely to happen to your beautiful new carpet or rug.

My grandson Seth is a little rug rat that loves the water and so do these three bears. While they all appear to be having a good time pooling, this is not the pooling we are talking about.

Carpet pooling is an irreversible, localized change in the orientation of the pile of textile floors covering. The phenomenon has different names in different countries. The terms we are most familiar with in the United States and Canada are “water marking” and “pooling”.

With pooling, some carpets develop areas where the pile appears to have been stained by water, hence, “water marking.”

Some carpets may develop areas that appear dirty. The carpet in this photo is not dirty. The large dark spot is the result of a difference in light reflection due to the pile reversal.

At some installations this appearance takes months to develop. At other installations it develops so rapidly that the consumer believes it to have been there since installation.

The carpet in this picture developed a severe pooling within a week of installation.

The carpet in this photo started to show pooling about five months after installation.

At a single installation the carpet may be installed in several rooms with the condition only developing in one or two of them. The area the condition develops in may be either a major traffic lane or even under furniture.

This condition routinely crosses seams. It even crosses between different color and styles of carpet and maintains a uniform pattern.

The photograph above shows an interface which is a narrow, conspicuous, irregular shaped serpentine line. This interface is often seen with pooling. The pile on the left side sweeps to the left. The pile on the right side sweeps to the right. The interface in the center sweeps upward and the pile in the interface has become very stiff feeling as if it had been starched.

Common Identifying Characteristics of Pooling

• Areas of carpet may look wet as though someone has spilled water on it but the carpet will be perfectly dry.
• Areas reverse in shade when viewed from opposite directions. When the areas are brushed with the hand a sharp difference in pile direction can be seen and felt.
• A narrow, conspicuous, irregular shaped serpentine line (referred to as an interface) usually develops at the edge of the pooled area. The pile at the narrow interface will run in a direction yet. The pile on both sides of the interface will be strongly oriented in opposite directions. As an example the pile at the interface may be oriented north while the pile on one side of the interface is facing east and on the other side it is facing west.
• Water marking often gives the carpet a highly objectionable appearance. Some carpets become downright ugly appearing as if it has been badly stained or allowed to become filthy within a short time of installation. As objectionable and as rapidly as this appearance change may occur, carpet manufacturers consider it a site-related condition and with rare exception will they offer the consumer any type of an adjustment. Water marking is a condition that cannot be permanently corrected.

The CRI States that Pooling is a Site Related Condition

The Carpet and Rug Institute in its manual titled Pile Reversal (“Shading”, “Water Marking”) states: At the present time, the only conclusion which can be drawn is that pile reversal may develop on the surface of some carpet after it is installed, and that pile reversal is not due to the materials which are used to produce the carpet, the manufacturing process, or any combination of these factors.

Some of the more common reasons Water Marking (Pooling) are considered site related is:

• Carpet off of the same roll is installed in different areas and the condition only develops in some areas.
• The condition will cross seams between different color, styles, and textures of different manufactures.
• The condition can sometimes be seen on installed carpet and an area rug above it.
• Replacing the carpet with another carpet of any fiber will often result in a repeat of the same condition. Pooling (Water Marking, Pile Reversal)Pooling and water marking are forms of shading and pile reversal that the pile of a carpet can experience.

Shading: When a carpet is manufactured the pile is steamed and set in a single direction. Once a carpet is installed natural directional changes begin to take place. These changes range from slight bending of the pile tufts, opening of the tuft ends (bloom) and compacting (crush). At times areas of the carpet pile will even take on a total reversal from their original direction. Most shading occurs in areas where you have repeated or pivotal foot traffic. Shading while not a real color change will often give the appearance of an actual change in hue. While the color change may appear real it is actually visual and due to differences in light reflection and absorption over a given area.

Shading is a broad term without total industry agreement as to how to define these areas. The definitions that we use in this chapter are those most commonly used by the Carpet and Rug Institute and the International Standards Organization.

Shading (Temporary Shading): A reversible localized change in orientation of the pile of a textile floor covering during use (sometimes described as normal characteristic of certain cut pile textile floor coverings).

The only true temporary shading are marks such as those left by footprints and vacuum cleaners! In reality, shading is almost always a permanent condition. The shaded appearance may be temporarily changed through vacuuming, steaming or cleaning but it will rapidly return once the carpet is walked on.

Traffic lane shading usually develops first in the higher and pivotal type traffic areas. The areas may look lighter or darker depending on the direction they are viewed form. When you run your hand across the pile it takes on a darker appearance in one direction and a lighter appearance in the other. This condition is normal and almost always permanent. Traffic lane shading is considered by the manufacturer to be a normal characteristic and not a defect.

Shading is a normal characteristic of cut pile carpet, especially those with a smooth pile such as velvet and saxony plush. Shading is considered an aesthetic quality of fine carpet and is not considered a defect. A person that finds shading objectionable should select a carpet with a denser construction, lower pile height, textured yarn. Examples would be textured saxony, frieze, and berber.

Vacuum cleaner marks, is temporary shading that is left on the carpet by the brush and/or wheels of the vacuum cleaner! These marks may be noticeable for a few minutes or a few days depending upon the texture and resiliency of the fiber. Most deep-pile and smooth pile carpets will show vacuum cleaner marks. A vacuum cleaner mark is considered a normal condition unless otherwise excluded under a carpet warranty. Vacuum cleaner marks are least noticeable on loop pile and denser cut pile carpet where the yarn has a tight twist and a textured appearance.

Footprints are temporary shading marks left by humans and animals walking across the carpet. They may be noticeable for a few minutes or a few days depending upon the texture and resiliency of the fiber. Most deep-pile and smooth pile carpets will show footprints. Like vacuum cleaner mark, footprints are considered a normal condition unless otherwise excluded under a carpet warranty. Footprints are least noticeable on loop pile and dense cut pile carpets where the yarn has a tight twist and a textured appearance. Printed carpet is also good at camouflaging footprints.

Tracking: A gradual change in appearance of a textile floor covering from edge to middle of a narrow band caused by repeated walking over the same area which may result in a localized change in pile orientation and may be irreversible.

Tracking may be seen as single or double narrow bands. Double marks often give the appearance of railroad tracks running down the middle of a hall or other repeated traffic area. Severe tracking marks are most commonly found at installations where the occupants shuffle their feet, have difficulty walking, or walk in such a way that the feet are regularly not lifted above the pile height. Like other forms of shading, tracking marks are not considered a manufacturing defect.