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Tufted
woolen carpets can be made by machine
and by hand both. Naturally, it is
difficult to an untrained eye to
differentiate between them.
Nevertheless, it is quite simple.
The
technology of tufting was generated when
a young lady named Catherine Evans
Whitener wove a unique bedspread. The
Dalton woman actually recreated the
handcrafted bedspread by sewing the
thick cotton yarn. To fluff the sewed
running stitches into unbleached muslin,
she cut the yarn ends. Finally, she
washed it to shrink the fabric that
cleverly held the yarn. As the bed
spread was given away as a wedding gift,
it proved its worth gradually, becoming
interestingly popular all over US.
Since 1900,
in Dalton, US, ‘turfin’, the local
terminology for the sewing process
employed nearly all men, women and
children in this business. Incredibly,
it turned many area families to survive
the ‘Depression’. Steadily, due to
increasing demand, competition,
fluctuation in minimum wage laws, and
incoming of machine manufactured
products, handmade tufted spreads became
costly.
Much similar
was going through in the carpet industry
of US. There were several manufacturing
units with installed power looms to
produce machine-tufted carpets.
Axminster and Wilton carpets became
instant success flooded with machine
made carpet orders. During those days
such machine made tufted carpets became
phenomenal, which were born out of a
blend of design and business skills
leading to making of millionaires.
However, understanding the process of
tufting is also quite attention
grabbing.
Machine made
tufting is a process where textiles or
carpets are manufactured through power
looms with specialized multi-needles.
With a primary backing in action, the
needles stitch rows of pile yarn tufts
through it.
In case of
hand-tufted carpets, the pile of carpets
is made by hand but with the help of a
hand-tufting machine. The hand tufting
machine looks like a drilling device,
which does the same job as a power loom.
The yarn is shot through the cloth
foundation and a loop is created. The
loops can be sheared if desired. Such
carpets possess a handmade look as
compared to the uniformly set machine
made tufted carpet. Another difference
between them is that a machine tufted
piece would sport visibly sewn fringes
whereas a hand tufted one would have
fringes as an extension of the rug or
carpet.
The fiber
types used in tufted carpets range from
wool, cotton and silk that come as
exclusive choices. Especially, wool is
the most preferred one among others. It
is the second most expensive yarn
material that is durable enough as an
excellent option for temperature
regulation in cooler regions. This
organic fiber is a good stain resistant,
which facilitates proper cleaning of the
carpet too. This underfoot favorite
carpet is seen in an array of assorted
shades with a luxurious feel. Being a
natural fiber type, wool tufted carpets
help in creating allergen-free interiors
and trap dirt particles. |
