Читать книгу Carpets - Reginald S. Brinton - Страница 6

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Carpet manufacture is a complicated matter, and involves the use both of various ingenious machines and of a diversity of materials, such as wool, cotton, jute, twine, oil, paper, wire, colours, size, etc. We need only concern ourselves, however, with the more important of these materials, which are yarns made of wool, in the form of worsted or woollen, which are almost invariably used for the surface of a carpet; and yarns made of other fibres, which are used for warp and weft.

The wool used for carpet yarns is different from that required for either cloth or hosiery. It need not be so fine and soft, but it should be strong, and in the case of worsted yarn, of fairly long staple, while natural lustre adds to the value.

A recent estimate of the sources of wool consumed by the carpet trade allotted 9 per cent. to the British Empire, as much as 40 per cent. to Russia, and the remainder to other countries. Strong British wools, and the coarser stapled fibres from Australia and New Zealand, form the bulk of the first category, while Egyptian and East Indian wools, which are in especial demand for woollen yarns, are responsible for a large proportion of the last.

Of other materials that can be and are used for the surface of carpets, mention should first be made of silk. Hand-tufted carpets are sometimes made of silk both in Asia and in Europe, and beautiful effects are obtained; but the cost on the one hand, and the nature of the yarn on the other militate against its being a very suitable material for a floor covering. Carpets made with a silk pile possess a wonderful sheen, especially if hand-woven, so that the tufts lie over at a considerable angle; but the pile possesses no resilience and suffers more from soiling in wear than a wool-pile carpet of a corresponding quality.

Mohair is used occasionally for hand-tufted carpets with excellent effect, and it is often employed to great advantage in self-coloured hearth rugs, for which there is a regular demand. The extreme stiffness of the fibre and its disinclination to felt, however, cause the yarn to be a rather intractable material for carpet manufacture. It possesses, moreover, the special characteristic of considerable density. In other words, it is heavy for its volume, so that a yarn of a given thickness will weigh much more than a similar yarn of another fibre, with the result that all mohair fabrics are expensive compared with those made of wool or other yarns.

Jute is employed for the surface as well as for the rest of the carpet at Dundee; and horse-hair Brussels carpets are made, which are extremely durable, but somewhat harsh, and not very decorative. Yarn spun from cow-hair is utilised sometimes for the surface of carpets of the Brussels or Dutch type, but perhaps more often for filling warps; while cotton has been tried for the former purpose also, but without very satisfactory results, owing to the lack of resilience in its fibre.

If to the cobbler there is nothing like leather, so to the carpet manufacturer there is nothing like wool. Yarn made of wool seems to be the ideal material for the surface of a carpet. Wool is capable of being spun easily into yarn of any required count or thickness; and such yarn can be dyed to any shade, and woven into any fabric. When woven, it will retain its appearance and stand reasonably hard wear better than most similar textile materials. Its liability to the attacks of moths may be urged; but, after all, carpets are made as much for use as for ornament, and it is well known that the clothes moth only works when he is undisturbed.

Of subsidiary yarns, perhaps cotton is the most important. This is used for a large proportion of the chain warps of all kinds of carpeting. It is also occasionally used for weft, and in its lowest qualities for stuffers.

Flax yarn, more generally known in the trade as linen, is used in considerable quantities, especially as chains for Axminster, and as weft for Wilton and Brussels carpets. Its combined strength and pliancy, coupled with a certain degree of stiffness, make it a most useful fibre. Jute and hemp, having regard to the total production of all kinds of carpet, are probably used in greater quantities than any other yarn. Jute is cheap and strong, and is invaluable as a filling to give weight and handle to a fabric. It has the disadvantage of being liable to decay if it becomes wet, and in this state, if used in too large a proportion, of causing the disintegration of a carpet.

Of other materials that are sometimes used for the backing of carpets, mention must be made of ramie, which has been tried as a substitute for linen yarn, which it resembles a good deal in character, being strong and pliant, but inelastic. The cost, however, has proved to be prohibitive. Various mixtures of jute and wool, or of cotton and wool, have been tried, and have their values as combining weight with resilience.

Paper yarn, though seldom as a matter of fact under its own name, has been tried as a substitute for linen, cotton, and jute, as weft, chain, and stuffer. It can be spun or twisted into a presentable yarn in a variety of counts; and a yarn that will weave and weave well. During the war, owing to their shortage of other fibres, the Germans used considerable quantities of paper yarn for weaving cloths, webbing, harness, equipment, and even carpets, which no doubt served their purposes tolerably well. It was, however, a development pursued rather from necessity than from choice. They had plenty of wood, which we have not; and they lacked the wool, cotton, and jute. Paper yarn cannot seriously compete in price with jute, nor in value with cotton, for use in carpets. It is, moreover, particularly liable to deterioration from dampness.