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Carpet cushion also commonly called carpet padding plays such an important role in the longevity and wearability of your carpet, but is often overlooked. The reality is, most consumers go to purchase their carpet and by the time they are overwhelmed with all of the carpet selections, they choose the first carpet padding that the flooring consultant shows you – if you even see the sample at all!

It is critical that you check out all of your options when selecting carpet cushion. Even if the retail location only stocks 1 or 2 types type, you can still ask about special ordering the type that is best for you.

Some important points about carpet cushion:

• Determines how your carpet feels when you walk on it
• Helps your carpet maintain its original appearance over time
• Absorbs the impact of foot traffic
• Improves room’s sound absorption
• Keeps the room warmer and quieter
• Helps keep your carpet cleaner and easier to maintain

For more information on carpet cushion from The Carpetology Blog click here.

Our next post will be a guide on how to buy carpet cushion. Stay tuned!

Tracy Reid, East Coast Design Center Manager from Shaw Industries spent some time with us to help you get to know Shaw Industries a little better.

What types of products are offered from Shaw? Hmmmm, there’s so many flooring choices we have to offer in numerous colors, styles, and tastes…We offer a full array of carpet, hardwood, ceramic & porcelain tile, laminate, and area rugs. So the question then becomes, what can’t we offer you?

What should consumers know about Shaw Industries? We create great floors for the places you call home-a privilege we take seriously. Also, we are a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and the world’s largest carpet manufacturer. Shaw is a leading floor covering provider because we believe in the voice of the customer.

What sets Shaw apart from its competition? We have many Shaw Advantages that set us apart from the pack. Life is messy! Therefore, we offer several exclusivities such as our patented revolutionary R2X stain and soil repellency, and Softbac Platinum backing. We believe training is key through our Full Disclosure Selling. We are focused on training design consultants and flooring sales consultants on the features and benefits of our flooring to help set proper expectations for consumer’s lifestyles.

What is the most popular selling product for Shaw? That’s a toughie to name just one! With our cutting edge R&D department and being members of the prestigious Color Marketing Group, we track the latest color and most popular design trends. In carpeting, we see our Anso® nylon patterned carpets emerging in our Inspired Spaces and Savvy Spaces line. In hardwood we are seeing Epic Legends take off. They are hand scraped distressed rustic visuals in wider planks. In tile, we are selling travertine visuals in larger formats mixed with our micro mosaics.

What awards has Shaw been given? We are very excited about being exclusively awarded all of the flooring in HGTV’s first ever Green Home! Also, a few of our most recent awards are from Floor Covering News: Carpet Manufacturer of the Year and Best Overall Manufacturer of the Year. We also won the CARE Large Carpet Recycler of the Year Award. Woo-hoo!!!

What efforts are Shaw Industries making to be more environmentally conscious? I’m so glad you asked. We are a recognized leader in environmental stewardship, because Shaw has implemented hundreds of sustainability initiatives and cradle to cradle design solutions. Collectively we’ve named them the Shaw Green Edge. For the sake of this blog, we’ll highlight three top initiatives ~ Anso® nylon, Evergreen, and Epic hardwood. We’ve developed the world’s largest carpet to carpet^TM recycling process through Evergreen to turn old nylon carpeting into stunning new Anso® carpet. Our recycling efforts keep 300 million fewer pounds of carpet going into landfills every year.

Can you explain about Evergreen and tell me about Shaw recycling? This is getting a little technical, but it’s so important to know. Shaw invested in a cradle-to-cradle future with the purchase of the Evergreen Nylon Recycling facility in Augusta, Ga. All Shaw Nylon 6 products, such as all of Shaw’s nylon area rugs and carpets made of Anso® nylon or Evertouch® nylon, are simply recycled in a closed loop process-we call it carpet to carpet^TM. At Evergreen, Nylon 6 carpets and area rugs can be repeatedly recycled into the building block for new Nylon 6 without any loss of aesthetic or performance characteristics. The exciting fact is that Nylon 6 products are recyclable over and over again – meaning it’s an ongoing lifecycle that can keep carpet made of Nylon 6 out of landfills.

Tell me more about specific green product options from Shaw. We’ve been talking about soft surface so far, let’s switch gears to hardwood. Shaw’s Epic Hardwood uses 2/3 fewer trees than traditional hardwoods. We continue to reduce waste, improve processes, and preserve natural resources through our Envirocore center. Have we invented a new tree? … Almost. Epic is real wood flooring, only better. It’s Made in the U.S.A! We offer Epic in domestic exotics such as: Hickory, Oak, Maple, American Cherry and Walnut. You don’t have to sacrifice style and design to go green.

What can buyers look forward to in the future from Shaw? We will continue to produce trendy, timeless, and environmentally-friendly products such as new ceramic tile introductions with recycled content. With our recent Anderson acquisition, we have gorgeous new hardwood introductions. We can’t wait for you to see them!

Thanks, Tracy!

Question:

Regarding hand tufted area rugs – It is my understanding that synthetic latex adhesives are superior to natural latex adhesives in regards to synthetic does not continue to emit fumes over time. Can you verify this for me, please? I read conflicting reports on this issue. Thanks.

Answer:

Most hand tufted rugs are coming from overseas. Outside the U.S., whether synthetic or natural, it will largely depend on how the latex is cured – oven vs. air dried. Oven curing will drive off more of the volatiles associated with both natural and synthetic latex compounds.

For more information on how to care for area rugs, click here.

I’m Neil Street, an internet marketing consultant for small and local businesses. I’ve worked for several years with Kellogg Hardwood Lumber, a custom manufacturer of wide plank flooring. Working with Kellogg has given me a real appreciation of the beauty and versatility of traditional hardwood flooring – so much so that I’m going to be living through a major upheaveal to install rustic white oak flooring in all the bedrooms of my house! I wanted to share with readers some tips on how to choose the best type of wood for your own flooring projects.

Today more than ever, hardwood flooring is a popular choice for homeowners. And many homeowners are moving beyond the standard, narrow-width flooring to embrace the beautiful styles of antique, or traditional wood flooring. Antique-looking wood floors — exemplified by styles such as wide plank flooring, distressed floors, even reclaimed wood floors — are appearing in homes across the country.

If you are planning on installing an antique-looking, or wide plank floor, where do you begin? What species of wood should you use? The choices, with so many wood types on the market, may seem overwhelming. But with a little planning upfront, the process can be transformed into an enjoyable learning experience about this remarkable, and natural, product. Here are some guidelines to help you pick the right kind of wood for your project.

Keep it firmly in mind that there are no set rules. It’s going to be your floor, and you are going to be living on it, so the most important thing is that you be happy with your choice. With that in mind, consider the common ways that different woods have been used in the past. Over time, it has been common to use certain types of wood in certain architectural settings. For example, wide plank white pine is usually thought of as a “country” look. It was the wood most widely available to our ancestors. Most of the homes of yesteryear, by necessity, were somewhat rustic, and the style, like country design in general, has remained popular. On the other hand, classic white oak, also a perfect choice for wide plank flooring, is often associated with elegant and formal wood floors. (more…)

Question:

Is the “Bissell steam mop” which leaves the floor warm from steam and wet from steam good to use on a urethane coated oak floor? I worry the steam will break down the urethane seal or at least dull it’s finish.

Answer:

You have every right to be concerned with using a steam mop on a hardwood floor because water is one of hardwoods worst enemies!

For more detailed information on how to maintain your hardwood floors and what to use, click here.  

Wear-Dated® Website Leverages Social Web

New Web site reflects ‘By The Foot’ and introduces new features

KENNESAW, Ga. – Recognizing that consumers start the carpet purchase process online, Wear-Dated® has launched a new and improved Wear-Dated Web site to leverage the social web and reflect its award-winning By The Foot marketing campaign.

Wear-Dated’s By The Foot marketing, a quirky look at carpet from a foot’s perspective, introduces visitors to the new Web site. Colorful, witty and fun, the Web site is built around three directives: interact, share and assist. It speaks directly to homeowners and carpet lovers, as well as first-time carpet buyers. When visitors enter the site, they can check out a series of featured carpets, immerse themselves in useful information on carpets and carpet fiber, or learn how best to care for their home’s carpet investment. On each page of the site, they can print, email, or share information with friends via social Web sites like Technorati, and StumbleUpon!.

“We’ve designed the new Web site with customers in mind. The primary carpet consumer is a woman who not only values relevant information from a brand, but also appreciates being spoken to on her terms,” says Marianne Cone, director Wear-Dated marketing. “That was our original premise in developing the By The Foot campaign, and what we pursued with the new Wear-Dated Web site, which now has the look, feel, quirkiness and relevant content to educate about the carpet category and the beauty, comfort and durability of Wear-Dated carpet fiber.”

The new Wear-Dated Web site is easy to navigate. It enhances many of the previous Web site’s most popular features – the room viewer, for example, makes carpet the star. It also has added new tools, such as a Google maps feature on the retailer locator. The content is searchable, written in terms relevant to a consumer, and can be easily updated. “As we develop new content on installation or new carpet style trends, we can immediately add it to the Web site, improving quality and relevance,” says Christine Whittemore, director, in-store innovation.

Other features include carpet ratings and reviews, retailer ratings and reviews, a formal and expanded newsroom [subscribable via email or RSS - really simple syndication], carpet contests, and a design a room function. Additionally, visitors can use an advanced search feature, explore the year’s carpet colors, page through a carpet catalog, and receive recommendations from the online sales assistant.

“The Web site’s best feature is that it makes interaction possible between consumers, retailers and carpet lovers,” says Ramona Swain, marketing manager and web mistress. “Everyone can comment and contribute to the content on this site. Have a favorite carpet? Tell the world at WearDated.com.”

For blog information from Flooring The Consumer click here. For blog information from The Carpetology Blog click here.

Have you had the opportunity to check out the Virtual Room Designer on the WFCA site? This tool currently allows you to choose a room: kitchen, bath, living room, dining room, bedroom or foyer that most resembles your room and you can change the floor covering from: ceramic tile, carpet, vinyl, hardwood, natural stone or laminate. From the comfort of your home or laptop, you have the power to see what large size tiles look like versus smaller size tiles, darker floors from lighter floors, wide hardwood planks to small hardwood planks and even change the direction of the flooring to see how you might like a patterned floor. This tool is very helpful when you can’t decide if a particular flooring style is for you or if you want to invest the extra money in a patterned floor.

The latest advancement that is coming soon to the Virtual Room Designer is the grout option. This option allows you not only to see what ceramic tile, porcelain tile or natural stone will look like in a room, but it can save you from making a HUGE grout mistake.

As a designer, I can tell you that crimes against grout are made daily. For example, some people think they need darker grout to hide dirt, when in fact all they need is grout sealer. This method will allow them to have stain protection while not sacrificing the look of the floor with the wrong color grout. Some people might think that a color like pink grout is needed to compliment the pink in their sofa – until they see it in the tile. With light colored tile and pink grout, the pink grout is all you usually end up seeing! Why go through the drama of the wrong colored grout when you can get an idea of what the final outcome will be right here.

If you haven’t tried the Virtual Room Designer, try it today. It’s free and can save you valuable time and money when it comes to making a flooring choice for your home. Stay tuned to the blog for an update when the grout option is available.

After you have found a floor that you are interested in, click here to find a floor store in your area. Other helpful tools on the site include: Free Decorating Ideas, a quiz to help you determine what styles you like, a workbook to save all of your favorites in, a tool to help you determine how much flooring you will need and how to place your furniture, frequently asked questions and answers and many more helpful design tools!

Click here for more information of choosing grout colors and changing grout colors.