Carpets and Rugs Pile Density and Height

There are many different carpets on the market with beautiful colors, surface textures, and varying qualities. One of the most important aspects of carpet quality is the density of the carpet. Density refers to the number of yarn tufts per square inch of carpet. The denser the carpet, the longer the carpet will look new.

A good way to check carpet density is to fold the back of the carpet onto itself, which allows you to see how tightly packed the yarns are at the fold. If you can see a lot of the backing, the carpet may not be a good buy.

You can compare two pieces of carpet by folding each carpet piece onto itself and comparing how closely the yarns are packed together.

 Sometimes carpet density is confused with pile height and face weight. Just because a carpet has a long pile height or high number for face weight does not mean the carpet is dense or wears well.

 A long pile height gives carpet a luxurious appearance. However, the longer the pile height, the greater the tendency of the carpet to mat, especially in high traffic areas. If you want a deep pile carpet, select an extra dense carpet.

Face weight is a measure of the total amount of yarn on the front of the carpet. Increasing the pile height and the density increases the face weight. The face weight alone, however, does not determine quality because weight can be increased with just pile height. Two carpets could be the same face weight and yet be quite different in quality and performance.