Crush Bands

[Cousin]

Continuously getting called in to remove crush bands such as these below

Now on nylon and wool, mostly very easy and problem solved.

But we're getting more and more polypropylene carpet, and crush bands in those just don't wanna be fixed.

Anyone have any success on poly?


M

 

[Mikey P]

Will heat and grooming fix that for good?

 

[J Scott W]

I often removed crush bands with lots of wet heat (from Jiffy Steamer or my Powermatic) and Grandi Brush or Grandi Groomer.

The sucess rate for poly was much lower than for nylon and wool. Nylon and wool problem solved 90% of the time. Polyester problem solved 30% of the time.

Scott Warrington

 

[Brian R]

What the hell is a crush band?...I can't tell from the pic.
Maybe I've called it something esle.

 

[J Scott W]

What the hell is a crush band?...I can't tell from the pic.
Maybe I've called it something esle.

A band of carpet running across the width. The tufts usually lay opposite of the normal pile direction or may simply be flattened. Appears as dark bands across the carpet.

Likely cause from the carpet on the bottom of a pile being crushed from tto much weight or too long in storage.

Scott Warrington

 

[Brian R]

what would cause it in a hallway like that?

 

[billyeadon]

Brian,

As the installer rolls out the piece, the part on the bottom of the roll is flattened where the top is not. This leads to the difference in appearance. The smaller the roll becomes the closer the bands.
Some times it is because the cardboard insert flattens due to the weight of rolls piled on top which places all the weight on the bottom.

what would cause it in a hallway like that?

 

[Josh Adler]

yes i call it roll crush as well

 

[Cousin]

Mikey, steam and grooming will always rectify a nylon carpet with this problem. Wool mostly, although if the carpet has had a lot of usage, and the pile has started packing down in the wrong direction (not unlike shading) it can be difficult to rectify the wool pile.

Scott, thanks for the description.

Billy, the cardboard tube is responsible for a lot of bands at the start (inside) of the roll. It can be as you say, the tube flattening, and also the edge (or the start) of the carpet can set up some bands. Rolls stacked on top of each other is the main culprit. And pre cut and stored house lots are often a problem, because most don't have a cardboard core, and often get flattened before they get laid. And a loose roll can have the sides squashed, and also end up with crush bands.

Steven and Josh, your terminology is correct. The carpet manufacturers here call it roll pile crush bands. I got tired of typing all that and just call them crush bands.

With the popularity?! of polyprop, I'd like to find a way to fix these, if there is a fix.


M

 

[Cousin]

Just reading back, I think I should explain further.

Carpet is manufactured with a slight lean (for various reasons). Assuming this lean is the same all the way along the length of the carpet, the carpet will look the same.

If some of the pile is squashed further down, or laying (even slightly) sideways or back in completely the opposite direction, there will be a difference in light reflection.

If you look at the pic, all the carpet pile is laying away from the camera, except the dark lines, where the pile is laying back in the wrong direction and instead of reflecting back light, it's absorbing more of the light (looking at the tips of the pile instead of the sides). Hence it looks 'darker'.

Same concept as looking at brushed velvet or velour.


M

 

[The Great Oz]

I usually correct this by telling the customer it goes away with a little use. Call me if it doesn't, and in the meantime I'll send the mill an invoice for solving the problem.

If you're having difficulty, try setting the nap the opposite way, or going 90 degrees from either "up" or "down."

 

[harryhides]

Here's a couple of pictures to confuse the issue along with my own terminology.

Here is an example of "Roll crushing" this was a Nylon in a Synagogue and we fixed it up with steam, no problem.

This was in the same synagogue and is an example of what I call "crushed by roll". The weight of a full roll sitting for a few days on some installed carpet caused the marks which were also easily removed with a steamer.

Finally, here is an example of pile reversal which just happened to be a wool carpet in the lobby of the same synagogue which is generally considered to be irreversible and even if it is "fixed", it will revert back to it's "pre-fix" condition in a few months. Please note that ALL of the different carpets sections were affected by the alien field forces at work here.

"M," my experience with repairing roll crush on Polyester is that it requires hotter steam with more volume and more contact time between carpet and steam head.
I have had limited success by using a pile lifter to remove crush marks on Olefin carpets.

 

[Cousin]

Tony, I've treated some polyesters, and they don't seem to be an issue.

Do you think the (dry) heat generated by the friction from the pile lifter brush would be what's working better than the moist heat from the steamer? on the olefins.


M

 

[Harry Myers]

You can burn olefin by dragging something on it . High heat and olefin are no good together.

 

[harryhides]

Tony, I've treated some polyesters, and they don't seem to be an issue.

Do you think the (dry) heat generated by the friction from the pile lifter brush would be what's working better than the moist heat from the steamer? on the olefins.
M

Don't know M, I just know that in some cases it did work and in others it did not.