Carpet Pile Reversal

What You Need to Know About Carpet Pile Shading

Pile reversal - also known as water marking and pooling.

It’s a disappointing carpet condition that concerns many owners of new carpet. It can happen within hours of having a new carpet fitted, or it may not appear for months afterwards.

What is Carpet Pile Reversal?

Pile reversal is an effect in which different areas of the carpet pile surface appear as dark or light patches.

Pile reversal is also known as water marking or pooling, although water has nothing to do with it. Some people refer to it as shading, although the term shading can refer to other carpet conditions such as pile pressure, pile flattening or pile crushing.

It happens in cut pile carpets of any fibre component whether natural or synthetic. more apparent plain carpet than it patterned. It is rarely seen in loop pile carpets.

Pile reversal in a Bedroom carpet

Pile reversal in a Lounge carpet

Carpet pile reversal sample

What is Happening?

The shading appearance seen in the carpet pile is when the pile fibres adjust to lay in altered or opposing directions to the normal run or 'lay' of the pile.

This gives rise to a change in appearance because light then reflects off the sides of the fibres rather than the tips. The sides or tips of the adjacent fibre strands will reflect light in a different way, so the pile displays varying light or dark shades. Again, light that reflects off the tips of the tufts will be less reflective and therefore appear to be a different, possibly darker shade.

What Causes Pile Reversal?

Pile reversal can occur in random sections of a carpet.  More often than not it appears in trafficked areas.

A number of reasons for pile reversal have been put forward to try and explain the exact cause, but no specific explanation has yet been established.

It is not considered to be a manufacturing fault but is more likely to be due to localised influences of the property the carpet is installed in.

Some of the suggested causes are said to be due to:

The theory that electrical cabling in the property and electronic appliances produce electromagnetic fields suggests that these forces can influence the carpet's pile lay and force it into patches of unsightly, permanent shading.

Can Pile Reversal Be Corrected?

No existing treatment has been confirmed as effective.

Not much can be done to recover the carpet's original appearance.

Vacuuming or brushing the pile will only provide a short-term change in appearance. The affected pile will soon return to the distorted position, particularly when walked on again.

Steam cleaning has been tried to 're-adjust' the fibres, but they usually revert to type after a short period.

There is a device available that offers a preventative solution, but it needs to be put in place before the carpet is installed. The question is: how do you know you are going to get pile reversal or not. The answer is you don't!

If you knew that it was going to happen, then you would most certainly invest in a preventative device.

Personally, having seen and experienced the disappointment of owners with the problem, I think it is well worth consideration.

What Can I Do?

In the meantime, if you have purchased a new carpet within the last twelve months and suspect that you have pile reversal, contact your supplier straight away.

Most new carpets will have some form of warranty and pile reversal may be covered.

But not all are; so I suggest that you discuss this problem with your carpet supplier before making a purchase.

However, there are steps that you can take to safeguard yourself from an upsetting purchase.

To find out how, and get more essential information, get your copy of:

How To Buy Carpet And Save Money

Buy it Here  to save future disappointment!

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