wilton carpet

Wilton Carpet

In a Wilton carpet the pile is in the form of a continuous yarn, which produces a series of loops; these may then be cut for a cut-pile finish. Although the continuous yarn theoretically makes Wilton the strongest of carpets, it limits the design potential, as only a maximum of five colors can be used together. Wilton can be woven as a textured design with two yarns, usually of slightly different shades of the same color; one shade is a higher-cut pile and the other is shorter and left looped to create a three-dimensional pattern.

For many years, only cut-pile carpets woven on a Jacquard loom were known as “WILTON.” A loop-pile made on the same loom was called a “BRUSSELS.” Today, both loop-pile, cut-pile and cut-and loop pile are made on a Jacquard loom and known as “WILTON.” The pitch, the wires per inch and the yarn weight gauge the quality of a WILTON. All high quality WILTONS were made with a 256 pitch and 10 or more wires per inch. Today, most high quality WILTONS are made with a 252 pitch and 7-10 wires per inch.

WILTON carpet is somewhat limited to the amount of colors that can be woven into carpet. The yarn spools are mounted on frames. A five-frame WILTON has five colors, but the most common WILTONS are made of two and three frames. Additional colors can be added by “Planting” yarns into the weave. This system allows additional color to be substituted for one of the original colors in a row of tufts. A five-frame WILTON would appear to have six or more frames due to the “Planting” of other colors.

The most unique characteristic of a WILTON is that the face yarns that are not selected by the Jacquard mechanism as part of the face pile, stay hidden in the back of the carpet interlaced with the weft, warp and stuffer yarns. This makes the pattern or face pile easy to see from the back of the carpet. Most WILTON carpet is two shot; two weft yarns per wire of face yarns. Many WILTONS are coated on the back with latex or a similar resin. There are many different WILTON carpets, such as; “face-to-face” and “flat weaves.” However, a continuation of this article will describe this more in detail.

Carpet made on Wilton loom; can have various pile heights (level or multi-level and can have loop or cut)

Capable of intricate patterning, styling and coloration versatility
Regarded for withstanding heavy traffic; used mostly in commercial applications and area rugs
Weaving process contributes to durability, strength and firmness

See woven: Axminster Carpet | Velvet Carpet
See Also: Wilton Carpet Guide

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