Synthetics Being Used For Carpets In Britain

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28766, 11 December 1958, Page 25

Synthetics Being Used For Carpets In Britain

Synthetic carpeting being manufactured in Britain was far ahead of wool in wearing tests Mnd was also much cheaper, a Dunedin company's managing director, Mr Charles Butterfield, said in Christchurch. Mr Butterfield, who is head of a furniture and furnishings manufacturing and retail organisation, has returned to New Zealand after a seven months’ business tour of the United States, Britain, and Europe. He said synthetics were being used extensively in carpet and* cotton mills in Britain. He saw carpet made entirely of syntheticsi at Liversedge, Yorkshire. The wearing test results ofli synthetic carpeting and uphol-t stery material were fantastic, he? 1

said. He was shown one reasonably cheep synthetic cloth which had come through 78.000 scien-tifitally-applied wearing rubs in a laboratory and compared with London “bus cloth”—a much heavier moquette than found in New Zealand. —which had lasted for only 35.000 rubs. A. disadvantage of synthetic tbrpet was that the weight of farniture on it left indents when the furniture was moved, whereas wool was inclined to spring back into place. Experiments were being made to overcome this and spme synthetic carpets manufacturers were mixing wool with their products. iTypical synthetic carpeting was about 20 per cent, cheaper than similar wool products, he said. Mr Butterfield said that, in London, underfelt was being sold which acted, under the carpet, as an electric blanket did in a bed. The underfelt had a web of fine .wiring in it and when plugged onto an electric wall socket would heat the room. A Oft x 12ft electric underfelt piece, with a 1200-watt output, cost £24. If the floor underneath was insulated to stop heat loss, the room heating efficiency was very high.