How Carpet Tiles are Made

Historically there is evidence of carpet manufacture reaching back thousands of years; carpet tiles are a more modern creation though, using the very latest technology in their manufacture.

Modular flooring can be created in a wide range of ways, but continual focusing on cost efficiency, quality and resilience features has lead to most being manufactured in the tufted, loop pile carpet style.First developed in the second half of the last century alongside the developing commercial carpet tile market, tufted-style manufacture is used in almost all-modern carpet tile production and over 70% of all carpeting production in the international market.

Tufted carpet style modular flooring

Tufted carpet tiles are the most popular type of carpeting used for modular flooring in commercial environments. The tufted technique is very new in historical terms taking advantage of technological advances to produce carpets at incredible speed, keeping cost very low whilst retaining a good level of quality and impressive resilience to wear and tear ideal for commercial contract properties.

To produce tufted carpet tiles the backing material has yarns tufted into it; needles push small loops of yarn through the backing creating a shallow, robust pile, then seal them in place with a second backing layer. Originally base layers were made from hessian and still are in some carpet sheet products, but a range of high performance man made materials is used in modular flooring to further enhance its strength.

Loop pile contract carpet tiles

There are further variations within the tufted carpet design for twist, velvet and loop pile, with loop being the most popular for modular flooring, well known for its hardwearing resilience and great texture. Long loops create the deep piles popular in domestic carpets whilst short loops create a shallow pile which resists being flattened out by foot traffic or furniture.

Strength, resilience, simplicity of care and cost effectiveness have proved the key motivation for development in carpet tile design and manufacturing techniques. The modern tufted loop pile focus guarantees modular flooring that is minimal, doesn’t hold onto dirt, is easily cleaned and resists daily wear and tear of lots of people walking on it or heavy furniture and equipment sitting on it whilst still offering the texture, warmth and higher-end feel of a carpeted floor.