Comparison of the Performance Properties of Carpets Containing Nylon 6 and Nylon 66 Face Yarns

Abstract

A parametric analysis of the performance properties of a group of twenty-four well balanced carpet samples, half of which represent nylon 6 and the other half nylon 66 face yarns, shows that nylon 66 carpets offer superior performance in terms of texture retention and color fastness to ozone. There are no significant differences in measured performance properties between nylon 6 and 66 carpets in terms of soil repellency, oil repellency, water repellency, color fastness to light, color fastness to nitrous oxides, and thickness recovery from prolonged application of a static load. A nonparametric evaluation of an expert grader’s assessment through a paired comparison of nylon 6 and 66 carpets subjected to wear on a Vettermann drum tester shows that the grader overwhelmingly prefers nylon 66 over nylon 6 (fifty times out of fifty-four). The comparison, however, is between identically constructed carpets and not between carpets whose construction has been optimized for the specific fiber type. Since the texture of the finished carpet is believed to be influenced by a host of construction parameters such as fiber denier, fiber modulus, fiber cross-sectional shape, yarn denier, yarn twist, heat setting conditions, pile height, pile weight, etc., it would be interesting to see how a fiber-specific carpet construction and design optimization would influence the texture comparison. Both pile type and pile yarn weight exert an influence on texture retention properties as measured on the Vettermann tester. In addition, pile type influences soil repellency. Fluoropolymer treatment has a significant positive influence on color fastness to ozone, soil repellency, oil repellency, and water repellency properties.