TENCEL goes particularly well with wool, Best Wool Carpets

20 Jan '10

3 min read

Lenzing continues to reinforce its “Leading Fiber Innovation” commitment. This season, a new fiber is being presented for use in carpets.

A leading fiber in the bed linen category, TENCEL can be found in mattresses, mattress pads, bed spreads, comforters, sheets and pillow cases, making a more natural, botanic bed a dream come true. Now all the textiles used in the bedroom can be more natural in origin. After all, TENCEL comes from Nature and returns to Nature.

Botanic carpet
The new TENCEL fiber offers a wide array of new features and benefits to the carpet industry and consumer. Previously, natural cellulose fibers were too fine and short to be used in carpeting, which requires coarser, longer fibers for processing. Now, for the first time, using the specially tailored TENCEL fiber, natural cellulose fibers can be processed in carpets allowing the unique characteristics of TENCEL to add valuable new properties to carpeting.

TENCEL is characterized by excellent moisture management since moisture is absorbed inside the fiber and rapidly released into the environment. For consumers, this means that carpets made with TENCEL help to decrease both temperature and humidity fluctuations as well as moisture formation on walls and windows, optimizing the indoor environment. Due to this moisture managing capability, carpets made with TENCEL can also effectively combat the formation of mold.

Without the special moisture managing properties inherent in TENCEL, carpeting may not have the ability to regulate moisture and can quickly become a haven for bacteria, mites and other organisms, leading to unpleasant smells. Importantly, carpets made entirely with TENCEL are resistant to moth. TENCEL is naturally moth-free since moth feed on proteins. Wool is made of proteins and carpets made from wool must be treated with chemicals to prevent moth attack.

Specifically important for carpeting is the fact that TENCEL has a natural moisture content of 13%, compared to only 1% in synthetic fibers. Moisture acts like a static arrester and the higher moisture content prevents electrostatic charging and nasty static shocks.

TENCEL beautifully marries function with fashion. TENCEL fibers stand out in carpets due to their particularly good dye affinity and brilliant and expressive colors. The fiber guarantees long-lasting and intense color brilliancy. And, thanks to the smooth fiber surface, a carpet made with TENCEL feels silky and soft and is a pleasure for the feet.

Innovative partner
The first commercially manufactured TENCEL carpets were developed by the Dutch manufacturers Best Wool Carpets. As specialists in woolen carpets, Best Wool's Managing Director, Yvar Monasch, believes TENCEL goes particularly well with wool. “The TENCEL fiber can be applied universally. It can be used in the carpet pile as well as in the tuft and back parts since TENCEL has a high fiber tenacity”, Monasch explains. Monasch also sees advantages in woolen carpets due to the eco-friendliness of TENCEL and its temperature and humidity regulating properties.

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