You wouldn't think that choosing a pad for your new carpet would be an issue. Most often it isn't. But there is one bad choice, really bad choice that sets everyone's hair on fire
Save yourself! Avoid this issue with an iron will.
Here's what happens. Your client loves the feel of a soft, cushiony rug under her feet and the feet of those she loves.
She really loves the weaved carpet she's picked out. It's perfect for the room.
But weaved carpet doesn't have the barefoot feel of a softer pile. What to do?
No problem. Combine the hand-loomed carpet with a nice, thick, squishy pad and bada boom. Problem solved.
For about a month.
Then comes real problems.
After that your perfect woven carpet starts coming apart.
The end result will be wrinkles in your carpet or worse. There's no way to repair it.
Thank you NASA
Here's what happens. Thanks to NASA for this great explanation.
This illustrates the gravitational weight of the earth distorting space/time. It's even better illustrates of what happens to weaved and hand-loomed carpets on a squishey pad.
Think of the earth as a foot pressing into the carpet day after day until the strands of the carpet stretch more and more. The strands will get longer and longer UNTIL: 1. they start to unravel or 2. they stretch and produce wrinkles.
The right pad
Here's what works. We use three different pads.
- 40 oz. Synthetic: used under Woven carpet eg. Wiltons, Axminsters, handloomed.
- 3/8" 8 lbs. Memory Foam Pad: used under tufted wools and nylons with lower pile height or loop pile.
- 7/16" 8 lbs memory for pad: Used used under tufted wools and nylons and higher ounce weight cut piles (cushiest feel).
Bottom line.
If there is a weaved carpet or a hand-loomed carpet that you love and you must have it, you must support it with a firm, shallow pad. Otherwise your beautiful carpet will shrivel like summer flowers and someone will go crazy until it's replaced.
If cushiness is an absolute with you and your client, come into the showroom, and dig, dig, dig for a carpet that fulfills your and your client's aesthetic vision and that will not fail in traffic.
If you think there is a chance that your choice will fail, ask. We will probably tell you whether you ask or not.