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| Carpet Cleaners East London |
Call 0208 328 3398
We appreciate life isn't always 9-5. Therefore calls are answered until 10pm. 7 days a week.
History of Carpets |
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Carpets originate from Asia, where it has been established that they have been used for over 2000 years. These early carpets were rough cured skins with tough flexible backs and an upright pile of animal fibre.
With the development of civilisation came man-made carpets, emanating initially from Turkey, Peru, Persia and Egypt.
A small 6'6" carpet dating from 464 BC was found preserved in a tomb at Pazyk, in Southern Siberia. Fragments of looped cotton pile carpets dated 100 BC, have also been discovered in Turkistan, Egypt.
Early carpets were hand-woven and invariably featured designs and patterns, based upon the symbols of folklore and religion. Even the colours used had a special significance for the eastern weavers representing a particular element such as joy, sorrow or high rank.
Throughout the 6 - 12 centuries carpet making became highly developed in Central Anatolia. Marco Polo discovered carpets at the court of the Gran Khan, and returned to Europe with many fine examples.
There are no records of carpets in Western Europe until the early 16th century, when they are introduced by the Venetians. Carpets of this period were identified as either 'Turkey' or 'Damascus', according to their origin and design. These carpets were often thought far too valuable to walk on and were therefore used as decorative wall hangings or furniture drapes.
In 1520 Cardinal Wolsey received several Damastus carpets from the Venetian Exchequer for his palace; Hampton Court, which became well-furnished in carpets; starting a fashion amongst the nobility. In Britain, at that time, floors were usually covered with straw, hay, or rushes, which could be replaced regularly. The first actual woven carpets in Britain appeared in Tudor times and were woven rush mats. These, however, appeared only in the private apartments of the gentry.
By the 17th century carpet manufacturing was well-established in France, Spain and already advancing into Britain. Jacobean styles made with better quality materials dominated British designs.
In 1619 an inventory at Nayworth Castle described "seven carpets of Kidderminster stuff". These were forte cloths, which were woven from a coarse wool, unsuitable for clothing manufacture.
In the early 18th century the first woven loop pile carpets were produced in England. The Earl of Pembroke employed two Flemish weavers to set up production of their Brussels carpets at his home in Wilton.
Their manufacture quickly spread to Kidderminster and other parts of the country. Today, Wilton carpets are based on these original "Brussels" designs but the loops are cut.
Around 1750, the first hand-knotted carpets arrived in England from France, and production soon started in London, Axminister and Wilton. In 1755 the Royal Society of Arts offered prizes for carpet designs and constructions.
In 1801 Joseph Marie Jacquard of Lyon, France, exhibited a revolutionary device for patterned loom weaving. His invention simplified the weaving processes by recording the designs permanently on punch cards, enabling the constant repetition of set patterns.
The first Jacquard Loom in Britain was installed by Broom of Kidderminster in 1852. This type of loom has basically remained unchanged to this day.
In 1851 the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace took place, many carpet manufacturers were represented.
James Templeton showed his Chenille Axminster loom for weaving very wide carpets. The Westminster Abbey carpet for four Coronations has been woven on this loom.
Bigelow exhibited the first powered loom, Kidderminster manufacturers were not interested, however Crossley of Halifax purchased it for £10,000. Frank Crossley then adapted it for weaving cut velvet pile Wiltons. The loom was patented and Crossley monopolised powered carpet weaving.
The industry was completely revolutionised by the introduction of powered carpet looms. Manufacturers were continually improving and updating their equipment.
In 1878 the Kidderminster firm of Tomkinson and Adam acquired the UK rights to the Skinner Spool Axminster loom. Brintons of Kidderminster completed their 35 year development of a Jacquard linked Gripper Axminster loom.
The advance of new technology saw the introduction of the Anglo-Turkey knotting looms, at the turn of the 20th Century.
In 1910 Tomkinsons acquired the UK rights to the Renard mechanically knotted carpet from France.
After four years experiments, Firths put face-to-face Wilton on the market in 1928.
In 1932 Brintons designed and built a fine pitch Gripper loom with nine tufts per inch.
World War II in 1939 meant British carpet production was reduced, factories turned production over to munitions or contributed to the thousands of blankets woven during the war years.
Following the Second World War, tufting, a significant departure from traditional weaving methods, arrived in Britain.
Originating from the USA the technique emerged from a very old craft of early American settlers. They saved the wicks from home made candles, trimmed and worked them into bedcovers which gave rise to the term candlewick.
1945 The first precision yardage tufting machine was made by the Cobble Brothers.
1947 Experiments with Viscose resulted in Courtaulds producing "Fibro" - the first man-made fibre to be used for carpet pile in the UK.
1949 The first wide tufted carpet was made in the USA
1950 Homfrays introduced the first 50% wool/50% viscose blend carpet.
1952 Cobble introduced the automatic pattern attachment for tufting machines.
1960 The first 80% wool/20% nylon blends were used.
The next few years saw the large scale introduction of synthetic fibres into bothe the woven and tufted industry, and increasingly sophisticated forms of Nylon and Acrylic fibres began to appear. Chemical technology was also applied to methods of dyeing and latex application.
1964 Saw the start of a widespread introduction of screen printed tufted carpets, these were initially flat bed screens, then rotary screens.
1968 The continuing popularity of multi-coloured pattern carpets in the UK stimulated the invention of novel colouring machines and processes.
1972 Problems with the jute industry in India and Parkistan encouraged the development and use of polproplene for carpet backing.
1975 The Millitron computer jet printer was developed by Deering Miliken in the USA, which allowed printed pattern changes to be made very quickly at the press of a button.
Initially, the materials used in tufted carpets were of an inferior quality to those acceptable for Wiltons and Axminsters, but the development of more sophisticated machinery and the use of higher grades of yarn, has greatly narrowed the gap of quality.
Research and new technology have since contributed greatly to the expansion and development of the carpet industry.
New generations of man made fibres have been engineered, effectively evolving with consumer demand. These have such characteristics as high durability and resistance to static build up.
Chemical advancements include the formulation of soil resistant and stain release treatments.
New mass production processes including bonding, needlepunch, and flocking have been introduced, to cope with the increasing demand for not only carpets in the home, but also commercial applications.
There can be few success stories to match the History of the Carpet. Where once it was luxury only to be found in palaces, today the carpet is in every home - and present too, in shops, office blocks, hotels, hospitals.....
.......it is, in fact, such an accepted feature of our lives that we scarcely give it a thought - yet its development must rank as one of the most universally popular achievements of Man's artistry and ingenuity.
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The products we use are 100% bio-degradable and 100% non-toxic. We use the cleaning products daily and care about you and your families health as much as our own health and environment.
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