Guide · For the trade
Cut pile carpet vs loop pile: the difference, the wear, and which rooms take each
Cut pile carpet has its yarn loops sheared open so the tuft ends stand up; loop pile carpet leaves the loops closed. That one step decides nearly everything else: cut pile is softer, taller (3/8 to 3/4 inch) and shows footprints; loop pile is firmer, lower (1/8 to 3/8 inch), hides traffic and takes a rolling chair, a stair and a hall. Cut-and-loop combines both in one face to make a pattern. The pad follows the construction: 7/16 inch 8 lb rebond under cut pile, 1/4 to 3/8 inch dense pad under loop.
This guide is for the designer specifying broadloom room by room and the junior reading "cut pile" and "level loop" on a line sheet for the first time. It covers the two families and their sub-types, the numbers side by side, which fibers and mills make each well, what each does on a stair and under furniture, seams and nap, and the pad and installer notes. The Berber guide and the plush and saxony guide go deeper into the extremes of each family.
What cut pile carpet is, and its four sub-types
All tufted and most woven carpet starts as loops. Shear them and you have cut pile; the yarn's twist then decides the character. Plush and velvet are low twist, sheared smooth, formal, and they show every mark. Saxony is a touch more twist and heat set. Textured cut pile, sometimes called trackless, is 4 to 5 turns per inch with a two-tone yarn that hides footprints. Frieze is 6 turns and up, curled and casual. Pile heights run from about 3/8 inch in a dense textured to 3/4 inch in a plush and higher in a frieze or a shag, and face weights from 35 to 60 oz and beyond. Cut pile is the warmer, more residential face, and the one that mats in a traffic lane if the fiber or density is wrong.
What loop pile carpet is, and its sub-types
Level loop is one loop height across the face, 1/8 to 1/4 inch, the firmest and most commercial. Multi-level loop varies the height to make a texture or a pattern, up to about 3/8 inch. Berber is a level or multi-level loop in a flecked yarn, originally wool, now also nylon and olefin. Wilton and Axminster looms weave loops into dense, patterned faces at 1/4 to 3/8 inch; most of the 952 Wilton styles in the catalog are loop or cut-and-loop. A loop compresses and recovers rather than bending, which is why loop looks the same at year five in a hall.
Cut pile vs loop pile in one table
| Attribute | Cut pile | Loop pile | Cut-and-loop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pile height | 3/8 to 3/4 in; frieze and shag higher | 1/8 to 3/8 in | 1/4 to 1/2 in |
| Hand | Soft, warm | Firm, textured | Between |
| Shows footprints and vacuum marks | Plush yes, textured little, frieze no | No | Little |
| Traffic lanes | Depends on fiber and density | Resists best | Resists well |
| Rolling chairs and furniture | Crushes; cups under legs | Rolls; recovers | Rolls on the loop, crushes on the cut |
| Pets | Safe; claws do not catch | Claws can snag a loop; wool loops less so | Same risk on the loop |
| Stairs | Textured or dense wool cut pile with the nap down the run | The usual choice; low, dense, dense pad | Good; pattern hides wear |
| Seams | Hide well in textured, show in plush | Show more; pattern match needed | Pattern match needed |
| Pad | 7/16 in 8 lb rebond | 1/4 to 3/8 in dense felt, rubber or 32 oz | 1/4 to 3/8 in dense |
| Rooms | Bedrooms, living rooms, media rooms | Halls, stairs, offices, family rooms, mudrooms | Any; the patterned option for the whole house |
Which is more durable: the honest answer
Loop outlasts cut pile of the same fiber and weight in a traffic area, because a loop recovers and a bent tuft stays bent. But fiber and density move the result more than construction. A 50 oz solution-dyed nylon textured cut pile from Masland or Milliken will outwear a 25 oz olefin loop in every room of the house, and a dense wool Wilton loop from Couristan, Bellbridge or Prestige Mills will outwear both. Read the fiber, face weight and density first, then choose the construction for the room. For the whole-house carpet, the usual answer is a textured cut pile for the bedrooms and a matching low loop or cut-and-loop for the stair and hall.
Cut and loop carpet: the patterned middle
Cut-and-loop shears some tufts and leaves others, so the cut areas read darker and the loops lighter, which is how a tufted carpet makes a lattice, a stripe or a botanical in one color. In practice it hides traffic well. Kane Carpet, Prestige Mills and Couristan carry the deepest patterned ranges in the catalog, most of them Wilton woven; the patterned carpet category holds 1,352 styles and the patterned loop guide covers the woven ones.
Nap, seams and what to tell the installer
Cut pile has a nap: it reads lighter with the lean and darker against it, so every piece in a room must run the same way, lean toward the main entry, and the spec should say so. Loop pile has no nap in the same sense but it has a pattern direction and, on a Wilton, a repeat to match at every seam, which adds to the yardage; the yardage guide covers the allowance. Plush seams show as a line; textured and small-loop seams nearly vanish; large-pattern seams depend on the match. Pad: 7/16 inch 8 lb rebond under residential cut pile, 1/4 to 3/8 inch dense under loop, Wilton and every stair. On a stair, cut pile goes with the nap down the run so the riser reads the same tone as the tread; loop goes with the pattern running up.
Questions designers ask
Which is more durable, cut pile or loop pile carpet?
Loop pile, at the same fiber and weight, because a loop recovers from compression and a cut tuft does not. Fiber and density matter more than the construction, though: a heavy solution-dyed nylon or wool cut pile outwears a light olefin loop anywhere.
Is loop pile carpet good for stairs?
It is the standard stair carpet: low, dense, it hides wear and holds a pattern around the nosing. Specify a 1/4 to 3/8 inch dense pad and, for a client with a dog, a wool loop or a cut pile, since claws catch synthetic loops.
Does cut pile carpet show footprints?
Plush and saxony do; textured and frieze mostly do not. The lower the twist and the smoother the shear, the more a cut pile shows. If the client wants a solid cut pile that looks the same at the end of the day, specify textured.
What is cut and loop carpet?
A single carpet with some tufts sheared and some left as loops, so the face carries a pattern in one color. It rolls, hides traffic and reads as a pattern without a second color, and it is the usual answer for a patterned hall or family room in a solid palette.
Does cut pile cost more than loop pile?
Not as a rule. Price follows fiber, face weight and whether the carpet is woven or tufted far more than cut or loop. A plush uses more yarn than a low loop at the same gauge, so a heavy cut pile often costs more than a light loop of the same fiber, and a wool Wilton loop costs more than either. Net pricing goes to approved trade accounts.
Browse: tufted carpet · Wilton carpet · patterned carpet · Berber carpet guide · textured carpet guide