Guide · For the trade
Plush carpet, saxony and velvet: what the three words mean and where to specify each
Plush carpet is a dense, level cut pile with a low-twist yarn sheared to a smooth surface, usually 1/2 to 3/4 inch high and 40 to 60 oz face weight. Saxony is the same construction with a little more twist and a heat-set yarn so it holds up better; velvet is the lowest twist and the smoothest face, the most formal and the quickest to show a footprint. All three are bedroom and formal-room carpets, and all three want a 7/16 inch 8 lb rebond pad.
This guide is for the designer deciding between a plush, a saxony and a velvet on a line sheet, and for the junior who needs to know why the sample that felt best in the showroom is the wrong one for the stair. It covers the construction, the three variants, the pros and cons, fibers and mills, the rooms, and what to write in the spec. The textured carpet guide covers the next step up in twist, and the cut pile vs loop pile guide the wider family.
What plush carpet is, as a construction
Every plush is a cut pile: the yarn is tufted or woven in loops and the loops are cut and sheared level. What separates plush from textured and frieze is twist. A plush yarn has about 2.5 to 3.5 turns per inch, so the tuft ends stand straight and the surface reads as one smooth field. Textured runs 4 to 5 turns and kinks the ends so they scatter light; frieze runs 6 or more and curls. Low twist is why plush feels softest and why it shows every mark. Pile height runs 1/2 to 3/4 inch in tufted plush, 3/8 to 1/2 inch in a woven velvet, and face weights from 40 oz in a nylon to 60 oz or more in a wool.
Plush, saxony or velvet: the differences
| Term | Twist and pile | Surface | Shows footprints | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Velvet (or velvet plush) | Lowest twist, 3/8 to 1/2 in, often woven | Mirror-smooth, uniform color, formal | Yes, every one | Formal living rooms, dining rooms without chairs that drag, primary bedrooms |
| Plush | Low twist, 1/2 to 3/4 in, tufted | Smooth, deep, soft | Yes | Bedrooms, dressing rooms, media rooms |
| Saxony | Medium-low twist, heat set, 1/2 to 5/8 in | Smooth with a slight grain, tuft ends visible up close | Less, still some | Bedrooms, living rooms, family rooms with moderate traffic |
| Textured saxony | Medium twist, 1/2 in, two-tone yarn | Grainy, hides marks | Little | Halls, family rooms, stairs with a dense pad |
Mills use the words loosely. Milliken labels a fine-gauge nylon 6,6 print as a pinpoint saxony at a 0.30 inch pile; Fabrica calls its smoothest nylon a cut pile velvet; Bloomsburg and Masland weave wool velvets on Wilton looms. Read the twist and pile height on the spec sheet, not the name.
Saxony carpet pros and cons
The case for: the softest cut pile underfoot and the most luxurious to look at, a solid color that reads as a single plane, and a dense enough face that a good saxony in wool or nylon 6,6 wears for 15 to 20 years in a bedroom. The case against: footprints and vacuum marks; pile crush under furniture that needs a glass or a coaster under every leg; a visible nap, so a seam in the wrong place or a stair with the nap reversed shows as a color change; and a pile that rolling chairs, pets and sand all treat badly. None of these is a defect; the client needs to hear them before the install, not after.
Fibers and mills for plush carpet
Wool plush is the formal classic: dense, naturally flame resistant and self-extinguishing, with the deepest color. Masland's wool broadloom carries Class I radiant panel ratings and Green Label Plus certificates, and its wool and nylon velvets are the ones we spec most for a dressing room or a primary suite. Fabrica's nylon velvets and saxonies are the smoothest synthetic faces in the catalog, with total weights near 90 oz on the heaviest styles, lifetime stain and static warranties and 20-year texture retention on the fiber. Milliken's nylon 6,6 saxonies are the fine-gauge, printed and patterned option in 13 ft 6 in widths. Nylon 6,6 and solution-dyed nylon hold a saxony's texture far longer than polyester, which mats within a few years. Widths are 12 ft and, for most wool, 13 ft 2 in and 15 ft, which matters because a plush seam is the hardest to hide.
Which rooms take a plush carpet
Bedrooms first: a plush bedroom carpet at 1/2 to 5/8 inch over a 7/16 inch 8 lb pad is the warmest, quietest floor a client walks on barefoot. Formal living rooms and parlors where traffic crosses once a day. Media rooms, where it also helps the acoustics. The rooms to keep it out of: stairs and halls (a dense Wilton velvet in wool at 3/8 inch is the one exception, over a 1/4 to 3/8 inch dense pad), kitchens, mudrooms, a home office with a rolling chair, and any dining room where chairs drag. For those, a textured cut pile or a loop; the low pile vs high pile guide sets the heights.
What to write in the spec and tell the installer
Spec the style, color, fiber, pile height and face weight, the width, and the pad: 7/16 inch 8 lb rebond under residential plush, 1/4 to 3/8 inch dense felt or rubber under a woven velvet or on a stair. State the nap direction: all pieces laid with the pile leaning toward the main entry so the room reads light from the door, and no reversed pieces. Keep seams out of raking window light; a 15 ft width eliminates the seam in a 14 ft bedroom. Power stretch, not kick; a loose plush ripples under a bed within a year.
Questions designers ask
Is plush carpet good for high traffic areas?
No. Plush and velvet show traffic lanes, footprints and crush in a hall or on a stair within months. Use a textured cut pile, a frieze or a loop there, and keep the plush for the bedrooms and formal rooms where it earns its softness.
What is the difference between plush and saxony carpet?
Twist. Plush is the lower-twist, smoother face; saxony is slightly higher twist and heat set, with tuft ends you can see up close, so it hides a little more and holds its look a little longer. Velvet is the lowest twist of all. Mills mix the terms, so read the spec sheet.
Does plush carpet show footprints and vacuum marks?
Yes, by design: the straight, low-twist tufts lean when stepped on and reflect light differently. A textured saxony hides most of it; a velvet hides none of it. Show the client the sample after someone has walked across it.
Can an office chair roll on plush carpet?
It can, and it will crush a track into the pile within weeks. For a home office specify a low, dense cut pile or a loop under 1/4 inch, or a chair mat over the plush; the home office carpet guide has the numbers.
What pad goes under plush carpet?
7/16 inch 8 lb rebond for a tufted plush or saxony in a bedroom or living room. A woven wool velvet, and any plush on a stair, wants a thinner, denser pad: 1/4 to 3/8 inch felt, rubber or 32 oz synthetic felt, so the pile does not flex and the seams stay closed.
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