Typically natural flooring has to be installed in a very specific way and this can make finding a carpet fitter a challenge. This is where no glue carpets come in to change the game. So what are no glue carpets?
No glue carpets refers to natural carpet that does not need the addition of glue to adhere it to the floor during installation. This means that flooring that falls under this category can in fact be fitted in a more traditional carpet fitting method. So let’s look at what that means for you as a potential natural flooring owner.
How are natural carpets usually installed?
As mentioned earlier natural carpets typically have to be installed using a specific method. This method is commonly referred to as the ‘double stick method’.
This installation method involves having to adhere both your carpet underlay and natural flooring using glue. First the underlay would be glued to the floor and then the carpet to the underlay. Due to this, it is also incredibly important that the correct underlay is used for natural carpet fitting. The underlay must be heavy enough to ensure that it can hold your natural flooring down as well as having to be able to be glued.
Another way that natural flooring installation differs is due to its rigidity. Unlike normal carpet this flooring is not as easy to stretch into place, in fact natural carpet is notoriously difficult to fit and would only be advised to be installed by an experienced professional.
One final consideration when fitting natural flooring is making sure you give your carpet time to acclimatise. This basically means that you make sure the carpet is in the same area it is due to be installed 24-48 hours before installation. The reason for this is because as these carpets are made of natural materials they tend to expand and contract with temperature changes. Why this matters is because if your natural carpet has not had time to acclimatise before fitting it is possible that it could contract or expand after fitting. This can result in the carpet either pulling away from the walls or expanding and causing air bubbles underneath the carpet.
What are the benefits of no glue carpets?
As detailed above, the installation process for most natural carpets can be quite technical. This can create a barrier for some people who want to have a natural carpet installed but for some reason cannot find a specialist installer. This is where no glue carpets come in.
Easier carpet installation.
As their name states, no glue carpets don’t require… well, glue. Because of this these carpets can be stuck in the same way as traditional carpets. This means they can be fitted with staples and don’t require the same heavy duty underlay to keep them held down. Finding a carpet fitter who knows how to fit carpet in this way is fairly straight forward, just about any installer should be capable of fitting these carpets.
No volatile organic compounds.
If you are unfamiliar with VOCs we have a fantastic blog that explains exactly what VOCs are. For those who want the short version, these are chemicals that have been studied to have some negative impact to human health, dependant on the length of exposure and potency of the chemicals. Most synthetic carpets have many toxic chemicals in them to reduce costs and improve their longevity. With natural carpets you can almost entirely avoid these chemicals, however, note that we said almost.
Although our carpets are made from natural materials some of our carpets have to be fitted with the double stick method. This means that after fitting it is not technically true that they are entirely non-toxic. The caveat to this is that the glue used in these installations does off-gas very quickly and has a very low VOC rating. For most people this is perfectly acceptable, and with a little airing out in the first week after installation it is virtually impossible to detect any VOCs.
Despite this there are some that are particularly sensitive to chemicals of any concentration and for those no glue carpets are really the only option. The challenge for those who have this particular sensitivity is there are so few carpets that can both be installed without chemicals and being chemical free themselves. This is why we are so proud to introduce this range of no glue carpets to our customers.
Bio-degradable carpets.
Without the presence of glue, these carpets are very easy to dispose of in an eco friendly way and remain completely bio-degradable. Although all of our natural carpets do bio-degrade, if they have been fitted with glue, the backing glue itself will not bio-degrade in the same way as the carpet. But with no glue sisals, especially those in our bio-boucle range, these carpets will completely  return to nature at the end of their life if disposed of responsibly.
If you’re interested on read more about our bio-degradable carpet range.
For more inspiration read about our top natural carpet picks for the summer. If you’re ready to start planning your natural flooring installation get in contact with us about carpet installation.
