I am new to Weavolution and come to you with a big question. A friend and fellow weaver gave me bags and bags of rug yarn. She was given this yarn by a tapestry weaver a long time ago. In going through this windfall and sorting into color families, I think I have some that is 100 percent nylon (there is a label inside the cone), some is a nylon/wool mix and some is all wool. I have just started making weft-faced rugs and would love to use all this yarn. My question is can I mix the different yarns without comprimising the look of the rugs? These rugs will be used on floors, and I know anything with nylon will last longer than I will. I want to make sure they will behave as a rug with just one of these fibers would. I would rather throw out anything with nylon and just use wool as the feel is so much nicer, but I also see that Jason Collingwood's rug yarn is 80/20 wool/nylon so I don't want to be too hasty. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks so much.

Comments

Fri, 04/27/2012 - 18:49

karentiede

1.  I mix everything.  My teacher prefers "all natural." 

2.  Does the nylon "match?"  I can spot acrylic yarn a mile away, and unless it was deliberately mixed in to a design, I expect I could "see" it.

3.  Jason's using a weft that's blended in each thread, which is a little different from 100% wool and 100% nylon.

4.  Shrinkage differences will, perhaps, be a factor. 

5.  At the least, donate your leftovers / unwanteds.  Around here, the women's prisons will take any fibers they can get. 

6.  I've donated a lot of fabric I thought I couldn't use, only to wish I had filler, or test, or sample fiber, within a month that the donated material would have been perfect for.  Your storage space may be different.

Sat, 04/28/2012 - 19:10

lorjacks3212

I'm all for recycled materials. Maybe you could do a sampler and see how it looks. 

Sun, 04/29/2012 - 13:25

Wooleyweaver

Thanks for your input. I would rather use all wool, but hate to give up a wool/nylon mix. The all nylon can go, and that's a good suggestion. I have limited space so stashing is not in the cards.I think I'll play it safe and not combine the 100% wool with the mix. Thanks again.

Sun, 06/16/2013 - 16:53

Chris B

A 15-20 percent nylon content is common in commercial grades of carpeting. It provides additional abrasion resistance to the finished carpet, be it a cut pile, loop pile or otherwise. A handwoven, weft-faced rug wherein the yarn is surface exposed to abrasion will definitely wear longer, and its dimensional stability will be enhanced. Yes, the wool will likely "felt" drawing the web together on wet finishing, if subjected to heat/agitation, which will likely cause the nylon to "loop" more resulting in an underlayer of wool/nylon riding above. But will your rugs actually be subjected to this kind of finishing and ongoing maintenance? Try a number of samples using different weave structures and wet finishing or not. Also, consider using a burlap lining with latex to enhance dimensional stability. Chris