Installing new carpet in your home or adding a rug to a room adds warmth, comfort, and style. However, like many quality textile products, carpets and rugs can behave a little differently when they’re brand new. Understanding these natural characteristics helps you understand what is happening with your new carpet or rug and prevents unnecessary concern in the early days after installation.
Below, we explain some common carpet appearance traits and why they occur.
Shedding: A Normal Early Behaviour
If your new carpet or rug appears to be ‘shedding’ loose fibres, this is completely normal – particularly for cut pile wool carpets and high-quality synthetic styles.
Why does shedding happen?
During the manufacturing process, short fibres can remain trapped within the pile. Once the carpet is laid and exposed to regular foot traffic and vacuuming, these loose fibres are released.
What to expect
- Shedding is most noticeable in the first few weeks
- It gradually reduces with regular vacuuming
- It does not mean your carpet is wearing out
What helps
- Vacuum frequently using a suction-only vacuum (no rotating brush for cut pile carpets)
- Avoid over-vigorous vacuuming in the early weeks
Shading and Pile Reversal: Changes in Light and Texture
Shading – sometimes called pile reversal or watermarking – is most commonly seen in high-pile, plush, or fluffy carpets. Shading occurs when carpet fibres lay in different directions, causing light to reflect unevenly. This creates areas that appear lighter or darker depending on the angle you view them from.
Simply a trick of the eye
The ‘spots’ you would see, will virtually disappear when observed from directly above, and is simply the way the light in the room is reflecting off the fibre and not a manufacturing defect.
Footprints and Tracking: A Sign of Softness
Soft, luxurious carpets often show footprints, vacuum marks, or tracking – particularly in high pile plush and cut pile carpets and rugs. Tracking is a temporary impression of the foot traffic of the room, and the fibres will bounce back or be pushed in a different direction as you move about the room. Your personal taste will determine whether this look is your style.
This happens because:
- The fibres are designed to move under pressure, so can flatten or crush under footsteps and vacuuming.
- Light reflects differently once the pile direction changes, and this is more noticeable on lush, high-pile carpets and rugs.
Understanding these natural carpet characteristics allows you to enjoy your new flooring with confidence. Many of these behaviours are signs of a quality, soft, and well-constructed carpet, not a problem.
For detailed care instructions and definitions of carpet characteristics, refer to our Carpet Care and Warranty Guide, which explains performance expectations and maintenance requirements to keep your carpet looking it’s best for its lifetime.