One blog last week discussed quality control & what we do to make sure we put out our best efforts with every job. Today's blog will discuss a similar topic, that will also help inform any reader of some possible unknowns about carpets & carpet binding.
This morning I had a binding project in which only one side needed binding, because the carpet was bound from the factory it was ordered from. Although the piece was already bound, the buyer wanted it to be cut down in length. Which is where DWP Carpet Binding comes into play, for obvious reasons. As I'm looking over the existing binding I was disgusted to see such poor quality work put into it. For starters, the way they ended the binding. Instead of coming to the end of an edge and running out an inch of extra material, then fastening the extra material to the back of the carpet, they cut the binding and ran stitching off in the middle of a side. What this did was make stitching across the top facing of the binding material that was not aesthetically pleasing. It looked sloppy and as if an amateur had bound the piece.
Another part that gave a sloppy appearance was the way in which the binding got stitched onto the carpet. On each binding machine there are small pieces called folders. The folders are the guides for the binding material to pass through in a consistent fashion. As the binding passes through the folder, it generally gets folded into halves or thirds (depending on what gauge & type of material you are using), then it proceeds to get stitched. Due to the variances of every carpet the amount of material that is shown on the front facing of the carpet will change. Folders on binding machines can be adjusted as needed. Moving them left or right as they sit on the machine changes the amount of material stitched on the front and back of the carpet. When the folder is not adjusted properly, as applicable per the nature of the carpet, the binding material will either leave an unnecessary flap of material on the front facing OR it will not be properly fastened by the stitches on the back of the carpet. The piece that I was working on in particular was not paid enough attention to. The front facing had additional material, a flap, that was double the size it should have been. In general the binding material should not go much past where the front facing's stitching grabs hold of. It is part of what makes binding more visually appealing, giving the effect of a crisp look.
Another area that I felt the pre-bound goods fell short on was the amount of strings that had been visible along the perimeter of the carpet. When carpet is cut often times there a stringy pieces of nylon (or whatever the carpet backing happens to made of) that come about. This is what makes trimming the perimeter of a carpet important at times. As the carpet is being bound fibers, strings, material everything passes through a narrow opening passageway. Wherever they land after passing the folder is where they get stitched. If one does not take the time to trim the edges of carpet prior to binding the piece, then they should take a minute to look over the piece after the binding is done. Any string or fiber that isn't a part of the carpet or binding should not be seen. If you do see them, it is proof that there was no quality control present when the binding was done. There was no need for the pre-bound goods to have strings hanging out in multiple areas along the perimeter. After finishing the side that I bound, I went back through each side and clipped any string that was visible past the binding.
Granted there are circumstances in which you can not get every little string that results from cutting the carpet. For instance, DWP Carpet Binding worked on a carpet base job today that was over 1,000 linear feet. Each piece of base was 4 inches high and about 20 - 22 feet in length. The backing strings from the carpet being cut was prevalent on both sides of each piece. While we do our best to make sure we trim or prevent the strings from being visible, where time and labor is concerned it would be wasteful to check every inch of the material. Instead, we worry about the edges we bind (with carpet base, you only bind one side as the other will be butted to the crease where the floor and wall meet). While the base is installed it is easy for the mechanic or installer to trim the other side as they see fit. In most circumstances any stringy material would be tucked or adhered to the back as the adhesive dries.
Let's face it, we all may try our best but even then there are mistakes made here or there, or we let things slip past us. Human error should always be considered when deciding the quality of work that is put forth. There is, however, a huge difference between something slipping past you and something being blatantly wrong or poor quality.
Despite the tendency to want to correct the pre-bound goods and bind all four sides of the area rug so that it was more aesthetically pleasing, it was not what was instructed of me by my customer, nor is what the consumer was paying for. It is disappointing to see poor quality work going out to a customer who most likely paid good money for whatever it is they ordered. In our business we come across poor quality work from the manufacturers and factories nearly on a daily basis. The best thing DWP Carpet Binding can do about it is inform our customer that they are not getting their money's worth & explain why we feel the existing binding application is wrong or of poor quality. In doing so, we are educating our customers further of the binding trade.
Yet when all is said and done, it is seeing these examples of poor quality work that allow us to hold our heads up high and to be proud of the quality work and service we offer at DWP Carpet Binding. We are not just a bunch of machines attempting to blow out as much work as possible. Each carpet, area rug, or binding job we receive has certain needs and we make sure that those needs are met or exceeded!
DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT OUR WEB-SITE & ETSY STORE:
http://dwpcarpetbinding.com/
http://www.etsy.com/people/kellygreencarpets
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