At Fringes of Plymouth we’re well known within the carpet and flooring industry for our carpet whipping skills. After all, we have been doing it an awfully long time. But not many people know what is actually involved when it comes to “just binding” a piece of carpet. So let me run you through it.
Carpet whipping machine
Over the years we have had more than our fair share of carpet whipping machines. In fact, we have multiple machines that are on standby should we have any issues with our main whipping machine. We also have another whipping machine that we use for parts – it looks quite sorry for itself. Fortunately, our machines are all high quality machines that rarely ever go wrong (touch wood). But we like to be sufficiently prepared, or in this case, maybe a little over prepared.
Don’t be intimidated by the sound that comes from our whipping machine, it can be loud in our store from time to time. The carpet binding machine is running pretty much non-stop throughout the week.
We tried to work out just how many miles the machine would do per year working backwards through our binding diary. Unfortunately the numbers got all a bit crazy and we gave up. An odometer would be a great little upgrade to our carpet whipping machine, if only just to put our wondering minds to rest.
Machinist
It’s all well and good having a high quality whipping machine, but what’s that without a quality machinist. This is where we come into our own. Fringey spent years mastering the art of carpet whipping. Watching him on the machine was watching a master at work. With the carpet whipping service at full flow, it was obvious that someone would need to be on the machine full time. This was when Fringey took Josie under his wing and 25 years of machining under Fringey’s supervision has crafted her into the wizard she is today.
Not many people would dare to say it – but here I am, I think the student has surpassed the master.
Yarns
One thing you will notice when you first lay eyes on our shop, isn’t just the huge array of rugs on display. It’s our collection of yarns that take most by surprise. With literally thousands of different colour carpets on sale these days, we need to be able to match the colour of the binding to the carpet. You can’t do this with just a few yarns and hope for the best. You need to plan and prepare. Which is why for every cob of yarn that’s running low, we cut off a sample and order some more. But ordering just one at a time isn’t the most efficient way of doing it. We collect a vast range of colour samples to send off for resupply.
If you ever want to keep up to date with the most fashionable carpet colours – just ask to see our selection of yarns that we use the most of. In fact, take a look through the gallery of pictures below to see for yourself.
A quick FYI; in an extreme circumstance that we can’t colour match from stock, we can send a sample of your carpet and order the yarn required. Please note: this may incur an additional fee.
Carpet cutting equipment
Planning and preparation prevents poor performance; has there ever been a statement more to truth than this? If there is anything that would ruin the look of a freshly whipped piece of carpet, it’s poor cutting. A sharp knife, a tape measure, square edge and long straight edge makes all the difference. Over the years we’ve seen some examples of poorly cut carpets and when bound, it makes the poor cutting look all the worse for it. It’s for this reason that we provide a cutting service, to ensure the best finish overall.
So now you’ve a little more insight into what goes into “just whipping” a piece of carpet. It’s a bit more than you would expect.
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