Fig. 3
SECTION OF FIVE-FRAME BRUSSELS CARPET
A A, Chain; B, Pile warp; C, Stuffer warp
Best Brussels has been taken as an example in describing the process of manufacture, but a good many other qualities are, or at least have been, made. Best is 256 pitch, beaten up 9 to the inch, but extra qualities are made up to 11 per inch, which gives an excellently close and even surface. Finer than this in pitch or beat-up it has not been found practicable to go. Lower qualities are made in 236 and 214 pitch, and even down to 180, with beat-ups running down to 6½ or 6 per inch, and a framage of three or two. In the coarsest qualities, however, there is always the tendency to “grin,” that is, for the weft and body of the carpet to be exposed between the loops of the pile, unless the coarseness is compensated by the employment of a thicker pile yarn or a higher wire. This is, in fact, the case with a class of Brussels that has been manufactured extensively by some makers in recent years, where the yarn is spun from low wool or cow-hair, and is a good deal heavier than the ordinary Brussels worsted counts. This fabric is almost entirely confined to plains and stripes, though occasionally two frames are used, and a simple pattern effect produced. It is a good wearing carpet, and suitable for offices and modest purses.
Fig. 4
SECTION OF THREE-FRAME BRUSSELS CARPET
A, Chain; B, Pile warp; C, Stutter warp; E, Weft
The fact is, however, that the demand for all qualities of Brussels carpeting has fallen off steadily during the past few years; and the reasons for this are strong and would seem likely to be permanent. Brussels has suffered from the competition of Axminster on the one hand, and Tapestry on the other. Brussels is, unfortunately, an uneconomic fabric in its manufacture, inasmuch as, in a five-frame for instance, for every length of worsted that appears on the surface, four times as much is hidden in the body of the fabric, and, except in so far as it acts as filling, is wasted. A Tapestry carpet, as will be explained later, avoids this waste, and can therefore be produced with an equally good surface as Brussels, and at a lower cost. We ignore for the moment the characteristic defect of Tapestry carpets.
The cheaper Axminster, again, and to some extent the cheaper Chenille Axminster as well, have largely superseded Brussels, owing to the fact that they can be sold at almost the same price, while offering a more luxurious effect with their cut pile surface and their larger range of colours.
There are some dealers, moreover, who aver that the manufacturers of the cheaper qualities of Brussels have themselves to blame for the decreased demand, because these qualities were not satisfactory in wear, and in particular were liable to “sprout.” Sprouting is the tendency of the loops in the pile of a Brussels carpet to be pulled out through such external agencies as a chair leg, a boot nail, a rubber heel, or the claw of a dog or cat; though, indeed, complaints seem often to have been framed as if on the assumption that sprouting was a natural property of the carpet similar to that of its vegetable namesake. Still, the maker has had to admit that cheaper qualities are more liable to the disease than better ones, and perhaps his best retort has been that he was long borne down in price and pressed to make cheaper qualities, and that those who demand them must not complain too much if they do not get all they expect.
Still, when all is said, with all its limitations, a good Brussels is an excellent carpet. It has a clean surface which does not harbour dust, and if the same can also be said of the Ingrain carpet, Brussels has the extra resiliency afforded by the looped pile. If its colours are few, they are enough to give thousands of effective variations, suitable for almost any kind of design; and the comparative closeness of its pitch makes its patterns neat and adaptable. A well-made Brussels carpet will wear many years.