SportsLawn Jargon

Listed below are a number of terms and phrases that can be used to describe items and principles associated with Sportslawn:

Abrasive fibre: A harsh fibre that is likely to cause damage to the skin during tackle sports and falls.

Adhesive: Glue used in the installation of artificial surfaces. Please contact us for advice on appropriate types.

Aspect: The name of a soft polyethylene, multifaceted yarn exclusively available to TigerTurf.

Backing Cloth: Material that the yarn is tufted onto. (Also referred to as primary backing.)

Bobbin: Name for a roll of yarn.

Creel: Name for the collection of bobbins that feeds through to the tufting machine.

Bonasoft: A brand name for polyethylene yarn supplied by Bonar Yarns.

Butadiene: A gaseous hydrocarbon used in the manufacture of our synthetic rubber backing.

Decitex: The measurement of yarn. The weight in grams of 10,000 metres of yarn.

Dtex: Abbreviation of Decitex

Defibrillate: The brushing of fibrillated yarn in a carpet in order to split the tape into separate strands. Note, excessive brushing WILL wear out the fibre.

Fibrillated Yarn: When the tape used in making the yarn is given a perforation pattern, lengthways, at regular intervals, creating a strong lattice structure.

Fieldturf: Brand name, and company which developed long pile football products.

Fire Retardant Yarn: Yarn with extra additives to increase the fire retardancy of the yarn.

Granulated Rubber: Small grains of rubber used as infill in some long pile football carpets.

Green side up: Slang for low cost sand filled artificial grass.

Infill: Sand, or sand and rubber inserted into the carpet after installation to help performance and stability.

Inlaid Lines: Pitch markings that are 'cut in' during installation (e.g. goal marking, or any other lines that cannot be tufted vertically into the carpet during manufacture.)

K-de-K: Abbreviation of Knit-de-Knit.

Knit-de-Knit: A yarn finish. After initial production, the yarn is then knitted into socks; heat set, unravelled and wound onto bobbins. This process gives the finished yarn a curly appearance. The purpose of Knit-de-Knit yarn is to relieve the effect of pile direction in the grass surface, thus making a surface non-directional.

Latex: The strong rubber compound applied to the back of TigerTurf products in order to lock tufts in place and create greater strength and durability.

LSR: Low slide resistance. A brand name of a Thiolon polyethylene yarn.

Machine Gauge: The distance between the needles on the tufter. This measurement is given in inches, for example machine gauges of 5/16", 3/8" 3/4", etc. The closer the needles are together, the denser the carpet produced.

Maintenance: The general up keep and care of your artificial surface. For individual maintenance guides, please see the 'products' section. For approved maintenance companies, please see the 'Approved Partners' section.

Macro-curl/ Micro-curl: The amount of curl knitted into a K-d-Kyarn.Micro-curl has more curl knitted into the yarn and therefore itis tighter when compared with Macro-curl, which is more open.

Monofilament Yarn: Individually created tapes (not split from an extruded film), which are twisted together to form the yarn strand.

Nylon Yarn: Polyamid (PA) yarn traditionally used in artificial grass manufacture. It is hard wearing and durable, but extremely abrasive.

PE: Abbreviation of Polyethylene.

Pile: The yarn that stands up from the backing.

Polyamide: A polymer coating used to strengthen certain TigerTurf backing materials.

Polyester: The synthetic fibre used in certain TigerTurf backing materials

Polyethylene: Soft, waxy, non-abrasive and durable yarn used in the production of certain TigerTurf products.

Polypropylene: Strong, economical, conventional yarn used in the production of certain TigerTurf products.

PP: Abbreviation of Polypropylene.

Rubber Granules: Small grains of rubber used as infill in some long pile football carpets.

Primary Backing: Material fed through the tufter that the yarn is stitched onto. (Also referred to as backing cloth.)
Sand infill Specialist sand inserted into the carpet after installation to help performance and stability (See relevant product spec sheet for ).

S and Z twist: A type of yarn construction. When the strands that create the yarn are wound onto the bobbin in two separate directions, thus making the carpet non-directional.

Seaming Plan: The plan created by the Tiger Projects Team used by installers to determine were each carpet roll should be laid.

Seams: The areas on a pitch where the carpet rolls are joined together. Seams can be glued or sewn, dependant on the product. Please see appropriate installation guide in the 'Product' section for advice.

Secondary Backing: The latex compound applied to the back of TigerTurf products in order to lock tufts in place and create greater strength and durability.

Shockpad: Name given to the rubber 'underlay' installed under certain TigerTurf products.

Siliceous Sand: Specialist sand inserted into the carpet after installation to help performance and stability.

Split Film Monofil Yarn: Tapes created by splitting extruded film. The tapes are then twisted together to form the yarn strand.

Stabilised Sub Base: Term given to describe the compacted, stone construction underneath a shockpad and/or carpet.

Stitches: The yarn sewn through the back of the carpet that creates the tuft.

Styrene: A colourless oily liquid used in the manufacture of our synthetic rubber backing.

Sub Base: Term given to describe the compacted, stone construction underneath a shockpad and/or carpet.

Superbond: Brand name used to describe the latex used in the backing of TigerTurf carpet.

Tape: Term used to describe the strips of material used to create the yarn.

Texturised Yarn: The term given to yarn which has acrimp in it. This crimp is made by texturing the yarn in a special machine, using heat, rather than knitting the yarn. The finished product has a different appearance when compared with products made from K-d-K yarns.

Third Generation: Reference to the long pile football product introduced by Fieldturf in the late 90's.

Tuft: The term given to describe the two strands of yarn from one stitch in the backing cloth.

Tufted: Term given to the method of carpet production where the yarn is stitched through a backing cloth and cut in order to create a tuft, as apposed to being woven.

Tufter: Name given to describe the machine used to create TigerTurf. Often also used to describe the TigerTurf employee operating the machine!

UV stable/UV: resistant Resists fading and weakening in strong sunlight.