Tigressa SoftStyle Carpet from Shaw Floors

Yesterday we had an opportunity to visit the Shaw Floors campus in Dalton, GA. We were given a behind the scenes tour of the facilities and shown the process it takes to bring a carpet line from conception to market.

Shaw also introduced us to their latest product, Tigressa SoftStyle. We don't consider ourselves carpet connoisseurs and are always skeptical of new products that get slapped with fancy names or have significant marketing dollars behind it. But Shaw's approach of sharing their carpet construction from soup to nuts and being transparent about the entire process was refreshing and we couldn't help but get behind Tigressa SoftStyle, here's why.

Construction
Shaw takes great pride in their long-running history of constructing quality carpet and flooring materials. They've built a 123,000 sqft facility specifically for product testing so they don't interrupt current production.

Tigressa Carpet is comprised of extremely dense and triangular shaped fibers that have proven to show less matting, crushing and wear.

Because of their triangular shape, Shaw is able to combine more filaments (smaller than a shaft of hair) per square inch which spread out daily abuse over more individual fibers.

Chemistry
We had an opportunity to throw on the lab coats and put their patented R2X stain resistant formula to the test. As this test was fairly informal and not performed by a 3rd party it's tough to draw any real conclusions in regards to competitors products but the nylon fibers treated with R2X definitely repelled Kool-Aid and veggie oil, two of the worst types of spills imaginable.

This makes clean-up much easier and they provided some professional cleaning tips that we'll share later that should work on any brand of carpet. They do sell an R2X carpet cleaning product that we tested with a Coca-Cola stained carpet and it performed incredibly well.

Touch
Not all carpet is created equal and Shaw provided us with numerous Tigressa swatches and larger samples to walk, feel and touch. It's a truly luxurious product that doesn't seem to have traded high-touch quality for durability. Shaw plans to launch Tigressa SoftStyle in 31 color styles.

Tigers
Shaw Floors has committed to donate a portion of all Tigressa sales made between May 16 and August 20, 2010, to the National Fish and Wildlife Federation's Save the Tiger Fund (STF). STF sponsors effective efforts to stop the killing of wild tigers, enabling them to recover and flourish, and empowers local people to live in balance with natural resources, providing tangible benefits to them whenever possible.

They've also setup a sweepstakes to help spread the word of their partnership with STF and if you simply tweet "Found the perfect new carpet for my home and entered to win great prizes, including a trip to India! #tigressa" they'll also donate a dollar to STF.

We appreciated the opportunity to go behind the scenes at one of the worlds largest carpet manufacturers and suggest you check out Tigressa SoftStyle for your next carpeting project.

Starting Sunday, May 23rd you can find Tigressa SoftStyle at your local CarpetOne, FlooringAmerica and other carpet retailers.

Charles & Hudson | Comments () |

Diane Lowe

Have had my Tigressa nylon platinum 70 oz., 20-year life, plus carpet year installed throughout house only one year. No children. No pets. No spill. Traffic area looks very dirty. Folex carpet cleaner has no impact. How do I clean it?

Lyda Tavorn

It's nice to know that these carpets are the brainchild of people's hard work and dedication. Makers of this brand sure exert a lot of time and effort to provide people with the best carpet possible. What makes this company even better is that they enable their clients to support animal welfare through their purchase. I hope there are more of them around.

Julie Garcia

This looks so great. I can't wait.....

Fisherman_188

Now, my question is: I've been told that Tigressa carpet is made from Anso Nylon fibers, is that true? Also, which grade of Anso fiber is it?

CBWhittemore

Timothy,

I really enjoyed your writeup of the event and the behind the scenes perspective. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend but just finished a wrap-up post in which I refer to yours. Here is the link: http://carpetology.blogspot.co...

Best,
CB

Brad A. Welsh

Now I have something for Ricko The Rhino 15 foot tall balloon to stand on, It is sad that Shaw had to Venture to CCA Global to push this product, 90% of the consumers out their Know that Flooring America Flooring Canada Carpet One has a 40-60% margin on their products.

Shaw would have been better to push this product thru openline dealers or there Studio Line Dealers, In my opinon

DONNA

BRAD-MAYBE YOU NEED TO CHECK YOUR INFORMATION BEFORE YOU GO RUNNING YOUR MOUTH OFF ABOUT CCA GLOBAL (OBVIOUSLY THERE'S AN UNDERLYING ISSUE THERE...MAYBE YOU'RE NERVOUS ABOUT BEING CRUSHED BY THEM...) SO, UNLESS YOU ARE AN EMPLOYEE OF CCA GLOBAL, WHETHER IT BE FLOORING AMERICA, CARPET ONE, OR PROSOURCE AND KNOW FOR A FACT THAT THEIR MARGINS ARE 40-60 %-YA NEED TO SHUT UP AND STOP HATING-THEY DO NOT WORK ON MARGINS LIKE THAT, ESPECIALLY PROSOURCE WHICH IS STRICTLY WHOLESALE (IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IT, GO CHECK THEIR PRICING)...AND DON'T BLAME SHAW FOR WANTING TO PRODUCE A PRODUCT EXCLUSIVE FOR CCA-THEY KNOW WHERE TO FEATURE THEIR PRODUCTS WHERE THE EMPLOYEES TAKE PRIDE IN PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE AND CAN EDUCATE THE CONSUMER ON THE PRODUCTS THEY PURCHASES, AND AREN'T JUST WORRIED ABOUT MAKING A BUCK...

Susan S

What colors does it come in?

David Durrogh

Can't wait to feel this. Looks yummy for my feet.