Artificial grass: a man-made material designed to look like natural grass.
All-weather training: one of the key advantages of artificial grass used in a sporting environment is the ability to use the surface in most weather conditions.
Artificial turf: another term for artificial grass.
AstroTurf: is a brand of artificial turf. Though the term is a registered trademark, it is sometimes used as a generic description of any kind of artificial turf. The original AstroTurf product was a short pile synthetic turf while the current products incorporate modern features such as antimicrobial protection, rubber infill, backing systems, and nylon yarn fibers.
Base: used to refer to the ground immediately below the artificial grass. Typically the base is compacted sand and grit. Our artificial grass installation guides give more details.
Colorfast: the artificial grass color should be stable and not fade or alter over the life of the grass.
Collector board: feeds the yarn down to the needles which tuft the artificial grass yarn into a polypropylene backing.
Colors: there is increasingly a wider range of colors of artificial grass. Apart from green artificial grass we also manufacture white artificial grass (used in Christmas displays, Santa’s Grottos) and blue artificial grass (popular for promotional and corporate events). As a manufacturer, we can also other colors depending on customer requirements.
Creel: a highly specialized term used in our artificial grass factory – the creel holds the bobbins of yarn.
Critical Fall Height: a term relating to the fall height below which a life-threatening injury would not be expected.
Dtex: a manufacturing term relating to yarn measurement; an abbreviation of Decitex, it is the unit of the linear density of continuous yarn – equal to 0.90 of a denier or 0.10 of a tex.
Directional pile: when laying artificial grass you need to check to see if there is a directional pile within the yarn. Very much like matching patterns when pasting wallpaper, this is a simple and easy check to do.
Drainage: it is important that surface water can drain through the artificial grass and disperse through the base material. The tufting production line has specialized equipment for the perforation of drainage holes in the artificial grass.
Durability: the potential for artificial grass fibers to stretch not tear. Helps maintain optimum condition.
Fibrillation/Fibrillated: this term refers to how the fibers with artificial grass are split into “leaves” or “stalks”. The pattern of the fibrillation is important to hold down any infill used.
Fake grass: another term for artificial grass.
Faux grass: another term for fake grass.
Fire resistance: artificial grass should be tested to ensure that it is fire retardant.
Hours of play: a term used when evaluating the benefits of artificial grass on a sports pitch as opposed to natural grass. For instance, artificial grass used in a heavy-duty sports stadium might be rated at 1,500 hours over 6 years. This compares to say 300 hours of playing life from a natural grass pitch in one year. However, the life of artificial grass is dependent on usage and maintenance.
Infill: generally refers to sand and/or rubber mixes.
Installation: one of the key parts to a successful artificial grass is the choices made at the installation stage. Generally speaking, it includes base preparation and artificial turf installation, infilling.
Maintenance: one of the key lifestyle benefits of artificial grass is the low maintenance needed to maintain the grass. Typically brushing and rejuvenation are all that is needed but this must be done on a regular basis.
Membrane: a membrane can be installed between the artificial grass and the base to help prevent any weed growth. It can also sometimes advisable to install a similar porous membrane underneath the base. Always discuss any questions of this nature with your chosen installer.
Monofilament: strand of untwisted fiber.
Monofilament yarn: monofilaments twisted together, giving a yarn strand.
Multi-toned: some types of artificial grass offer different shades of color to provide different effects.
Pile: the carpet of yarn on top of the backing.
Pile recovery: how quickly the pile will recover from being compressed. Important for artificial grass used as a sports surface.
Plastic grass: another term for artificial grass. Plastic grass was once a popular reference term in connection with football – ie. ‘plastic football pitches’. Today artificial football pitches are more commonly referred to as having ‘artificial grass’ or ‘artificial turf’.
Porosity: the artificial grass needs to allow rainwater to sink through to the base.
Sand dressed pitch: used in sports applications. The artificial grass used is often with a short pile and high density. The infill cannot readily be seen.
Sand-filled pitch: again a sports term, the sand infill reaches to the top of the fibers producing a hard and rough surface.
Seams: when installing artificial grass you will usually need to join different rolls together. Using seaming tape and glue gives a secure seam or join.
Shock Pad: for some installations, a shock-absorbent underlay is used. Children’s play areas and schools will typically use a shock pad underneath the artificial grass. The thickness of the shock pad will determine the CFH (Critical Fall Height) and be a key influence for any risk assessment.
Softness: the thickness of the fibers is usually a good indication of how soft the artificial grass will be. Ideally, the fibers will form a soft pile that will remain upright.
Stitches per 10cm: another manufacturing term; the number of stitches per 10cm dictates the grass carpet pile weight.
Synthetic grass: another term for artificial grass.
Synthetic turf: another term for artificial grass.
Tear resistance: a term used to denote the strength of the fabric especially when used in a sports environment.
Unfilled pitch: this is where the pile within artificial grass is unfilled. Used in sports applications.
U.V. stabilized: this means that ultraviolet light should not degrade the color of the artificial grass. As a manufacturer of artificial grass, we test our products to ISO standards for UV resistance.
Yarn: specialist yarn made of polyethylene and polypropylene is used for artificial grass manufacture – we use only top quality from the world’s leading, specialist supplier.
Yarn height: a manufacturing term; yarn height is equivalent to the pile height plus the stitch through the backing.
Yarn sheet: another manufacturing term, this is what you see when looking at the many strands is yarn passing down through bars to the needles for the tufting process.