{"id":10316,"date":"2017-11-30T10:35:36","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T15:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/textiles.ncsu.edu\/news\/?p=10316"},"modified":"2017-11-30T10:35:36","modified_gmt":"2017-11-30T15:35:36","slug":"the-carpet-conundrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/textiles.ncsu.edu\/news\/2017\/11\/the-carpet-conundrum\/","title":{"rendered":"The Carpet Conundrum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Written by Cameron Walker<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A turquoise carpet became Alex Djuric\u2019s white whale. Eight years ago, he and his wife, Cristine, inherited his father-in-law\u2019s 1967 Mercedes-Benz 250SL convertible. He worked to restore it to mint condition and was able to repair or replace every part of the classic car except one; although he chased down every lead, he could not find a match for the vehicle\u2019s unusual blue carpeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI talked to people in Germany, in China, in India and in Australia — you name it,\u201d he said. \u201cAll over the world, I could not find the carpet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Djuric, out of the nearly 50,000 Mercedes made between 1963 and 1971, only 36 of them had his vehicle\u2019s color combination — a light beige exterior and blue-green interior — so it was important to him that he get that detail correct. From the vehicle\u2019s data card, he determined the carpet was a wool German square weave in color code 6218, or turquoise. He contacted more than 30 vendors in search of the carpet but had no luck. Eventually, a supplier told him that all of the remaining carpet had been stored on the floor of a German warehouse near a riverbank; unfortunately, after a period of heavy rains, floodwaters breached the warehouse and the carpet was destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Djuric was disappointed, but determined to find his match — so he switched tactics. He retrieved a small patch of nearly mint condition carpet from underneath the seat frame and set about trying to find a supplier who could dye a roll of white woolen carpet to the shade he needed. But again, his search was fruitless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI spent thousands of dollars getting samples from (various suppliers) and they couldn’t do it,\u201d he said. \u201cI had one car restorer tell me it would be $10,000 to make the carpet and there were no guarantees it would be an exact match. So I thought, \u2018I have to get smart.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He sought the advice of a carpet dye manufacturer, who suggested he contact Dr. Renzo Shamey at the Wilson College of Textiles. Shamey recommended Djuric reach out to Jeffrey Krauss<\/a>, Pilot Laboratory<\/a> manager for the Zeis Textiles Extension<\/a> (ZTE), which offers prototyping and pilot production through its five laboratories at the College. Djuric was running out of comparison carpet, but he sent in a small sample — about the size of a postage stamp — and Krauss set to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople have ideas that they want to bring to fruition, so we start with small samples and we try to figure out ways to take an idea — whether it be with materials or chemicals — and see if we can create something that is workable,\u201d said Krauss. \u201cIn this case, we were looking for a particular color, a turquoise…and this was our target — this little remnant of a piece of carpet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Djuric allowed himself a little hope, which was bolstered as Krauss sent him samples of the dye match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n