Interface Mill tour - 2014 edition

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Interface carpet mill and showroom in Atlanta.  For those who aren't aware, Interface is a carpet company that specializes in carpet tile.  Their claim to fame is that they are pioneers of the modular carpet industry, since the company's founding in the early 1970's.  They really invest a lot of time in researching how to create a system that can be easily installed over just about an surface.  They also pride themselves on their sustainable business practices.

Anywho, the whole trip was sponsored by Interface and included wining and dining, touring, and exploring. I was accompanied by a few other lovely ladies from different firms and our local sales reps.  We were taken on private tours of the facilities where the collected yarns and spun into fabric, where the fabric is backed and the tiles shipped, and finally where the tile is returned to the company and recycled.  We even toured their design center and saw how they create their cool and unique patterns.  It was really exciting and educational trip that I would highly recommend - for any carpet lovers or anyone who really loves "How It's Made".

Hundreds of spools of  dyed yarn

This woman is monitoring a machine used to weave the yarn fibers into the fabric

Fibers woven into the fabric.  The carpet tile before it gets the rubber backing

Melted recycled rubber bits that become the backing for the carpet tile.

Boxing up the tiles to ship them out!

Some new patterns and sizes from their spring 2014 collections

An inspirational mock-up from their design center

Interface Carpet is the Bomb

empty yarn creels

the customization area

yarn getting ready for the creels

the loom in action

Izzo Here: I'm not really choosing sides here but I was lucky enough that our great carpet reps from Interface, Melissa Tully and Lisa Conway, schmoozed me into a trip to Georgia to see their production facilities. Granted, they have cool carpets, but so do a lot of other companies.  But I really was convinced with their whole spiel.  Interface has some really cool stuff, and they really are as environmentally friendly as they say they are, the facilities they had ran like a well oiled machine, and they had great presentations on how all the cool stuff we use gets made.  No offense to the other carpet reps, but it's going to be hard to convince me to specify anyone else after this trip.  The Interface peeps know what they are doing.