Quality

The practice of differentiating quality only by the height of pile is a totally inadequate over-simplification. When you purchase artificial grass there are 6 main parameters to consider. None of these parameters alone defines a good or bad quality. As in most things, quality is a matter of achieving the perfect balance between these parameters:

1.    The blade profile is the shape of the cross-section of an individual artificial grass blade. The choice of blade profile is a very important aspect of the engineering of the product and we have gone a long way from the days of simple flat blades. Today’s structured profiles come in a number of shapes and are often signified by a letter – e.g. a ‘U’ profile blade is shaped like a U, a ‘V’ is shaped like a V and so on for ‘C’, ‘W’, ‘S’ profiles and several variations of them.

2.    The pile height is usually measured in mm and for the majority of regular landscaping products ranges between 20mm and 40mm.

3.    The stitch density is usually measured in stitches per linear metre, or stitches per square metre. Obviously, denser products can be more hard-wearing, although density is achieved not only by the number of stitches, but also by the number of yarn ends and the yarn count.

4.    The yarn count is the thickness (more precisely, the linear density) of the yarn bundle that makes up both the grass blades and the thatch. This is measured in dtex and the higher it is, the higher the resulting pile weight is.

5.    The number of yarn ends determines how many individual strands make up each tuft of artificial grass. Products with the same yarn count, but different number of yarn ends have quite different characteristics. The product with the higher number of yarn ends will have finer blades, resulting in a softer touch. Otherwise, increasing the number of yarn ends while keeping constant the thickness of the individual blades increases the yarn count and consequently the pile weight and the strength of the product.

6.    Finally, an important aspect is the actual quality and grade of the plastic polymer from which the blades are extruded.

Blade Profile

The blade profile is possibly the single most important quality characteristic of the artificial grass, affecting as it does the durability, resilience, shininess, overall feel and life expectancy of the product.

Structured blade profiles have a better shape-memory and it is easy to understand this by the analogy of a strip of paper. In its original flat shape, the strip of paper will bend if we hold it from one end, but if we fold it or curve it to a V- or U-shape, the paper strip will be able to support itself without bending.

It’s worth noting that a structured blade profile product will feel stiffer when new.  This isn’t a bad thing in a product that is expected to withstand over 10 years of repeated use. Products soon soften up with use and with warmer weather.