What About Shag and Cable Carpets?

I promised in Pray Tell: What is a Frieze Carpet? to tell you more about Shag and Cable carpets.

To recap, all three are part of the 'Twists" subcategory of textured carpet. They are sometimes also referred to as casual textures.

Let me share with you what I discovered about shags and cables!

First - shag.

Did you know that shag refers to specific swing dances like the collegiate shag, the Carolina shag and the St. Louis shag?

There's also the 1989 movie called Shag. And a bird related to the cormorant.

There's the artist called Shag [Josh Agle].

There's of course the term made famous by Austin Powers.

But, I found that shag or rolling tobacco reminds me most of shag relating to fabric and carpet. I wonder whether perhaps that isn't the origin of the carpet style.

In any case, shags and cables are both textured types of carpet [as opposed to loops]. On the Wear-Dated website - styles and types of carpet we describe shag carpet as follows:

Bolder and more stylish than what you remember, the new shags often combine a variety of yarn thicknesses and textures to make a trendy and bold design statement in your home.

[Photo of Tuftex's Super Chic here and above.]
That to me is what makes the shag carpets available today so much more luxurious and fashionable - and fun! - that what I remember as a kid.

Check out these links with additional photos of shag carpets. The second describes the yarns in a shag as "slightly twisted, with much less twist than the frieze. The individual yarn strands are longer and spaced further apart as opposed to the Saxony, Textured and Frieze Cut Pile Styles. The shag gives a "grass type look" because the strands lie in different directions."

[These shags remind me of a favorite choker necklace made up of many different strands of totally differently shaped and sized pearls - very small regular shapes, large regular, small and large irregular. Preposterous, but wonderfully tactile, showy and fun!]

The Shag Carpet Company has some more unusual images of shag carpet with fabulous combinations of colors.

[Image of Horizon's Melrose Place.]

Now, even though Shag Carpet - Groovy Events & Decor describes a certain nostalgic association for shag, the new shags capture exciting textures and luxurious fashions.

The most wonderfully extreme shag is Tuftex's My My My or Super Chic [pictured above].

Next: cable.

Cable carpet [according to the Wear-Dated page above] is characterized by fat, nubby yarns that lend a touch of luxury to a casual setting.

The World Floor Covering Association offers the following description for cable carpet:

[Image of Horizon's Flamboyant also described in The Latest in Carpet Style Trends.]

A style of carpet constructed of thicker, typically longer yarn that is better suited for rooms without a lot of activity. It can matte and crush with heavy foot traffic so it is not recommended for stairs, hallways and other busy areas in your home.

Some of the examples I have pictured here include Horizon's Melrose Place and Flamboyant [also described in The Latest in Carpet Style Trends].

In researching cable carpet, I did come across some unexpected interpretations. This certainly Gives new meaning to Cable Carpet and then there's Cable Carpet Helps You Hide the Evidence of Your Geekyness. I admire the practicality of these two cable carpets, though. Don't you?

However, I truly prefer the stylishness of real deal cable carpet, and hope that the shag and cable carpet styles I've described above inspire you to have fun with carpet!

Important Care Information: Please note that in caring for Shag and Cable carpets [we will address this in more detail in a separate post], neither shags nor cables - particularly very long - like vacuums with beater bars.

Much better to use a suction only vacuum cleaner with no beater bar to prevent the carpet from wrapping around the beater bar – which can create fuzzing.

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