A Complete Artificial Grass Glossary You Need to Know

Get to know these common artificial grass terms. It’ll help make your buying process even easier.

Artificial grass is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. Artificial grass is also known as different names. Such as fake turf, faux grass, synthetic lawn, plastic grass, or man-made turf. All these words have the same meaning.

Backing: The artificial grass backing consists of a single cloth or multi-layer materials. Both backings work together to have the effect of initially fixing the fibers before coating.

Coating: This is the necessary material to fix the artificial grass on the backing. Two of the most popular coating materials are SBR latex and Polyurethane(PU). SBR latex is good enough. While PU is better and more expensive.

Available backing and coating combinations:

1. PP fabric with Non-woven fabric + SBR latex
2. PP cloth x 2 + Polyurethane
3. PP fabric + PET net + SBR latex
4. PP fabric with Non-woven fabric + PET net + SBR latex

Colors: Depending on the application, the factory dyes the artificial grass in different colors. Inorganic dyes are an excellent choice considering the age of use. For the sake of beauty, a bunch of fibers can appear bicolor, tricolor, four-colors and even more.

Colorfastness is used in the dyeing of textile materials. It is a term that characterizes a material’s color’s resistance to fading or running. Instruments in professional laboratories can detect this parameter. Reference standard: blue-scale＞7, grey-scale＞4.

Density: Number of tufts per unit area. Here are steps to calculate the density when you get a sample of artificial turf.

1. Measuring gauge
   Measuring the number A of grass line spacing in 100mm.
   Grass line spacing(mm) = 100/A
   Compare the distance to the fixed gauge(5/32’’, 3/16’’, 5/16’’, 3/8’’, 5/8’’, 3/4’’, 1/2’’) to select the closest value, which is the gauge of the sample. Unit conversion: 1inch=25.4mm
2. Measuring stitch rate
3. Formula
   Density = (1000 / gauge x 25.4) x (stitch rate per meter)

Example

1. There are 10.5 spaces in 100mm. 100/10.5=9.524mm which is close to 3/8” x 25.4=9.525mm. Choose 3/8” for the gauge of this sample.

2. There are 13 stitches in 100mm.

3. Density = (1000 / 3/8” x 25.4) x (13 x 10) = 13650/m2

Denier: grams (0.035 oz) per 9 kilometers (5.6 mi) of yarn. Denier is a direct measure of linear density. The higher the denier, the thicker the yarn and the more the material is used.

Dtex: grams (0.035 oz) per 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) of yarn. Dtex is a direct measure of linear density. The higher the dtex, the thicker the yarn and the more material is used.

Durability: Durability is very important. Factors affecting durability include materials, production processes, construction, traffic, and maintenance. The extremely cheap product cannot be made from high-quality materials. Indeed you should carefully ask about manufacturing process before selecting a supplier. Is the material completely environmentally friendly? Does the production process include a straw strengthening process? What is the usage of previously sold products?

Infill: Infill is an integral part of the artificial turf system. Infill helps the grass to stay upright, avoiding compaction, providing a soft texture and a natural look. Basically, the needs of infill have become a consensus.

Face weight: Sometimes we call it pile weight. Face weight is defined as the weight of the grass pile per square yard of carpet, measured in ounces. The term refers to the weight of the fibers only, not the backing material. It should not be confused with the total weight, which is the combined weight of the pile plus the backing and coating.

Fibrillated yarn is also called slit film. Extrusion of the entire film and Longitudinal cutting uniform width and mesh. Currently people use turf with fibrillated yarn for sports, such as football, tennis, hockey, etc.

Fire resistance: A good artificial turf is flame retardant. We must use the right amount of flame retardant additives. Flame retardant additives have some effect on the aging properties of grass, so the perfect ratio is the key point. Effective infill also contributes to fire resistance properties of synthetic turf. Of course, we must try to avoid high temperatures or open flames. The grass will melt when it encounters this condition. Then you have to replace the grass partially. Anyway, consult your supplier for fire resistance testing before purchasing artificial grass. They should have done relevant tests. Different regions will have different test standards.

Gauge: The distance between two adjacent artificial grass yarns, in inch, determined by the needle spacing of the tufting machine. Usually there are 5/32”, 3/16”, 5/16”, 3/8”, 5/8”, 3/4” and 1/2”. Generally short pile, high-density turf use a small gauge, while long pile, low-density grass use large gauge.

Maintenance:
Backfill the infill materials if they are taken out of the field.
Clean the leaves, pine needles, nuts and others.
Dust and tiny substances will be washed away by the rain.
Wash manually if the drought is too long.
No motor vehicle is allowed on the turf.
Long-term pressure on the grass is forbidden.
No smoking, firing on artificial turf fields.
No shots, javelin, discus or other high-drop activities on the turf.
Sweep the surface of the snow before use.
The stains can be cleaned as described in the following table,

Monofilament yarn: In recent years, this form of yarn has occupied almost the entire market. Because of its better wear resistance and resilience compared to fibrillated yarn.

Performance infill: In order to meet a series of performance indicators of the sports field, people introduced performance infill into the artificial turf system. As a matter of fact, It’s necessary to use performance infill to achieve good shock absorption and vertical deformation. The popular choices are SBR(Styrene-Butadiene Rubber), EPDM(Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer), TPE(Thermoplastic Elastomers).

PE: Polyethylene is the most common plastic. As of 2017, over 100 million tonnes of polyethylene resins are produced annually, accounting for 34% of the total plastics market. Its primary use is in the packaging (plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes, containers including bottles, etc.). Polyethylene is a thermoplastic; however, it can become a thermoset plastic when modified (such as cross-linked polyethylene).
Polyethylene is of low strength, hardness and rigidity, but has high ductility and impact strength as well as low friction. It shows strong creep under persistent force, which can be reduced by the addition of short fibers. It feels waxy when touched.

PP: Polypropylene is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefins and is partially crystalline and non-polar. Its properties are similar to polyethylene, but it is slightly harder and more heat resistant. It is a white, mechanically rugged material and has a high chemical resistance. Polypropylene is the second-most widely produced commodity plastic (after polyethylene) and it is often used in packaging and labeling.
Polypropylene is normally tough and flexible, especially when copolymerized with ethylene.

Pile: Pile is the raised yarn of a turf, consisting of upright strands of yarn.

Pile height: It is the thickness of a turf measured from the top to its backing. We prefer to not include the thickness of the backing.

Pile recovery: The ability of the grass to recover as before after being pressed. The combination of different polymers and shapes ensures the fiber to be always upright. Nylon is the best material for recovery, but due to its high price, manufacturers are more willing to study the excellent formula based on polyethylene.

Yarn thickness: The thickness of the cross-section of the yarn. To measure the thickness of a yarn, we use a microscope with a capability of magnification in the range of 200x to 250x and measure the dimensions.

Yarn width: The width of the cross-section of the yarn. Similarly, to measure the width of yarn, we use a microscope with a capability of magnification in the range of 200x to 250x and measure the dimensions.

Roll width: the width when you open a grass roll. When we roll up the grass, it becomes the length of the roll. Option: 1m, 2m, 3.66m and 4m.

Roll length: the length when you open a grass roll. In the range of 25m-75m.

Roll diameter: In order to load the rolls into a 2.35m width container. This value should not exceed 78cm. Generally we control at 58cm or 47cm.

Seaming tape: Also known as jointing tape. It is widely used in artificial grass construction and repair situations. It requires artificial grass adhesive spread onto the tape. Additionally, nowadays self-adhesive tape is popular in landscaping area.

Shock Pad: also known as the elastic layer. It is necessary to use it in the playground. The football, soccer, baseball field with shock pad has better shock absorption and safety. Even more, it will reduce the risk of falling injuries and the amount of infill used.

Softness: Like real grass, good artificial turf fibers are not only soft to touch but also easy to stand upright. If soft fibers have no strength, you should worry about its production process, and the use of raw materials.

Stitch rate: the number of stitches in the unit length. For the convenience of measurement, we take 10 cm as the unit length. (Example 1.2) We measured the stitch rate is 13 per 10cm, which is 130 per meter. We use this value to calculate the density.

Stabilizing infill: We usually fill the grass with stabilizing infill and performance infill together. Stabilizing infill is used for artificial grass ballast. Silica sand is widely used all over the world because of the cheap price, proven environment-friendly and easy to get. But we need to pay attention to avoid the use of angular silica sand. This kind of sand will seriously wear fibers.

Thatch: Root zone of artificial grass. They all compose of curly fibers. Thatch makes the grass look more natural. Meanwhile, it provides a little shock absorption for the turf system.

U.V. stabilized: UV stands for Ultraviolet radiation which is that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is adjacent (on the short wavelength side) to visible light. The main sources of UV for artificial grass are the sun. Most plastics absorb certain wavelengths of UV and in doing so will chemically degrade. This term refers to plastics that contain an additive that will absorb certain wavelengths of UV with little degradation. They are usually added to plastics to protect whatever may be behind the grass from the effects of UV. Heavy UV exposure will cause low-quality products to degrade over time. It will also lead to breaking and splitting of the yarns, color fading, reduction in tensile strength and overall poor performance.

Water permeability: Both the horizontal and vertical directions should have hot melt holes of 10 cm spacing. Too dense will affect the strength of backing. Too sparse will reduce drainage performance. Some manufacturers use new drainage technology, but this also means higher prices. At present, the drainage technology of hot melt holes is still reliable. Because this kind of grass has a drainage value more than 2000mm/h, based on FIFA Test Method 24.

Withdrawal force: The tuft withdrawal force is only one of many criteria for a good and robust surface. This term is especially important in football artificial turf. In the FIFA standard, this value needs to be higher than 30N(Test method ISO4919).

Yarn shape: The cross-section of yarn. The extrusion technology in artificial turf yarn production allows us to develop many shapes. Each of these shapes serves a different purpose and creates a different effect. But it’s hard to say which shape is the best. As a factory, we are willing to work with you to develop special shapes.

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