Dust– which is carried on draughts can soil carpets in various ways, apart from the obvious soiled edges, at gaping skirting board for instance, dark lines appearing on surface might suggest airborne dust vacuum-drawn through poorly fitted floorboards. Sometimes the shape of the floorboards can be seen quite clearly.

Air borne dust sometimes shows itself as spots on the carpet, this is due to the air carried on a draught under the carpet escaping through minute holes both in the underlay and the carpet, leaving dust deposited on the pile much like a filter action. In such installation, the use of lining paper is essential as a preventative measure.

It is the responsibility of the retailer to advise the consumer when the carpet Is measured of any poorly fitting doors, skirtings, or floorboards and the consumer’s responsibility to ensure any remedial work to seal draughts, is carried out before the carpet is fitted, if a resulting complaint is to be avoided.