Water-redispersible polymer powders for carpet coating compositions

In a process for manufacturing carpets where a carpet coating composition is applied as a binder, the improvement comprising:

• employing a carpet coating composition based on ethylenically unsaturated monomers, and preparing the carpet coating compositions from one or more polymers based on ethylenically unsaturated monomers, in the form of water-redispersible powder(s),
• wherein the polymers comprise:
• copolymers of one or more vinyl esters with 1 to 50 wt % of ethylene;
• copolymers of vinyl acetate with 1 to 50 wt % of ethylene and 1 to 50 wt % of one or more further vinyl ester comonomers having 1 to 13 carbon atoms in the carboxylic acid moiety of the ester;
• copolymers of one or more vinyl esters, 1 to 50 wt % of ethylene, and 1 to 60 wt % of (meth)acrylic ester(s) of branched or unbranched alcohols having 1 to 15 carbon atoms;
• copolymers of 30 to 75 wt % of vinyl acetate, 1-40% ethylene, 1 to 35 wt % of vinyl laurate or vinyl ester(s) of an alpha-branched carboxylic acid having 9 to 13 carbon atoms, and 1 to 30 wt % of (meth)acrylic ester of branched or unbranched alcohols having 1 to 17 carbon atoms;
• or
• copolymers of one or more vinyl esters, 1 to 50 wt % of ethylene, and 1 to 60 wt % of vinyl chloride, optionally also comprising further vinyl esters and/or (meth)acrylic esters;
• wherein the amounts in wt % add up to 100 wt %.