Non-directional, synthetic, outdoor carpet

A process of making a non-directional, synthetic, grass carpet, comprising the steps of

• (a) knitting a yarn composed of 1 to 3 plies of green, fibrillated, continuous, flat polypropylene ribbon into a deknittable fabric using a stitch selected from the group consisting of flat jersey, purl, and loopstitch, said ribbon having a denier of at least 100 but being no greater than about 3/4 inch wide, said yarn having a total denier of about 600 to 9000, and said knitting being performed using knitting needles that are set a fixed distance apart, in the range of about 1/4 inch to about 3/4 inch, and at a depth in the range of about 1/4 inch to about 1/2 inch;
• (b) heating the fabric to a temperature at which the curves and bends generated in the yarn by its knitted configuration are established in the yarn's memory, said temperature being in the range of about 260.degree. to 280.degree. F. and said heating being accomplished by a procedure involving first subjecting the fabric to a vacuum of about 23 to 26 inches of mercury, then repeatedly subjecting the fabric to pressurized steam, followed by releasing the steam pressure and allowing the temperature of the fabric to drop about 20 to 50 degrees (F.),
• (c) cooling the fabric to room temperature,
• (d) deknitting the cooled fabric and rewinding the yarn under enough tension to restraighten it,
• (e) tufting the yarn as facing yarn into a primary carpet backing made of polypropylene, forming a cut pile carpet having a pile height greater than the between-needles distance used in step (a) above, said pile height being within the range of about 3/8 to 7/8 inch, and having a face density of at least about 10 ounces per square yard,
• (f) gluing a secondary carpet backing, also made of polypropylene, to the primary carpet backing using a heat-settable, latex adhesive, and
• (g) heating the carpet to a temperature in the range of about 245.degree. to 280.degree. F. to set the adhesive and to cause the facing yarn to reconform to the bends and twists in its memory, yielding an outdoor carpet in which the facing yarns are curved and bent in all different directions, giving the carpet a non-directional texture.