Everything about artificial grass

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Evolution

History

Manufacturing

Advantages

FAQ

The production technology of artificial grass has evolved enormously, this ensures that artificial grass can be used in a variety of situations.

Artificial grass sands

To ensure that the appearance of artificial grass remains as realistic as possible, it is important that the artificial grass fibres stand up nicely.

The first generations of artificial grass were the typical green mats that did not give the appearance of natural grass.

To achieve this look, artificial grass was produced with longer fibres. The disadvantage of this is that these do not simply stay upright. To give support to the fibre, the grass is sanded in.

The sanding allows the grass carpet to be used much more intensively. For sports applications, the grass is almost always sanded in. Sand provides extra weight to the mat to prevent it from shifting, supports the fibres and ensures good weather bounce for ball sports. Alternatively, rubber granules can be used as infill.

Unfilled artificial grass products

In 2008, a solution was sought to still offer high-pile artificial grass, but without the use of infill sand.

The solution was to incorporate a crimped fibre in the artificial grass mat. Adding this fibre to the high-pile fibre gives a full and attractive artificial grass. Here, the crimped fibre supports the straight fibre.

By omitting the sand infill, this broadens the applications in which artificial grass can be used:

• in a garden
• on a balcony or roof terrace
• for smaller areas
• for indoor applications
• in a showroom
• at a trade fair
• temporary applications (if the artificial grass has to be moved)

Artificial grass fibres

There are three types of polymers used to produce artificial grass fibres: polypropylene, polyethylene and polyamide.

At the inception of artificial grass, only polypropylene was used. Today, this plastic is still used but it is of slightly lower quality and found in cheaper types of artificial grass.

Polyethylene and polyamide are commonly used for fibres found in artificial grass for residential applications. Polyamide is a type of nylon that, through exposure to weather and wind, absorbs moisture. This makes it more voluminous and thus pushes the main fibre straight as a crimped fibre.

Artificial grass originated in the 1960s as an alternative to natural grass on sports fields. Since the very beginning, artificial grass has constantly evolved, creating a skin-friendly product in the 1980s.

The first artificial grass applications date from 1964-1968 and were marketed under the brand name Astroturf. At the famous Astrodome Baseball Stadium in Texas (USA), natural grass was replaced by a synthetic artificial turf pitch called Astroturf.

In this initial phase, artificial turf was mainly used on hockey and tennis pitches and later on football pitches. Football pitches involve high-pile artificial grass. To keep these long fibres nice and straight and to meet certain sporting requirements, artificial grass is filled with sand and/or rubber granules.

In the 1990s in America, they came up with the idea of using artificial grass for landscape applications as well. In the year 2000, artificial grass was introduced as a landscape application in Europe. This artificial grass features beautiful, soft, high-pile fibres.

Since 2008, there have also been unfilled systems. These are thus high-pile fibres, but as an extra, crimped fibres are added for support so that the grass stands nicely upright. And infilling is therefore no longer necessary. The pioneer in the development of such systems is the company Namgrass artificial grass.

In short, it is a common misconception to confuse the latest generation of artificial grass with the bright green peat carpet that is sometimes found in garden centres or building

Namgrass has the total quality, production and distribution process in its own hands. And thus guarantees a 100% Belgian product.

The production technology of artificial grass has evolved enormously, ensuring that artificial grass can be used in a variety of situations.

Plastic pellets as raw material

The base of artificial grass consists of plastic granules, made of polypropylene, polyethylene or polyamide.

• Each type has its own characteristics and qualities.
• Polyethylene is the most common polymer found in artificial grass for residential applications.

UV stabilisers are added to these plastic granules to resist intense sunlight.

This mixture, the plastic granules and the UV stabilisers, are heated and pressed through a nozzle under pressure. After spraying the artificial grass fibres, a process follows to strengthen the blades of grass. They are made resistant to considerable tensile force and temperature fluctuations between -50 Cº and +50 Cº.

Spraying the fibres

Depending on the shape of the nozzle, there are two types of artificial grass fibres, namely fibrillated yarns and monofilaments.

Fibrillated yarn is characterised by a honeycomb structure. It is a cheaper variant and is mainly used for sports and play applications.

Monofilament yarns emulate a natural look and are often bundled into one grass pile.

Winding the fibres

The artificial grass yarns/artificial grass fibres are then wound onto large bobbins, spools.

The spools are put on a machine that tufts the yarn into loops on a parent fabric over a width of 4 metres. These are then cut off at a certain length so that we get all the appearance of a turf. To avoid any production errors, this is immediately checked and corrected by hand.

Anchoring the fibres

In order for the grass fibres to be firmly attached, they are anchored to the carpet backing by a thick liquid latex layer. In an 80-metre-long oven, the latex cures and the straightness or rustiness of the artificial grass fibre is determined. This affects the look and feel of the turf. This treatment also makes the artificial grass carpet resistant to various weather conditions.

Hardening and perforating the mats

Once the artificial grass comes out of the kiln and the latex has hardened, the mat is perforated so that it is sufficiently permeable to water.

Cutting the mats

The grass comes out of the machine as 1 long carpet, which is cut at a width of 4 metres at 25.5 metres per roll and can also be halved at 2 metres width.

• Minimal maintenance and therefore cost- and time-saving.
• No more mowing, fertilising, watering... no more weeding.
• Space-saving: no storing machinery and equipment.
• Water-saving: no more watering.
• Much less trouble from pests.
• Always fresh green, even in shady places, after severe temperature fluctuations,...
• Not dependent on climate/season.
• Grass in places where natural grass hardly grows.
• Always clean, ideal for children playing and animals bringing dirt into the house, pool.
• Durable: long lifespan, minimal wear and tear.
• No more suffering from allergies such as hay fever.
• Easy to remove for reuse (in case of temporary solution).
• Always well-groomed, beautiful green lawn, free from drought and mud patches.
• No groundwater pollution from fertilisers and pesticides, no water wastage.
• Recyclable: numerous Namgrass artificial grass products are recyclable.
• Cheaper than natural grass in the long run.
• Added value for your property.