1. How synthetic turf is made
Have you ever wondered how simple plastic becomes a beautiful lawn? It all starts with white plastic pellets that act as the base material, combined with green pellets containing the colours, UV stabilisers and additives.
The machinery melts the plastic and extrudes it through a perforated steel plate. The filaments come out of the plate into a water bath that solidifies the synthetic grass mixture. A machine pulls the filaments over a large pulley and keeps them apart as they move to the next station. Rollers stretch the strands until they are as thin as real grass. Spools hold the synthetic grass strands. Once a spool is full, strands of different colours are twisted together to form multi-strand synthetic yarn. Guides keep the yarn from going slack as it is wound onto a giant spool.
The mesh fabric is fused to the synthetic sheet while the synthetic yarn travels through a tube to a tufting machine. This machine is like a giant sewing machine and has more than 200 needles to hook the yarn into the sheet.
As the tufts are made, small blades cut the ends so the yarn looks like blades of grass. The backing then moves to a coating roller that picks up adhesive and applies it to the back of the turf.
The adhesive dries both outdoors and indoors. When the turf comes out of drying, hot pins punch holes in it for drainage.
After passing several inspection points, such as measuring fibre length and making small trims, the turf is placed in a device that simulates football studs to test its durability.
This full video from the popular Discovery Channel programme "How It's Made" also shows you every step of the synthetic turf manufacturing process:
2. What synthetic turf is made of
Over years of research and development, synthetic turf has been modified and transformed into what we now know as "third-generation" synthetic turf, according to the Synthetic Turf Council.
Thanks to this constant evolution, synthetic turf has become the high-quality material we know today for most landscaping installations.
The green blade of synthetic turf is made of polyethylene, a common plastic found in items such as bottles and plastic bags. Polyethylene comes as solid pellets and is heated together with the chosen colour and UV-resistant additives.
The thatch layer of synthetic turf is made of polypropylene, polyethylene or nylon. It gives the turf an extra layer of support and helps the blades spring back.
The synthetic grass blades are inserted into the backing in rows by a tufting machine, which is basically a huge sewing machine with hundreds of needles. This gives the blades and thatch a more secure hold, which also increases the turf's lifespan and durability.
3. The history of synthetic turf
What started in the 1950s as part of a solution to improve the fitness of young people in poor urban neighbourhoods grew into an entire industry dedicated to producing synthetic turf.
The Ford Foundation's Educational Facilities Laboratory, together with Monsanto Industries and Chemstrand, encouraged the use of synthetic-fibre carpets in schools. From 1962 to 1966, The Creative Group, Chemstrand's research organisation, tested synthetic turf carpet surfaces for flammability, drainage and water resistance, as well as durability under foot traffic.
The first major synthetic turf installation took place in 1964 at the Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island. The turf was called "Chemgrass".
In 1965, the Houston Astrodome urgently needed a consistent playing surface, as conditions there would not allow natural grass to grow. Rather than having the field regularly covered in green paint over dirt and patches of grass, the Astrodome's developer, Judge Hofheinz, asked Monsanto about installing Chemgrass.
The Major League Baseball team the Houston Astros began their 1966 season pitching and hitting home runs on Chemgrass, formally renamed "AstroTurf", the household name much of the United States knows today. Invented by James M. Faria and Robert T. Wright of Chemstrand, the first generation of AstroTurf featured tightly crimped nylon fibres woven into a foam backing.
On 25 July 1967, a patent for artificial turf was officially granted.
Following the success of the Astrodome, Indiana State University installed artificial turf in the first outdoor stadium in 1967.
Artificial turf became a successful surface and continued its slow but steady rise through the 1970s in sports stadiums across the United States and Canada. Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium, Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium and Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium all followed the artificial turf trend.
In the middle of the 1970s, the artificial turf industry followed the shag carpet trend and introduced "shag turf". The longer yarns were made from a softer polypropylene, much more comfortable to use than its first-generation predecessor. Sports such as field hockey benefited from this surface, but football was sidelined because of how the ball behaved on it.
By the mid-1990s, third-generation artificial turf featured a much softer polyethylene fibre. This is the turf you'll find today in any residential, commercial or sports setting. Third-generation synthetic turf also has longer, more widely spaced fibres, as well as a "thatch" or dead-grass yarn between the grass blades and the backing. For ideal shape, function and stability, infill is spread across the turf for extra comfort while providing proper footing.
4. How artificial grass became famous
Artificial grass caught America's attention after AstroTurf installed the first generation of synthetic grass on the Houston Astrodome's baseball field in 1966. This installation set a precedent for many sports fields across America that would otherwise be unable to maintain natural grass.
Through peaks and troughs of media scrutiny and many product changes, second- and third-generation artificial turf became a staple for FIFA at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. As well as taking root on American homeowners' lawns, synthetic grass has since replaced Hollywood's famous red carpet several times, including at the Teen Choice Awards, the Latin Grammys and other big Hollywood parties, to promote a "go green" lifestyle everywhere.
Denier: what it means and why it matters
By definition, the denier of a turf measures the density of its fibres. According to Merriam-Webster, denier is a unit of fineness for yarn equal to the fineness of a yarn weighing one gram for each 9,000 metres.
Face weight: what it is and what it means
Face weight is determined by the weight of the product's fibres and does not include the weight of the backing. Face weight can sometimes determine how much a product is worth, depending on the quantity. It is most commonly assumed that the heavier the face weight, the more the product will cost.
Drainage rate: why it matters and how it helps
Drainage systems are mainly designed to let water seep through the turf backing and drain through the base layer into the water table. Most synthetic turf backings are perforated with holes about ½ centimetre in diameter and can drain at a rate of more than 30 inches per hour per square yard.
Apart from most synthetic putting greens, almost all landscape turf is perforated for easy drainage. A good drainage system not only helps with cleaning but also helps prevent spores and bacteria from building up in the synthetic turf.