or monofilament. The obvious questions is which one is the best
choice? Slit film is made exactly as the name implies. It is extruded
as a solid sheet and slit into smaller ribbons or tapes. Therefore,
slit film does a good job of immulating wider blade grass when viewed
from a distance. Slit film also has the advantage that it can be
extruded at higher output rates than monofilament; therefore, a lower
cost. The disadvantage is a slit film yarn will always be basically a
flat yarn. Most real, wider-blade grass viewed up close has a spine
that cannot be immulated with a slit film yarn. This spine also acts
as a support and provides it with rigidity. Monofilament is extruded
where each individual fiber is extruded out of an individual hole.
This allows the manufacturer to make a variety of cross sections or
shapes. This may lead to higher cost due to lower output rates;
however, it makes a yarn that is pound per pound superior to a slit
film yarn. It also makes a yarn that can be made to very closely copy
the look and feel of real grass. The best example that people can
relate to is a beam made of steel. A flat piece of steel does not have
much rigidity or stiffness when compared to steel configured as an I
beam. In our case the flat piece of steel would be a slit film yarn,
and a monofilament could be extruded with a spine similar to the
concept of an I beam. In summary, as a purchaser of artificial grass
consumers should be aware that using a monofilament yarn may be
slightly higher in initial cost. However, the resulting product can
use different monofilament cross sections to maximize the properties
that are required for their end use.
[Posted by grassestimate.com Bay Area artificial grass installer.]