Prototype. Chapter text drafted from the research notes and not yet checked at the archives. Images awaiting permission are marked.

DuPont introduces bulked continuous filament (BCF) nylon for carpet

Event · not yet checked at the source

Date: 1958
Themes: Nylon & synthetic fibers (DuPont), Machine tufting & Dalton

View at the source Cited in chapter 6, note 17

Cite this source

“DuPont introduces bulked continuous filament (BCF) nylon for carpet,” 1958. georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/carpet-industry.

Research notes

Sources disagree on the date: the New Georgia Encyclopedia says 1957; Material Intelligence says 1959. BCF made tufted nylon carpet resilient and cheap. Confirm against Hagley's Textile Fibers records. Update 2026-10-28 (Claude in Chrome): DuPont's own commemorative booklet "Nylon: The First 25 Years" (Textile Fibers Department, 1963; Hagley 1984259_121412_004, https://digital.hagley.org/1984259_121412_004) gives 1958 in its chronology: "A special bulked continuous filament nylon yarn was developed for carpeting; it soon revolutionized the market for rugs and carpeting by [introducing] nylon filament in loop pile construction" (read from Hagley's OCR, which is garbled; check the page image, image 2). The database's "501" record also gives 1958. Dated 1958 on Tim's review (Oct 2026), following DuPont's own chronology; the secondary sources' 1957 and 1959 are noted above. Still to do: quote the entry from the page image rather than the OCR.