Artificial turf is becoming increasingly popular as the technology to make it advances. These days, it doesn't look or feel too far off from the real thing. Plus, according to Bob Vila, artificial turf can easily last 20 years or longer, making it much more manageable and long-lasting than real grass. If you're curious about how an artificial turf surface is made, keep reading.

Create Strands

The key to high-quality synthetic grass is the blades. When the grass blades are well-made, the rest of the turf comes together. They are made of white plastic pellets combined with green ones that are melted together along with other chemicals and stabilizers. Once they're heated and malleable, they are pushed through holes in a steel plate that form grassy-green strands. These strands are immediately dropped into water, to cool and solidify.

Machinery combs through the strands as they move to the next station to ensure they don't tangle. They are then pulled and stretched thin to imitate the same thickness as real grass. Lastly, the strands are put onto spools in order to move to the next step.

Braid Into Yarn

Once several spools are available, artificial turf manufacturers place a few of them on a machine that will then braid these strands together. This creates a synthetic yarn. By combining strands into yarn, you get the effect of real grass fibers and layers.

Sew the Yarn Into the Mat

Other than the blades themselves, they also need to make a mat that the synthetic grass goes on top of. This is done by combining mesh fabric with a synthetic sheet. The sheet is the solid base, and the synthetic yarn is woven into both the mesh and the sheet to secure them together. On the bottom of the mat, you'll see stitches, but on the other is the artificial grass. The yarn is pushed through the other side of the mat and clipped to mimic real grass blades.

Final Steps

Now that the plastic grass has been combined with the mat, it goes through quality assurance to ensure there aren't pieces sticking out. After that, it goes through a final sealing process so everything is secured together. Then you have your artificial turf surface!

If you want to learn more about synthetic grass, or need an installation of your own, give Turf Team USA a call. Whether you need turf for a front yard or an athletic field, we have options to choose from. We're here to help!