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Artificial Grass Terminology

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In a simple and easy to understand term, the density of artificial grass tells you how much materials used in the products: the higher the density, the more of materials used, therefore, the more expensive of the turf. The density of artificial grass often reflected of the product specification as “face weight”, in another word, you might not find the term of density on an artificial grass specification sheet, but you will find the face weight on it: it is generally true that the higher of the face weight the higher of the artificial grass density. We design and manufacture our artificial grass products ranging from 40 oz to 92 oz on the face weight, such wide selections provide our customers a huge spectrum of product combinations for different applications purpose: Global Syn-Turf has the largest product selections and inventories in the industry. Should you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us via phone, email or this online form:


Face weight is a technical specification term from carpet industry. Since artificial grass was invented by carpet industry and the constructions of turf is almost identical as carpet, many of the carpet spec terms are now being used for artificial grass products. There are four main components of artificial grass: straight fibers, thatching, primary backing and secondary backing. To make artificial grass a "grass", most people see only the fibers and thatching: again, this is very similar to the carpet, most of us see the surface of it, knowing how it looks and how it feels. Such visual part are also the main spec of artificial grass. The face weight of artificial grass is referring to the weight of straight fiber and the thatch per square yard. Straight fibers and thatch fibers are tufted onto the primary backing, so if we pull out all these fibers from an areas of one square yard and weight them, the result will be the face weight for that particular turf product. Very obviously, the heavier the face weight, the more of materials used, therefore the more expensive the product.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions or concerns via phone, email or this online form:


The artificial grass consists of four major components: Straight finer blades, thatching, primary backing and secondary backing. When people are referring to backings, normally the combination of primary an secondary backing. Primary backing of artificial grass from Global Syn-Turf are two layers of polypropylene cloth as a standard, such backings not only provide solid base for grass constructions, but also help with the steadiness of our turf: to minimize the expansions and contractions when temperatures change, therefore, technically the thicker the primary backing is better. The secondary backing on the other hand can be a bit different, it is a glue layer to hold all the fibers together, so it is not necessarily all true the thicker the glue is the better. Here is why: the secondary backing is all about its functionality, we need to make sure the glue will sink through the primary backing to ensure the glue’s sticking and holding strength, our unique coating techniques can make sure process happen without wasting much of glue which meaninglessly increase the cost. 

By all above said, the weight of backing is more of technical specification of artificial grass, which not necessarily reflects the functionality of the products, nor 100% contributes to the value of the artificial grass. Of course, too light of the backing weight should be red flagged while considering the overall quality of artificial turf product by understanding the typical backing weight ranges.

We offer free consultations on artificial grass products, so please feel free to contact us via phone, email or this online form:


The density of artificial grass in plain term means how thick of the product is, this is more like a carpet: the higher the density, the more of materials used therefore in general, the product will be more expensive. The density of artificial grass will have the following functionality impacts:

1. Artificial grass with higher overall density  is considered to be better product which will have longer lifespan than lower density turf, this is especially true for areas with more wear and tear. However, the density can not be unlimited, beyond certain point, to be more specific, at about 90 oz or so, higher density beyond that point won’t necessarily provide longer lifespan of the grass any more.

2. Higher density turf tends to stand up better, with more resiliency. Such turf will be less likely to mat down.

We offer free consultations on helping you to choose our artificial grass products, if you call, email us, or fill out this online form with some specific information regarding your project, we will be able to help more:


Our artificial grass consists of four major components: 

1. Straight fibers which are made of PE (Polyethylene).

2. Curled thatch is made of PP (Polypropylene).

3. Primary backing is made of PP (Polypropylene): this is a double layer "cloth" for artificial grass fibers to reside on.

4. Secondary backing which is made of PU (polyurethane): this is the glue to bind turf blades on the primary backing.

You will be able to find all of our turf testings on our product specification page, here is the link:

Once you are on this page, you need to click on the product you are interested in and all testings will pop up on the right of your screen. Please feel free to reach us if you have any other questions or comments.

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The reasons for us to make artificial grass with different pile heights can be several:

1. The appearances: different geographic areas have different type of grasses, in order to best mimic the real grass in certain areas, we need to design and manufacture grasses in different colors and pile height combinations.

2. The applications: some application such as Pet Turf, a shorter pile will make more sense than tall piles, regular lawns might not need to be as short.

3. Installations: Some applications of artificial turf might not be specific on pile height requirements, in such cases, we will need to consider the installations as technically the taller of the pile, the more of infills might needed, so we won't have to recommend taller pile height products to simply increase the installation materials.


There are two components for artificial grass backing: 

1. Primary backing: this is the cloth that artificial grass fibers to be tufted onto. We use polypropylene primary backings for all of our turf products. More importantly, we use two layers of such materials to enhance the stabilities and durabilities of our products. 

2. Secondary backing: Once turf being tufted onto the primary backing, all fibers are loosely attached, in order to secure them from falling out or been pulling out, we use polyurethane glue to glue the fibers onto the primary backing. Polyurethane glues are very ideal for this application, as it will not react to moistures and have great binding power to hold fibers in place for years to come.

Dtex stands for Decitex, a term in textile industry for measuring yarns, the unit measures how many grams per 10000 meters, so it refers to mass or weight of the grass yarn. If all grass fibers are visually similar in size, the higher of the DTex number of a grass yarn, the heavier and densier it is. For an example, if the Dtex for a grass is 8000, it means the weight of a single piece of yarn at a length of 10000 meters weighs 8000 grams.

Artificial grass engineered blades are the invention of Global Syn-Turf! We are the first manufacturer to bring engineered blades into the market: That is why we have named a lot of our products with the names of the blades, such as S Blade, U blade, W Blade and etc. 

Instead of having the artificial grass blades flat, we have made them into different shapes, to name a few as "S", "W", "U", double "W", double "S", "Hollow" and etc., once blades being made with different shapes, we call them "Engineered". 

What are the benefits of engineered blades?

1. Engineered blades reflect light differently than a regular flat blade: instead of reflecting lights from a flat surface, engineered blades reflect lights from a line or a point. Visually, the overall appearance of the lawn will be less "shinny" and more realistic. And the turf itself will absorb less heat so it won't get as hot as a flat fiber!

2. Engineered blades will help the turf to stand up better! law of physics: imagine how a straw can stand up batter than a flat sheet! The trick is how to make these artificial grass with engineered blades but still provide excellent feels to the touch which Global Syn-Turf's engineers have done a great job with. Our engineered blades are the very original in the marketplace, and still the best your can find!


The face weight (or pile weight) is the weight of the turf pile per square yard measured in ounces. It should not be confused with the total weight as it includes the weight of the backing. Face weight is used to determine the turf durability.


Gauge is the distance between the yarns of synthetic turf. Technically, it indicates the number of needles per inch across the width of the tufting machine. Gauge is referred to density. The higher this number, the denser the grass.


Pile height is the height of the synthetic turf blade in inches from the backing to the tip. In specifications, the pile height can be given in fractions of an inch, for example, 3/4'', or in decimal fractions of an inch, for example, 2.625 inches. Synthetic turf pile height ranges from 0.5 inches for gold putting greens to 2.625 for landscape application. Longer, thicker grass looks more lush and natural.


Stitches count refers to the number of stitches per square meter. To calculate the stitch count, multiply the turf gauge by the number of stitches per meter. For example, if the turf gauge is 3/8 and the stitch rate is 14/10, 105 by 140 equals 14,700 stitches per square meter.


Stitch Rate is the number of stitches per inch in the length of synthetic turf. For example, the stitch rate of 14/10, means there are 14 stitches in 10cm.

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