Beware of Cheap Imitations

Low Grade Resins

Polyolefin resins have become the primary choice for manufacturing synthetic grass. Polyethylene (PE) and some polypropylene (PP) are used in yarn production while the backing fabrics are predominantly made of PP. There is more and more synthetic turf coming from China and even some of the synthetic turf that is made in the USA is made with low grade resin. Which means the turf can fade or melt due to poor UV stabilizers in the resin and wear prematurely due to excessive fillers. We are seeing foreign artificial grasses fail and fall apart in as early as 3 to 4 years after installation. With a quality American made yarn you can expect a product lifetime of 10 to 30 years depending on its usage. Though not all American made yarn is created equal. Many companies are skimping on the resin quality and using fillers to lower costs to compete with the increase in Chinese imported turf.

It’s not just an issue with the yarn fibers; you have to watch out for poor quality latex backings as well. Most artificial turf made in the USA has a urethane secondary coating as opposed to latex. Latex-backed turf products produced in China use too much filler in the latex, causing the backing to crack and crumble.

So keep in mind if you buy cheap artificial turf from a company you could be in for an unpleasant surprise. You get what you pay for most of the time!

Lead Contaminated Artificial Grass

When New Jersey health officials discovered lead contaminates in artificial turf, it caught the attention of consumers. Your children and pets could be exposed by inhaling or swallowing lead-laced turf fibers. Fibers with lead also have a higher surface temperature in the sun that could reach as high as 200 degrees possibly causing burns to exposed skin. NexGen Lawns has the most stringent lead testing in the industry to protect you and your family!

Poor Climatic Dimensional Stability

Synthetic turf backings with poor climatic dimensional stability expands and contracts with changes in temperature and humidity causing seam ruptures and “line dancing.” NexGen Lawns synthetic turf has the most dimensionally stable backing available on all its products. One misleading conception in the industry concerning primary backing is the pic-rate. Pic-rate measures the tightness of the woven primary backing. The thickness on the other hand of the two woven backings can be completely different. You can have two primary backings woven together, one 18 pic and the other 13 pic, but one company can use a thinner backing than the other with the same pic rate. How do you know if you’re getting the thicker double primary? Unfortunately you don’t unless you go with a proven and trusted company like NexGen Lawns.