containing both polyamide 6 6 and polyamide 6 can be subjected to a two stage treatment procedure to separately extract these polymers for example it has been discovered that polyamide 6 6 is insoluble or virtually insoluble in methanol at 135 u00b0 c while polyamide 6 is readily soluble in this extraction agent at 135 u00b0 c accordingly the extraction in the first stage is preferably conducted at about 110 u00b0 c to about 150 u00b0 c and more preferably at about 135 u00b0 c to about 140 u00b0 c to dissolve and extract the polyamide 6 which is soluble in methanol at this temperature after the separation of the first extraction solution from the insolubles the polyamide 6 can then be recovered from the first extraction solution next the second stage of extraction is preferably conducted at about 140 u00b0 c to about 180 u00b0 c and more preferably at about 155 u00b0 c to about 165 u00b0 c to dissolve and extract the polyamide 6 6 after the separation of the second extraction solution from the insolubles the polyamide 6 6 can then be recovered from the second extraction solution alternatively according to still a further embodiment of the present invention both the polyamide 6 and polyamide 6 6 can be extracted from the carpet.