The accurate answer is that they are not Ethernet cables. The cables themselves are not limited to transmitting Ethernet, nor is Ethernet restricted to using just UTP cables.
In the first case, they are often used with many different types of signaling, including as examples voice and serial.
In the second case, you can run Ethernet over coax, fiber, or shielded cables as well.
However, it is common for people to call them Ethernet cables as this is probably their most widely used purpose. So from a "connotation" standpoint, it isn't entirely inaccurate to call them Ethernet cables, especially when dealing with non-technical users.
First a quick note on terminology. The Ethernet standards don't use the terms "hub" and "switch". What the market calls a hub is a multi-port repeater according to the standards and what the market calls a switch is a multi-port bridge according to the standards.
10BASE5 and 10BASE2 coaxial Ethernet used CSMA/CD to manage collisions on the coaxial cable segment. Repeaters could be used to join multiple segments. Repeaters were dumb low level devices, they had no packet buffers and were designed to ensure that if a collision happened on any connected segment it would be seen on every connected segment. This meant detecting collisions and when a collision was detected (either with the repeater or otherwise) on one port a "JAM signal" would be output to the other ports.
Bridges on the other hand operate at a higher level. They work with complete frames and have no need to repeat collisions between ports.
10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX have separate pairs for transmit and receive. With 1000BASE-T things get more complicated but fundamentally there is still a separate data channel in each direction.
These standards can operate in two modes known as "half duplex" and "full duplex". In half duplex mode the twisted pair cable essentially acts as a virtual coaxial cable. If transmission and reception happen at the same time then it is treated a collision even though no signals collided on the wire. The Ethernet controllers use CSMA/CD just as they would on a coaxial cable. Repeaters (hubs) forward collisions to other segments just as they did with coaxial Ethernet.
In full duplex mode transmission is allowed to happen in both directions at the same time and CSMA/CD is not used. Repeaters (hubs) cannot be used on links running in full duplex mode because they would have no way of handling conflicting transmissions.
It is important that both ends of a link are in the same duplex mode. If one end is set to full duplex while the other end is set to half duplex there will be massive packet loss and essentially unusable network performance. Nowadays this is normally handled through auto-negotiation but the system isn't perfect. In particular there are likely to be problems if one end is set to forced full duplex and the other end is set to autonegotiate.
On a modern network the vast majority of links should be running in full duplex mode. CSMA/CD should normally only be used on links to legacy equipment.
Best Answer
Patch cables use stranded wire. This makes them more flexible, but performance is less than solid-core conductors.
Horizontal cables use solid-core wire, which makes them less flexible, but performance is better. These cables are not meant to be moved much after installation because repeated movement can break the solid wire.
The solid-core horizontal cable can be run for up to 90 meters, and the stranded patch cables on each end can total up to 10 meters.
UTP, in general, has an unloaded minimum bend radius of 4 times the cable diameter, which is about .25", so the minimum bend radius is about 1" with no tension.
There is also a maximum pulling tension when installing cables:
Exceeding the bend radius or pulling tension can ruin a cable, and it will not pass the required test suite once it is installed.
ANSI/TIA/EIA maintains the standards for cabling, especially the ANSI/TIA/EIA 568 Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling Standard and ANSI/TIA/EIA 569 Commercial Building Standard for Telecommunications Pathways and Spaces.
Unless you have the experience and proper tools, including a (very expensive) cable tester that can run the full test suite for the cable category which you are installing, you really are better off hiring a professional to do the installation.