Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Carpet and Fabric Protector....How does it really work?



Carpet and Fabric Protector.....Just really, what is it? How does it work? It is worth the extra money? Will I be able to tell a difference? Do you use it on your own carpet?  Over the course of our 15+ years in business these questions are most often the ones that we encounter on a weekly and lately almost daily basis. 

In an effort to help our customers (and anyone else who might want to learn), today we are revisiting an article from our February 2016 issue of Healthy, Wealthy and Wise in hopes that your questions can be alleviated and you will see that there is true value in applying carpet and fabric protector...so here goes....

How Do Carpet and Fabric Protectors Work?
You see it on television and Internet commercials all the time, a glass of wine or fruit punch being spilled on a beautiful, new carpet. The guests are mortified, but the smiling hostess blots up the spill with a towel, leaving the carpet clean and spot-free. Disaster averted, the party continue.

But is this really, the way it works? Well, yes and no.

Modern Fabric Protectors
Virtually all carpets manufactured today feature some type of protector application. These specialized fluoropolymers have names like Permashield®, R2X®, Repel®, and of course, DuPont Teflon® and 3M Scotchgard®. In addition, almost all nylon carpets are treated with special stain blockers called acid dye resistors to help prevent permanent staining by common food and beverage spills. 

When a carpet is new, the factory-applied protectors perform extremely well. Liquid spills bead up on the surface of the carpet yarns. But as a carpet ages with traffic, vacuuming and even professional cleaning, the protection wears off and is reduced significantly, requiring reapplication from time to time.

How Protectors Keep Your Carpets Looking Good
You may wonder how these miracle polymers work. Well, they work partially through surface energy, which is similar to surface tension. You may have heard of surface tension. In fact, you have likely seen a demonstration of this phenomenon in action when a glass is filled with water so that the water rises slightly above the rim of the glass without spilling over. If you are careful, you can actually float a metal paper clip on the surface of the water, too. This is due to surface tension.

Surface tension is used to describe what happens at the surface of liquids. But solid materials like carpet fibers have a property called surface energy. Surface energy is not easily explained or demonstrated, so let's just say that surface energy determines how well liquid can penetrate a solid. If a liquid is spilled onto a fiber that has high surface energy, it will penetrate easily. If a liquid is spilled on a fiber with low surface energy, it will tend not to penetrate. Fluoropolymers work by reducing the surface energy of a material.

Protectors not only shield your carpet from water-based spills, but also from oils, grease and dry particles. This means that you have more time to blot-up spills or tracked-in soils. Vacuuming becomes more efficient because dry soils are repelled. Oily and sticky soils are also respelled so they don't attract dry soils. That is important because it is the dry, gritty particles that do the most damage to your carpets by scratching and dulling the fibers just like sandpaper. All of this means that carpets which are regularly cleaned and protected last longer and look cleaner, brighter and newer.

Re-Protecting Your Carpet
Like any topical coating, carpet protectors wear away with age and use. Laboratory testing reveals that protection is reduced by 30% or more each year. Even professional cleaning, important as it is, removes a little bit of the remaining protector.

The fact is that your carpets are only new once. When the fibers have been scratched and dulled, they will never look as colorful and pretty as they did when new. Protectors help to prevent this damage and keep carpets looking newer longer. That's why major carpet manufacturers recommend annual cleaning and protector application on most residential carpets. 

So, now that you have been properly informed, what do YOU think? 

The Clean Force Company LLC
Celebrating 15 Years of Treating Your Family Like Our Own
A Good Name Is Rather To Be Chosen Than Great Riches Proverbs 22:1a

www.cleanforcecompany.com
cleanforcecompany@gmail.com
864-271-3168

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The January 2017 edition of Healthy, Wealthy and Wise is here:

IN THIS EDITION:
  • Tracking Down the Facts: Common Cleaning Myths Busted
  • Tea....it Does a Body Good
  • Etiquette in the Sky
  • New Year's Resolutions for Your Pets
  • And Much More...
Click Here To Continue Reading

Don't forget to email or call in your answer to the trivia question for a chance to win a $10 Cracker Barrel gift card!

The Clean Force Company LLC
Celebrating 15 Years of Treating Your Family Like Our Own
A Good Name Is Rather To Be Chosen Than Great Riches Proverbs 22:1a

www.cleanforcecompany.com
cleanforcecompany@gmail.com
864-271-3168