Anti – Soiling and Stain Protection for Carpets
Frequently Asked Questions
How does fabric protection work?
Surface Tension Reducers the chemistry responsible for the beading of water which is often seen in advertising when a spill is demonstrated on a treated carpet, the spill sits on the surface of the carpet and doesn’t immediately absorb into it allowing more time for the spill to be removed and cleaned up. This is a very important feature with soil and stain resistance as it can prevent permanent staining with both food colouring and organic dyes such as coffee and red wine spills. Some spills such as soft drink dyes can stain the carpet permanently within just seconds of the spill. This barrier gives precious time to remove the spill.
Acid Dye Blockers are another addition to modern carpet stain protectors. Acid dye blockers mimic chemical dyes which are designed to attach to the carpets fibres using an ionic bond. These bonds are permanent. An acid dye blocker functions just like dyes and fixes to the same areas that a spill of coffee or a can of soft drink may stain the carpet. The Acid dye blocker takes up the space leaving no room for the spill to stain the carpet. Acid dye blockers generally do not prevent soiling of carpets and will not help keep them clean; they however have superior resistance against permanent staining of carpets.
Polymers in stain and soil resistance treatments are the new kid on the block. Polymers add a resin type shield around the external surface of the carpets fibres. These polymers can block both soil and stains from absorbing into the fibres and prevent premature wear by shielding carpet fibres from abrasion from dry particulate soils such as sand and dirt.
Which protection is best for my carpets?
Most Soil and Stain resistance products offered by Professional Carpet Cleaners in Auckland have only basic ingredients. They usually have the basic Surface tension reducing agents which repel water and oils preventing these from absorbing into the fibres and staining the carpets. They also shield the carpet fibres from wear from dry particulate soils.
However, these protectors rely on a repellency barrier over the top of carpeting to protect carpet fibres, and while these products are effective when spills are cleaned up immediately, if staining substances like spilled drinks and cooking oils manage to get passed the surface tension barrier, they can still stain the carpets and become more difficult to remove.
The good news is EcoSan Solutions use the most advanced Carpet and Fabric protection products in Auckland. Our Carpet and Fabric Protection solution has both Stain and Soil resisting Surface tension reducing agents and Acid dye blockers so even if you do not clean up a spill quickly the Fabric protection keeps on working protecting your fibres and making your carpet and fabric care and cleaning easier.
Are carpet protection products safe for the environment?
Fabric and carpet protection products have been utilised for decades now and have been commonly applied to carpets at the factory before being sold to customers. In many developed countries stain and soil resistance treatments are routinely applied to both residential and commercial clients carpets after annual cleaning.
Over the years, these formulations have changed quite a bit to provide an improved safety profile for people and the environment.
The suspension (carrier) agents commonly used in the past have been replaced with better components to make them safer, non VOC and non-allergenic.
The manner in which Fluorochemicals are manufactured have changed with the industry adopting methods which are safer and eliminating methods which were shown to persist too long in the environment. Today’s Fluorochemicals biodegrade faster so they are safer.
Many manufacturers have switched from using petro chemicals in their suspension agents and replaced them with aqueous [water based] formulations.
The green approach to fabric protection
Some people have an aversion to Soil and Stain Resistance treatments due to older methods of producing Fluorochemicals. These products are no longer in circulation however there are some products available which do not contain Fluorochemicals rather use only Polymers which act as a resin shield to protect the fibre. These products are considered more users friendly and of course much better than leaving carpets, particularly wool naked with no protection.
