| The Olefin Crisis for Carpet Cleaners |
| The are many problems challenging carpet cleaners and #1 on the list is the distortion and dull, grey pallor of olefin carpet yarns after a few months of just average use. |
Why are olefin carpets a problem?
. The melting point of olefin is so low that just the friction of
people walking on it will cause the yarn to be permanently distorted. Test
this for yourself by passing a cigarette lighter quickly over the surface of an
unwanted olefin scrap and it will melt a path almost faster than you can pull
it away. This results in traffic lanes that defy the cleaner’s efforts to restore
because they are damaged beyond our ability to “un-melt” them. Therefore
the light reflects and refracts differently from the distorted fibers laying in
different directions and still looks dirty from one direction and extra clean
from another. (There are methods of brightening the olefin and mitigating this
"velvet" effect. Read the Hue Renew article on this website). However, olefin
does have just ONE advantage over nylon. That is, it is colorfast. Sunlight,
unburned hydrocarbons from heating systems, chlorine and most
chemicals do not effect it.
. To the cleaning customer, this distortion which results in these
dark, shaded looking areas is often thought to be soil that was not removed
properly when cleaning. This can be quickly debunked by walking around
the shaded area. You will see that from one direction where the yarn is
laying away from you, like a field of wheat, it is brighter. From the other
directions as you are looking into the fibers the area appears dark. After
paying to get their carpet cleaned the carpet owner doesn't expect to see
these ugly shaded areas and even when the distortion is demonstrated
they are often skeptical of the cleaners explanation.
. As if the distortion wasn't enough, there is also a dullness that
affects many olefin carpets that comes from pollutants in the air. These
pollutants cause the residues that we pickup on our shoes and bring into
the building. It is no longer just greasy, sooting residue from
manufacturing and diesel engines. In this new age of plastics and
polymers it is these substances that are being ground into the carpets
making cleaning chemistry a little more complicated than it used to be.
We call this "polymer polluted, plastic dirt". This new polymer pollution
residue is bonding with the soft polymer construction of olefin carpet and
virtually becomes part of the carpet. Fortunately we can deal quite
effectively with this dullness using Chemeisters® Hue Renew™.
(Read the Hue Renew page on this website).
. Another method of using Hue Renew™ to treat the "olefin look"
is to follow "steam" cleaning with Hue Renew™ using a bonnet or pad. It
takes overnight for the carpets to fully brighten but it works fantastic and
the carpet is genuinely brighter and better for having had the treatment. A
regular bonnet cleaner or polymer product or other low moisture chemical
is often used with or in place of Hue Renew™. This leaves surfactant or
polymer residue on the carpet which causes the olefin to look much
brighter immediately as light reflects and refracts camouflaging the olefin
fiber distortion. This is a more cosmetic approach with more potential
residues that we think is inferior to using Hue Renew™. At least the
chemical should be used very sparingly to keep the residues to a minimum.
Many cleaners have also found that finishing with a dry pad or bonnet after
"steam cleaning" is an effective method of relieving the top yarn of moisture
that serves as a vehicle for deep re-wicking residues that have been left by
previous cleaning attempts or spills, etc.
Why are olefin carpets so popular?
. Three reasons. First, olefin is much cheaper than nylon.
Second, the carpet buyer is simply ignorant of the olefin shortcomings and
the third reason is that in the carpet showroom the olefin is softer and
"prettier" than the nylon sample. The buyer needs to know that the olefin
will show signs of distortion in a few weeks and the nylon if cared for will
be restorable for years.
Why don't the carpet salespeople tell the truth?
. They probably don't know the truth and if they do, they cannot
afford to trust their customer with it. They have never had to clean olefin
and confront this problem after it has been down and no one they trust has
ever told them about olefin so how would they know? You have to
understand the mind of the carpet salesperson in this regard also. If they
know the truth and if they tell their customer that olefin is no good and they
recommended the more expensive nylon, their customer will shop their
competitor who will sell it to them. Everyone in the salespersons life
looses at this point including his kid's dentist, etc. So they are telling
themselves "I'm not committing any crime here, I just show them the
samples and let em' choose"!
Why do the carpet mills and fiber producers make this stuff?
. Our conclusion is that the carpet producers were obviously
suffering on nylon warranties because of the vulnerable nylon dyes. They
were highly motivated to find the "perfect" fiber for tough use at popular
prices. It has not turned out perfect as yet but they did succeed in getting a
product with stable dyes and we can hope that they will figure out how to
pick up some friction resistance along the way. We are afraid that they are
no longer as highly motivated now that they have solved their warranty
problems to such a large extent. The carpet mills are probably in the same
do or die position as the retailer. Since the retail carpet buyer is in the dark
when they buy, the manufacturer cannot make only nylon because they are
afraid that their carpet mill competitor will continue to make the cheaper
olefin and take away their market share. So they are also telling themselves
"we're not committing any crime here, we just make this stuff and let 'em
choose".
. How do we get customers to buy nylon carpets so that the
carpet cleaner's life can return to being a bed of roses? We can see only
one way. AN EDUCATED RETAIL CARPET BUYER.
So who's going to educate them?
. YOU ARE and the rest of the carpet cleaning community
because we are all that's left in this story. The trouble is that we are going
against the carpet retailer and the carpet manufacturer who command more
standing and we are trying to make the truth stick after the carpet has been
cleaned and we are the last one standing there trying to "face the music".
So what usually happens next?
. We know carpet cleaners to be wonderful people who care
intensely about their business and the satisfaction of their customers.
The cleaner wants desperately to satisfy the customer and retain their good
will and referral stream. So they will usually continue near futile cleaning
and spotting attempts. The customer is often not satisfied with the results
and the cleaner's explanations. The carpet producers do not seem to be
listening and we hope they will begin to listen soon because every cleaner
knows it.
. The melting point of olefin is so low that just the friction of
people walking on it will cause the yarn to be permanently distorted. Test
this for yourself by passing a cigarette lighter quickly over the surface of an
unwanted olefin scrap and it will melt a path almost faster than you can pull
it away. This results in traffic lanes that defy the cleaner’s efforts to restore
because they are damaged beyond our ability to “un-melt” them. Therefore
the light reflects and refracts differently from the distorted fibers laying in
different directions and still looks dirty from one direction and extra clean
from another. (There are methods of brightening the olefin and mitigating this
"velvet" effect. Read the Hue Renew article on this website). However, olefin
does have just ONE advantage over nylon. That is, it is colorfast. Sunlight,
unburned hydrocarbons from heating systems, chlorine and most
chemicals do not effect it.
. To the cleaning customer, this distortion which results in these
dark, shaded looking areas is often thought to be soil that was not removed
properly when cleaning. This can be quickly debunked by walking around
the shaded area. You will see that from one direction where the yarn is
laying away from you, like a field of wheat, it is brighter. From the other
directions as you are looking into the fibers the area appears dark. After
paying to get their carpet cleaned the carpet owner doesn't expect to see
these ugly shaded areas and even when the distortion is demonstrated
they are often skeptical of the cleaners explanation.
. As if the distortion wasn't enough, there is also a dullness that
affects many olefin carpets that comes from pollutants in the air. These
pollutants cause the residues that we pickup on our shoes and bring into
the building. It is no longer just greasy, sooting residue from
manufacturing and diesel engines. In this new age of plastics and
polymers it is these substances that are being ground into the carpets
making cleaning chemistry a little more complicated than it used to be.
We call this "polymer polluted, plastic dirt". This new polymer pollution
residue is bonding with the soft polymer construction of olefin carpet and
virtually becomes part of the carpet. Fortunately we can deal quite
effectively with this dullness using Chemeisters® Hue Renew™.
(Read the Hue Renew page on this website).
. Another method of using Hue Renew™ to treat the "olefin look"
is to follow "steam" cleaning with Hue Renew™ using a bonnet or pad. It
takes overnight for the carpets to fully brighten but it works fantastic and
the carpet is genuinely brighter and better for having had the treatment. A
regular bonnet cleaner or polymer product or other low moisture chemical
is often used with or in place of Hue Renew™. This leaves surfactant or
polymer residue on the carpet which causes the olefin to look much
brighter immediately as light reflects and refracts camouflaging the olefin
fiber distortion. This is a more cosmetic approach with more potential
residues that we think is inferior to using Hue Renew™. At least the
chemical should be used very sparingly to keep the residues to a minimum.
Many cleaners have also found that finishing with a dry pad or bonnet after
"steam cleaning" is an effective method of relieving the top yarn of moisture
that serves as a vehicle for deep re-wicking residues that have been left by
previous cleaning attempts or spills, etc.
Why are olefin carpets so popular?
. Three reasons. First, olefin is much cheaper than nylon.
Second, the carpet buyer is simply ignorant of the olefin shortcomings and
the third reason is that in the carpet showroom the olefin is softer and
"prettier" than the nylon sample. The buyer needs to know that the olefin
will show signs of distortion in a few weeks and the nylon if cared for will
be restorable for years.
Why don't the carpet salespeople tell the truth?
. They probably don't know the truth and if they do, they cannot
afford to trust their customer with it. They have never had to clean olefin
and confront this problem after it has been down and no one they trust has
ever told them about olefin so how would they know? You have to
understand the mind of the carpet salesperson in this regard also. If they
know the truth and if they tell their customer that olefin is no good and they
recommended the more expensive nylon, their customer will shop their
competitor who will sell it to them. Everyone in the salespersons life
looses at this point including his kid's dentist, etc. So they are telling
themselves "I'm not committing any crime here, I just show them the
samples and let em' choose"!
Why do the carpet mills and fiber producers make this stuff?
. Our conclusion is that the carpet producers were obviously
suffering on nylon warranties because of the vulnerable nylon dyes. They
were highly motivated to find the "perfect" fiber for tough use at popular
prices. It has not turned out perfect as yet but they did succeed in getting a
product with stable dyes and we can hope that they will figure out how to
pick up some friction resistance along the way. We are afraid that they are
no longer as highly motivated now that they have solved their warranty
problems to such a large extent. The carpet mills are probably in the same
do or die position as the retailer. Since the retail carpet buyer is in the dark
when they buy, the manufacturer cannot make only nylon because they are
afraid that their carpet mill competitor will continue to make the cheaper
olefin and take away their market share. So they are also telling themselves
"we're not committing any crime here, we just make this stuff and let 'em
choose".
. How do we get customers to buy nylon carpets so that the
carpet cleaner's life can return to being a bed of roses? We can see only
one way. AN EDUCATED RETAIL CARPET BUYER.
So who's going to educate them?
. YOU ARE and the rest of the carpet cleaning community
because we are all that's left in this story. The trouble is that we are going
against the carpet retailer and the carpet manufacturer who command more
standing and we are trying to make the truth stick after the carpet has been
cleaned and we are the last one standing there trying to "face the music".
So what usually happens next?
. We know carpet cleaners to be wonderful people who care
intensely about their business and the satisfaction of their customers.
The cleaner wants desperately to satisfy the customer and retain their good
will and referral stream. So they will usually continue near futile cleaning
and spotting attempts. The customer is often not satisfied with the results
and the cleaner's explanations. The carpet producers do not seem to be
listening and we hope they will begin to listen soon because every cleaner
knows it.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
www.chemeistersUSA.com
800 523-3430
26202 West Seven Mile Road - Redford, MI - 48240
Speciality Chemicals since 1978
fax (313) 538-5324
 |
 |
 |