Triexta, Part 3

It is only appropriate (for now) to conclude this discussion on “triexta” (better known as “SMARTSTRAND tm”) with some thoughts on how it will and is affecting you as a professional carpet cleaner. We can do this by first looking back to a another new fiber development in the 1980’s - stain resistant nylon carpet………

While many of you reading this message weren’t even in our industry in the 1980’s, stain resistant nylon carpet has had a profound effect on the way our customers and prospects perceive carpet cleaning, as well as the way we actually clean carpet today. The advent of stain resistant carpet has encouraged consumers to choose lighter colored carpets because they mistakenly expected them to stay clean longer because of their stain resistant treatment.

This increased use of lighter colors has placed carpets into a more regular cleaning cycle, which in turn has created more work for our industry, and with more regular cleaning cycles, more customer contact as well as long term loyalty with deserving cleaning firms.

Carpet cleaning chemistry has changed as well, in some ways for the better, in some not so much for the better.

To simplify my point, and for the sake of brevity: stain resistant nylon carpet caused our industry to pay more attention to the pH of presprays and detergents, and created some of the initial interest around using lower pH rinses, or for some, clear water rinses.

Now we have this new “triexta” fiber, along with its very similarity to its “older brother” “polyester”, beginning to
dominate the market. .......keep reading

Regardless of the debates about resiliency and the need for after market carpet protection, it is clear that both “triexta” and “polyester” are more oil loving than nylon, and will require products and procedures that more readily can break the oil bonds that inevitably will occur if this carpet is neglected and/or subjected to abuse.

There appears also to be some concerns about difficulty in removing detergent residues from this fiber as well, but this information has not yet been documented well enough to discuss in detail. As I have more feedback from the field, I will share it with you.

Please feel free to contact me here, or by email, if you have feedback regarding your experience with this fiber, or would like more information on how to care for “triexta” and “polyester” carpet.

Call: 1-800-342-2297
Local: 412-751-3700
e-mail – jimpem2@comcast.net