The Specifics When Cleaning Polypropylene Carpets…
Polypropylene carpets can require different techniques and chemicals to clean successfully, here we will run through some of the differences between Polypropylene and other synthetic carpet fibres and also why it is important to identify the fibre and tailor your cleaning process and detergents specifically for Polypropylene.
- Solution-Dyed: Polypropylene is non-absorbent and is coloured during the manufacturing process with the colours being considered permanent.
- Stain Resistant: The non-absorbent nature of Polypropylene carpet should make it almost impossible to stain. It is resistant to most alkalis and acids so you can go after spots with your most aggressive cleaners including oxidizers. Note that some organic solvents such as citrus solve may adversely affect it.
- Poor Resilience: Polypropylene fibres are considered very strong and very abrasion resistant. However, they have some resiliency problems and tend to mat and crush in high-traffic areas, no matter how good you are at cleaning carpet, crushing or matting is not restorable, your customer needs to be made aware of that during your pre-inspection process.
- Oil Accumulator: Polypropylene is oleophilic. That means that it has a strong natural affinity for oils. It attracts oily soils. Oily soils and spills can be difficult to remove and when left soiled for an extended time, this may cause discolouration.
Identifying Polypropylene fibre is simple as it is the only carpet fibre that will float, obtain a small sample of the fibre, make sure no air bubbles are attached to the sample and place in water.
The cleaning process after fibre identification is as follows:
- Always pre-vacuum.
- Pre-spray with a specific Polypropylene chemical such as Polybreak.
- Never overwet, do not over-apply spotters or stain removal treatments.
- Extract with an acid rinse such as Safe Clean, Fine Fabric Rinse or Flex Ice.
Drying the carpet quickly after cleaning is very important to reduce the chance of wicking or browning.
- Never overwet.
- Make sure vacuum filters are clean and vacuum hoses are as short and as straight as possible.
- After rinsing, add an extra drying stroke with the wand.
- The use of airmovers and/or a heat pump will greatly assist drying.