Jim,
Thanks for posting this topic. I too have asked these questions and have received different answers, and feel the lack of clear, scientifically based answers is just NUTS, considering the importance of this issue to our industry, or integrity (recommending protector to our clients), and our profit margins.
As you know, one industry leader and supplier has told me that the effectiveness of acid dye blockers on 5th generation are degraded when cleaned with even moderate alkalinity, and that I should therefore not worry about using a pre-spray with a ph of 10.5 or so in order to get the carpets clean.
Mike Kerner, a chemist at
Sapphire Scientific, told me that moderate alkalinity does indeed affect the performance of factory applied acid dye blockers, but that a ph higher than 10 really wipes them out.
And Larry Cobb told me just the other day that using a cleaning agent with a ph as high as 11 DOES NOT affect stain resistant nylon, and that the manufactures are concerned with dye stability of certain dyes on multicolored carpets, so they recommend cleaning products with a ph of less than 10, but claim it’s for the reason of stain resistance.
So, of these three people, two say it’s okay to use a ph higher than 10 but for different reasons, one saying a ph of 9.5 damages the protector anyway so why not use higher, and the other saying that the higher ph will not affect the factory applied protection.
I think I am going to conduct my own testing when I get some time, but don’t feel I should have to.
I would have to do a number of different tests, but the first of these tests should be relatively simple. I plan on getting a sample of white or light 5th generation nylon and applying strips of varying ph cleaners, from about 8 to 11. I will give plenty of dwell time and then extract with plain water, and let the carpets dry. I will then pour 4 ounces of red Kool Aid to each strip and let it set for about a week. I will then rinse with plain water using my portable filled with hot tap water, the same amount of wet and dry passes on each spot. Depending on the results, I might even be able to apply a number to the results, as I have a transparency that came with my color dye kit that has red from 2.5 percent to 100 percent in increments.
This test alone should reveal some interesting results, but I suppose I would need to test different manufactures carpeting, test using different temperature water, and test using a extraction detergent and/or rinse.
Now, concerning the soil retarding properties of protectors, is there any agreement that this stuff wears off with abrasion, or do I need to test for this also???
And lastly as far as olefin is concerned, I think the test would have to involve applying different animal, vegetable, and petroleum based oils to protected and unprotected olefin carpet, letting them sit for a month to give them time to be absorbed into the fibers, and then test clean to check results.
This testing will be a lot of work for a owner operator to perform, and I am not happy that I may have to do this testing myself to find out the answers.
