SmartStrand Forever Clean

[amygeorge]

I was contacted by a flooring retailer asking me about SmartStrand's Foever Clean with Permanent Protection and what my experience has been. Honesty, I don't have any.

Have any of y'all cleaned this carpet yet? Do you have an opinion on it? He just wanted to know what the cleaners experience has been and any thoughts about it.

Thanks, Amy

 

[Onfire_02_01]

Sounds too good to be true.
Smart strand is the brand name for triexta, it is a variant of polyester, cleans and wears the same as poly, though slightly improved. It has a very nice hand feel to it but will take your shoulder off if you are not using a glide, customer may need to buy a new vacuum special for the carpet.

 

[Sierra Clean Care]

They almost got the title of it right 'Dumbstrand TAKES YOU forever to clean it'..........

 

[Mikey P]

The very people who buy it for that false marketing will be the ones most disappointed.

It's just carpet.

 

[J Scott W]

The permanent protectrion refers to the intrinsic ability of triexta to resist water and not absorb water-based stains. A new way of marketing what has always been true of polyester. It is non-absorbent for water.

 

[Cleanworks]

Take a look at the smartstrand zoo challenge video.

 

[Zee]

Develops the worst pile reversal issues.. I had a two year battle with a management company/installer/homeowner/inspector/manufacturer with a house that was horribly pooling all over traffic areas.
Inspector of course insisted (twice they were sent out) that he can clean the carpet with lukewarm water and make everything even looking. (at this time I threw everything at it at least once: diesel fired heat, high flow, low flow, 360XL, wand only, pad only, compound, crb, I mean everything and it still looked the same after a day or two.)
Inspector implied that I don't know how to clean carpets...


Bottom line is: carpet was replaced....and the homeowner ended up paying for it! I cleaned the place at least 5 times for free, to show them all the different methods and effort can not make the pile reversal magically disappear.

 

[Cleanworks]

Develops the worst pile reversal issues.. I had a two year battle with a management company/installer/homeowner/inspector/manufacturer with a house that was horribly pooling all over traffic areas.
Inspector of course insisted (twice they were sent out) that he can clean the carpet with lukewarm water and make everything even looking. (at this time I threw everything at it at least once: diesel fired heat, high flow, low flow, 360XL, wand only, pad only, compound, crb, I mean everything and it still looked the same after a day or two.)
Inspector implied that I don't know how to clean carpets...


Bottom line is: carpet was replaced....and the homeowner ended up paying for it! I cleaned the place at least 5 times for free, to show them all the different methods and effort can not make the pile reversal magically disappear.

why didn't you let the inspector clean it?

 

[Willy P]

WORST RUBBISH EVER. That is all.

 

[Nate The Great]

Develops the worst pile reversal issues.. I had a two year battle with a management company/installer/homeowner/inspector/manufacturer with a house that was horribly pooling all over traffic areas.
Inspector of course insisted (twice they were sent out) that he can clean the carpet with lukewarm water and make everything even looking. (at this time I threw everything at it at least once: diesel fired heat, high flow, low flow, 360XL, wand only, pad only, compound, crb, I mean everything and it still looked the same after a day or two.)
Inspector implied that I don't know how to clean carpets...


Bottom line is: carpet was replaced....and the homeowner ended up paying for it! I cleaned the place at least 5 times for free, to show them all the different methods and effort can not make the pile reversal magically disappear.

Maybe there's some truth to that..... Was it the accent that made him question your ability to clean?!?

I was thinking along the same lines as Scottie, marketing angle... A new spin on something old..

 

[Zee]

why didn't you let the inspector clean it?

He supposedly tried it with a small spotter machine.

 

[Onfire_02_01]

why didn't you let the inspector clean it?

I would have looked at the inspector and said my equipment is right outside. Show me how to do it.

 

[Cleanworks]

it's always fun to tell someone else how to do their job. Just curious, is all Smartstrand Triexta? I was under the impression that some was a form of nylon. Maybe they are just comparing it to Nylon?

 

[Zee]

I would have looked at the inspector and said my equipment is right outside. Show me how to do it.

It was an ongoing thing for a long time, where I would be there cleaning and a couple of months later the inspector would be there "inspecting".. I never actually met the person there. I just saw the written up reports.
Anyways... manufacturer hired "independent" never means independent.

 

[Nate The Great]

I'll have to beg to differ @Zee ... My pops is and has been an independent flooring inspector for 30 years... It dosent matter who pays him, he calls it like he sees it... Manufacturers, dealers, installers, in-house maintenance, all get pissed off with my pops... It's just the nature of the business.. He was also a certified IICRC instructor back in the 1990's...

There is another "flooring inspector" here that his integrity for sale by whoever pays him...

I've been very fortunate to see first hand defects and problems related to manufacturing and installation...

 

[Onfire_02_01]

There are 4 different names for the carpet described on this page: Smartstrand, PTT polyester, sorona, triexta, or any combination of the above. Pretty confusing, but here’s what you need to know when you’re out shopping: The carpet material is PTT polyester. However, PTT polyester is completely different from normal polyester (aka PET polyester), so manufacturers gave it a new name: triexta. A more environmentally friendly version (because it’s partially made with corn sugar instead of petroleum) of triexta is named Sorona. Currently, Mohawk is the only manufacturer who produces PTT polyester/triexta/Sorona carpet, and they call the carpet Smartstrand. To clean up this messy confusion, here’s a quick summary, PTT polyester = triexta. Environmentally-friendly triexta = Sorona. Smartstrand = the brand name for triexta or Sorona carpet
Pulled from a site called carpet captain.

 

[hogjowl]

Who cares?
It sucks!

 

[amygeorge]

Thanks, guys. I'll get him y'alls 411 tomorrow...

 

[SamIam]

Seams are visible, pools like polyester

I was told by a client to use water only.

So I presprayed with Procyon and rinsed with it to.

Pre vac pre scrub rinse. It's thick and a bear to push a wand.

 

[SamIam]

The stuff I've cleaned cleans easier then
Olefin

 

[Jack Zipper Zerkie]

I cleaned a trashed rental with dumb strand with cobbs great pre treat in the hydro force and wouldn't touch it. I went to Lowes and purchased 1 gal of greased lighting and re mixed with the cobb very strong. Then the results were improved lucky the unit was vacant, and cleaned okay. jz.

 

[EDS]

Anyone have real world photos...

 

[Mighty Phil]

I've cleaned 5 SmartStrand carpets in the last week. One of these was a second visit on a vacated rental property. The traffic lane in front of what I assume was the lounge suite, is grey and ugly. Couldn't get it clean on first visit after multiple attempts. The retailer went out, and sprayed some water on it and scrubbed it with a white microfiber rag, and got some soil transfer and declared the carpet hadn't been cleaned properly. On the second visit I re-cleaned - vac, scrubbed pre-spray, steam cleaned. Photos show not one skerric of difference. I rang the supplier and tore shreds off him for his parlour tricks attempting to discredit my business, and his complete absence of education in the limitations of exhausting soil exhaustion through the HWE process.

I cleaned another one yesterday. I'm warning all customers about expectations before I start cleaning this rubbish. I'll post before and after of yesterday's SmartStrand below. What I'm observing on these carpets is extraordinary absorption of oily soils in trafficked areas or areas exposed to pet coats. Greying out in the traffic lanes accompanied with some matting and elongation of the pile. It is more subtle than with polyester, but certainly there.

Because of the aggressive marketing of this product, some retailers will vigorously defend the apparent miraculous properties of this carpet, and not stop short of discrediting carpet cleaners in there path to absolving themselves of the responsibility of upholding there (claytons) warranties and the shortcomings in performance of the product.

Having said this, I know several of the recommended warranty cleaners for SmartStrand here in Australia and know for a fact there have been instances where they have had to replace.

 

[Mighty Phil]

Photo 1. Before.
Photo 2. After. A big improvement and lots of work to get it to that level, but certainly not acceptable in my opinion (although customer was happy with this).

 

[Mighty Phil]

Final note. Warn customers of potential shortcomings of Clean before you start. Document your process with photos and before and after shots. This is your best defense against unscrupulous defense by retailers/manufacturers of this garbage.

 

[GeeeAus]

By the time the consumer pays for that junk they could have bought a proper carpet.

It's shit.

 

[Goomer]

Because of the aggressive marketing of this product, some retailers will vigorously defend the apparent miraculous properties of this carpet, and not stop short of discrediting carpet cleaners in there path to absolving themselves of the responsibility of upholding there (claytons) warranties and the shortcomings in performance of the product.

That could only mean they are either ignorant, full of sh!t, or a little of both.

Although the manufacturers are turning out so much crap, as far as I am concerned, the retailers are more to blame for pushing so much of it on the consumer in spite of knowing all too well that it is garbage.

 

[Mighty Phil]

Ok. So the job where I've had to do a secondary visit early last week. The top two photos are from the first clean, immediately after cleaning.
The third and last photo is immediately after the second clean. There is essentially no improvement or difference in appearance less pile alignment from the wand. Both times was vacuumed, scrubbed and wanded.

 

[GeeeAus]

Have you given the stain stick a go Phil. I think that will shift a little more.

 

[Jimmy L]

I believe Mikey has this in his house.

Giggle!