Should I Apply Carpet Stain Protection?
Protecting your carpet makes good financial sense; however, certain carpet fibers may not need carpet stain protection. For instance, berber carpet and many cut pile carpets are made of synthetic fibers such as polypropylene or polyester. During manufacturing, these fibers have the color pigment added to them when they’re still in liquid form. This results in having the color throughout each fiber. Note: these fibers are oil-based so oil-based substances can stain these fibers. Interestingly, black-soled house shoes or flip flops are notorious for transferring their color into your polyester, olefin or polypropylene carpet fibers. So the questions remains, should we apply stain protector to carpet at all?
Nylon carpet is a synthetic fiber that is more wear resistant than polyester. However, nylon has a porous fiber structure that can lead to carpet staining. Most nylon fibers today are classified as 5th generation nylon, which means the nylon has gone through five improvements through the years. Most carpets today are 5th generation nylon as this type of fiber was introduced to the market in the mid 1980’s.
5th generation nylon consists of a special carpet protector that covers the tiny pores where stains can penetrate the fiber. While 4th generation nylon was fairly stain-resistant, the manufacturers needed a new type of carpet protector that would resist synthetic dyes found in common juice spills. Most carpet cleaners offer carpet stain protector that is suitable to bring your nylon carpet back up to industry standards.
Carpet fiber protectors, whether applied by the manufacturer or a Nashville carpet cleaning service, typically lasts up to one year in traffic areas and two to three years in areas not regularly used. Carpet manufacturers recommend having carpet stain protector reapplied to your carpet after each cleaning to protect it from wear, re-soiling and carpet stains. Carpet protectors work in a few different ways, though the most common way is by adding a thin layer of polymer-based coating to your carpet to protect the fibers from soil abrasion and carpet stains. Cotton, wool and other natural fibers can also have fiber protection added to preserve their natural beauty, though these are typically applied with a solvent-based fiber protector.
Whether all carpet types should have protection reapplied is a question of lifestyle. Polyester carpet will not have as many stains issues as opposed to those with nylon or natural fibers, but polyester carpet will have more oil-based stains because of its oil-based composition. We highly recommend applying stain protection for all carpet and upholstery types as it shields your investment from premature wear and staining. Whether polyester, wool or nylon, EverClean recommends applying carpet protection after professional carpet cleaning to protect the fibers from wear and future stains.