[wayne zabel]

Just cleaned carpets in 3 bedrooms and stairs,hadn't seen carpet before job so did a float test and fibre floated so I pressumed it was PP.

Anyway when doing the job the customer said he'd cleaned them in the past with neat bleach!! He said that when it was fitted tyhe fitters put a piece of the carpet in a glass of neat bleach for over an hour and it never affected the colour at all.

I'm sure one of you guys will tell me what Ive cleaned

[Dave Whittaker]

Polyprop! Of the bleach cleanable variety.

[wayne zabel]

So why doesnt the bleach have any effect on the colour or "bleach" the carpet.

Is it because PP is basically plastic?

Are any other sythetic carpets bleach cleanable?

[Ken Wainwright]

Most carpet fibres are dyed either as a completed yarn  or as a completed carpet ie topically dyed or printed carpet.

Polypropylene/olefin is a fibre that resists water so therefore resists the water based dyes that would otherwise be used as above. This means that it can't practically be dyed and also it is very difficult to stain with water based soiling.

To add colour to polypropylene, the pigment is added to the raw plastic and it is melted to form one coloured fibre that is solid all the way through. This is called solution dyeing. There is no dye on the surface of the fibre/yarn, so it cannot be bleached away. Sometimes, nylon is also coloured in this way.

A commonly used illustration of the two different types of dyeing is the raddish and the  carrot. Cut through a raddish and it will be red on the outside and white inside. This is like topical dyes. Cut through a carrot and it is orange all the way through. This is like solution dye.

Simples.

Safe and happy cleaning
The Ken

[wayne zabel]

Thanks Ken,I seem to remember that now from the courses I attended,it all makes sense now.

[John Kelly]

I think it is totally irresponsible for manufacturers and suppliers to market on the basis that the carpet can be cleaned with bleach. Bleach is an extremely harmfull chemical and is being discontinued in most commercial environments. To advise people to start cleaning their carpets with it where the bleach will remain in the carpet as they don't have the means to extract it, is in my opinion wrong. Imagine cleaning a patch of carpet with bleach and a young baby then starts crawling all over it.

[Steve. Taylor]

Better still john imagine a young naked lady crawling all over it

And yes Ken is correct about the carrot being orange all the way through just done test i found the carrot cuts easier with the glide removed Time for bed

[Ian Rochester]

These are sold as "stainproof" carpets and you can basically throw just about anything at them to get them clean, as Ken says they are a solid colour thoughout so will not lose any colour.

[Ken Wainwright]

Not wishing to bring conflict into a relationship between myself, my customer and their carpet supplier, I always tell them that the polypropylene yarn can be cleaned with a 50% bleach solution, but some materials used in the carpets construction cannot.

Safe and happy cleaning
The Ken

[murky]

I think the carpet that can be cleaned with bleach was marketed as 'Zylon' , it only came in 4 or 5 colours, base colours, no patterns. Perhaps a pin dot matrix style now and then, still quite a lot of it around in lower income houses.

As Ken said the dye was introduced into the yarn at a crucial stage while the fabric was warm and then as it coled down the dye is permanently inside the yarn, hence the bleach wont take the dye out. And nothing will get past the dyed yarn.

Murky

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

When a PP fibre is extruded it will be molten to allow it to flow and the PP, pigment, anti oxidants and any other stabilisers will all have been added as it will not be possible to add once cooled.

PP is basically CH2- Ch3 groups in very long chains and all these bonds are stable and will not react with dyes etc.

Nylon however contains CO groups with reactive double bonds which can react with dyes.

Cheers

Doug

[Dave_Lee]

I don't think these carpets are marketed as bleach cleanable, but as bleach resistant.
Dave.

[John Kelly]

Yes Dave they are.

Taken from one site:

Family friendly carpet that is made from 100% bleach cleanable Zylon Polypropylene. Guaranteed against ALL HOUSEHOLD STAINS!

[Dave_Lee]

John,
Thanks for that, I stand corrected. It makes the mind boggle with thoughts of what owners may be doing to their carpets as a result of that description.
Dave.

[james roffey]

ALL STAINS

Far be it for me to suggest different but dont oil based stains if left stain this type of carpet i am sure i read this somewhere or was told it, i would be surprised if you left dirty engine oil for any length of time that it would not be permanent.

i'm keeping my head down

[adimarsh]

James

I cleaned one today as an EOT. The tenant had stripped an old motor bike down on the eight month old PP carpet. Oil every where, even in the bedrooms. Bridgepoint Flex (ph 11) with DFC 105 rinse, end of problem.

[james roffey]

I did a white Polyprop and the customer had been in the loft come down with sooty footprints it was a real pain getting it out even with ultrapac i put it down almost neat in the end