Smart Strand: Carpet For The Future

Written by Rob Leahy

7/31/2010

I’ve seen a lot in my 40 years in the floor covering industry.  However, I truly have never seen as revolutionary a product as this.  I have studied it and, considering my technical background, I just love this product!!!  I feel so good about it that I am willing to have my company guarantee full replacement of the carpet if stains can’t be removed.  What is this product and what are the specifics of my guarantee?   

The product is SmartStrand carpet made by Mohawk Carpet.  It offers exceptional softness and color clarity, it is naturally fade and bleach resistant and its best feature is that stains, including red wine, pet urine and mustard can be removed with only warm water.  Mohawk has offered SmartStrand since 2004 and with over 5 years in the market its performance has been proven.  There have been nearly no complaints from consumers.  

SmartStrand is made with a new fiber, invented by DuPont, called Triexta.  DuPont has trademarked the fiber under the name Sorona®.  Beyond these marvelous performance properties, Sorona® has significant environmental benefit. By weight, 37% of the raw material used to make the fiber is derived from corn sugar instead of pure petroleum.  In addition, the production of Sorona® requires 30 percent less energy than the production of an equal amount of nylon and greenhouse gas emissions from the production are 60 percent lower than manufacturing nylon.  Nylon is the principal fiber used in carpeting today but, with SmartStrand the consumer is going to get a lot more for their carpet purchase.

This stuff is different

In a time when flooring manufacturers shutting down plants and carpet retailers closing their doors, Mohawk Carpet is actually expanding production of SmartStrand carpet. A year ago the FTC approved a new class of fiber called Triexta which it’s inventor, DuPont, has branded it as Sorona®. Sorona® is the fiber that Mohawk uses to make its SmartStrand carpet.  SmartStrand has become the most successful product that Mohawk has introduced in it’s 130 year history.   To keep up with demand both DuPont and Mohawk have recently announced 35% increases in SmartStrand capacity.  

In early 2006, Mohawk Industries and DuPont jointly petitioned the Federal Trade Commission to establish a new carpet fiber subclass name under the existing classification of polyester which is known as Polyethylene Terephthalate or PET.   But, the FTC went one better and on March 20, 2009 created an entire new class of fiber by the name Polytrimethylene Terephthalate or PTT.  Further, PTT may be called by the generic name triexta and no longer designated as a subclass of polyester.  DuPont has labeled its brand of triexta as Sorona®.

This ruling is very significant and historic for the carpet industry. This is the first extension that the FTC has approved for textiles in five years and the first fiber extension for residential carpeting in 50 years since nylon was established under the Textile Fiber Act in June 1959.

In it’s ruling for DuPont’s new fiber, the FTC recognized three distinctive features that were beneficial to consumers.  Triexta, when compared to other fibers exhibits: 1. superior softness, 2. greater durability and resiliency when compared to polyester and 3. permanent stain resistance to common household stains, including red wine, colored beverages and mustard, than far exceeds nylon.  

Both are triexta and polyester are dyed under heat and pressure that lock the color into the fiber and are fully colorfast to both bleach and light.  Most people know that nylon fades quickly when installed near windows and that household bleach takes color out completely.

All of these benefits are creating a whole new set of expectations that consumers can now satisfy with Mohawk’s SmartStrand carpets. 

Is it just another polyester ?

DuPont says triexta, which they branded Sorona®, is not just polyester and on March 20, 2009 the Federal Trade Commission agreed.  Among the criteria that the FTC identified as different was the fiber’s resilience.  30 years ago the original fiber, PET polyester, was known in the carpet trade for its tendency to crush.  In fact the initials were said to mean ‘Packs Every Time’.

The fibers which Mohawk uses in its SmartStrand carpets don’t pack down because of the differing molecular structure of Sorona® triexta compared to original polyester, (see schematic). The improved structure results in a crimped fiber, like we see in nylon, and adds spring to the finished carpet.  It bears mention that even though the FTC only approved a new class of carpet in early 2009, Mohawk has been delivering SmartStrand carpet since 2004 and it had been getting rave reviews.  The only known consumer complaints have been related to delayed delivery because of oversold production.   

Cleaning polyester never was a problem and the same is true of Sorona®.  As long as consumers stick to a usage based cleaning frequency there are no special requirements for cleaning Sorona®. 

Sorona®, like polyester, releases any water based spill or stain with warm water. Most household spills such as red wine, pet urine, even mustard are water based.  However, Sorona®, again like polyester, holds onto oil based stains.  This is where the issues concerning cleaning of polyester carpet arose.  Imagine oily soils such as petroleum products and cosmetics on a carpet surface that had been crushed down.  Ugly!  That is the combination that turned sentiment against polyester carpet 30 years ago.  

So, what is different now?  There are two things that are very different.  First, SmartStrand carpet of Sorona® has built in resilience.  Fibers made like the diagram above completely solves the crushing issue.  Next, a revolution in cleaning products solved the problem of the fiber’s affinity for oil based soils.  Dry powder chemicals that are spread onto the surface of the carpet in a somewhat moist state and, as they dry, they absorb and extract oily stains from the carpet.  Capture and HOST® are the two leading brands.  Personally, I like HOST® which is a bit more moist than Capture, allowing for greater extractive action.  Also, HOST® is a larger particle which makes the vacuuming of the product easier and more complete.  HOST® can be purchased at Fine Rugs of Charleston or at Lowe’s and Home Depot. 

So, this is not your Mother’s polyester!  It is a considerable improvement, approved by the FTC as more durable, and due to the evolution of carpet care understanding it is much easier to keep clean.   

How do I know it works?

Mohawk has been selling and the dealers have been installing SmartStrand with Dupont’s Sorona® fiber since 2004. Fine Rugs of Charleston elected to enter the broadloom carpet business in 2008 and we have sold and installed SmartStrand in a number of homes.  We are so happy with its performance that we are offering a lifetime replacement guarantee.  See our website for full details, http://www.finerugsofcharleston.com 

Before we made this aggressive guarantee I studied the history and development of Sorona® and the SmartStrand products and came away very impressed with it’s potential to be the best carpet fiber ever developed.  I searched all of the carpet cleaning data bases and read hundreds of actual consumer comments on SmartStrand.  I did not see one single customer complaint on the carpet’s performance, only glowing reports of satisfaction.  In the early years, say 2005- 2007, there were many bad reviews left concerning shipping delays as Mohawk fought to keep up with demand.  These seem to have diminished as both DuPont and Mohawk have increased capacity in the intervening years.

In October of 2009 Mohawk’s SmartStrand carpet made with Sorona® fiber was featured on The Martha Stewart Show demonstrating that even red wine wouldn’t stain the carpet.  This was the first time a carpet has earned a feature segment on the nationally syndicated show. In the segment, Martha touted the product’s availability in a collection of beautiful styles in hundreds of colors. Ms. Stewart was very impressed with performance benefits not seen in any other floor covering.  To this point, Martha stressed that she has hesitated serving red wine at parties because of fears of spills and stains. She then showed the audience that SmartStrand has the stain resistance to eliminate that worry.  She gleefully poured red wine on a sample and then removed it with plain warm water.  Her audience was very impressed!

Also in 2009, SmartStrand carpet with DuPont Sorona® had to withstand the constant tracking of mud, dirt, and the daily surprises left by Ricko, a 2,800 pound black rhinoceros.  After more than 14 days, the light colored carpet showed some severe staining. The Birmingham Alabama Zoo’s Ricko, a 12 year old, Eastern Black Rhinoceros, soiled the carpet in many ways. A tropical storm passed through the Birmingham area, forcing the very muddy rhinoceros into spend an extended amount of time in his enclosure for safety reasons. It was during that time Ricko generated some of his most difficult stains. After two weeks the carpet was removed and the cleaning began. 

The entire piece of carpeting was not cleaned, as is visible in the photo below.  Sections of carpet were selected for "before and after" displays so that the cleaned sections could be more clearly identifiable.  "To be honest, I didn’t expect it to come clean at all." said Billy Cochran, a zookeeper who helps care for Ricko.  “I was amazed at how easily that brown carpet became white again.”

"I never had a doubt," said David Duncan, Mohawk's Vice President of Marketing. "SmartStrand’s stain resistance and durability is no match for any stain-maker, whether it's a rhinoceros or your own pets.  We used the same formula, at the same strength, available to every consumer who purchases Mohawk Floor Care Essentials from their local retailer," Duncan said. "Because this was designed to be a true test of our carpet, we didn't clean it using any extraordinary means. And they didn't need anything outside the norm because SmartStrand proved itself to be amazingly stain resistant."
 
Later, in April 2010, Mohawk is put SmartStrand carpet to the test again.  This time the challenge was at one of the most visible sporting events in the nation.  From April 10-18 Mohawk Carpet was a sponsor of the Family Circle Cup Women’s Tennis Tournament, held here in Charleston at Daniel Island.  This is one of the richest and greatest women’s professional tennis events. The Family Circle Cup attracts more than 90,000 visitors to watch many of the world’s best tennis players.  

Mohawk demonstrated the durability of SmartStrand carpet by covering the stadium entrance and exit walkways with snow white carpet subjecting it to nine days of foot traffic.   Any one who has ever gone to the event knows that the parking lots at the Family Circle Cup are temporary and not paved!   Each night, the SmartStrand was cleaned using a standard extraction method by MaxCare Carpet Cleaning.  The same professionals that come to your house to care for your carpet cleaned the white carpet, except for one strip, which was left untouched to show the accumulated soil. The results were spectacular!   

Over the nine days of the event over 97,474 spectators entered the stadium and walked down those white strips of carpet.  The carpet was pure white again every morning when the gates opened.  The Rhino challenge may have proved that SmartStrand carpet comes clean, even under extreme circumstances, but its test at the Family Circle Cup proved that the stain resistance is durable and will not wear away through many, many cleanings.