How Soil Affects Carpet

According to a well documented study, dry soil comprises 79% of the total soil in a carpet. Most dry soil can be readily removed by routine dry vacuuming. It's the oily and sticky soils (the other 21%) that attract and hold dry soil to the surface. The result is a dull, gray, and ugly appearance.

Releasit® Carpet Maintenance Helps Carpet Stay Clean Longer

The key to effective carpet cleaning is to counteract sticky soils. The Releasit® polymer chemistry surrounds soil particles in the carpet and forms a crystal* that can't attract other soil. While Releasit's crystallizing polymer is curing it is also absorbing the sticky soils that hold dry soil in place. With these oily soils out of the way the carpet looks cleaner. And since there's no dirt attracting residue left behind the carpet continues to look good long after the cleaning..

Releasit® also benefits from using advanced fluorochemical technology. As the carpet is scrubbed the loosened soil and the fiber are both coated with the fluorochemical. The fluorochemical significantly facilitates the extraction of the encapsulated soil particles through routine vacuuming. Additionally, the fluorochemical lowers the surface tension which increases the wetting / cleaning ability. It also helps to increase the carpet's soil resistance. And it has terrific anti-wicking properties. So carpets maintained with Releasit® can stay clean longer.

Why is crystallization so important?

Releasit® brand products employ an innovative polymer technology to form a distinct crystal when it dries. The crystal is the vehicle that enables a good encapsulator to capture soil so it can be removed through post-vacuuming. Although some products may claim to "encapsulate" on the label and they may get the carpet to look good initially, (it's easy to get a carpet to look cleaner) the real concern should be whether or not the encapsulated soil can be removed with post-vacuuming.

Here's a simple test that you can perform to establish what an "encapsulation" product does when it dries. It's very easy. Just take a few drops of the product and dry it in a glass dish overnight. Check the content the next day. Did it form a true crystal? Does it readily release from the dish? Or did it dry sticky, gooey? Was it not completely dried? Or was it possibly stuck like a barnacle to the dish?

This simple dish-drying test will reveal the products soil releasing ability. A good encapsulation product should form a distinct crystal that will break up and release from the dish. Keep in mind that crystallization is the medium that holds the soil in suspension until it can be extracted with post-vacuuming. The soil can't be vacuumed from the carpet if poor crystallizing or no crystallizing occurs.