| Nylon | | | | Remove the fiber from the liquid andflush with neutral |
| The fiber nylon was introduced first by the DuPont | | | | detergent solution. If theacid blockers are present |
| Chemical Company in 1938. Several years later, | | | | and active, there willbe no discoloration. |
| aftera great deal of development, nylon became the | | | | Polyester |
| firstsynthetic fiber to be used in the entire | | | | The fiber of polyester was first introduced intothe |
| carpetingindustry. | | | | garment industry around in the 1950s. By thelate 1960s, |
| The first 3 generations of fiber experienced | | | | polyester was introduced into thecarpet industry as a |
| manyproblems with the worst being staining. The | | | | face yarn. In hand, feel,and appearance it is similar to |
| 4thgeneration fiber of nylon had a mill applied | | | | nylon, althoughit doesn't possess that same resiliency. |
| coatingthat solved a majority of the staining | | | | |
| problems. Theability of the fiber to repel water and oil | | | | Polyester doesn't absorb water based spills, |
| basedspills as well as soil helped to propel nylon intothe | | | | isn'taffected by urine or kool-aid, but it willabsorb oil |
| top selling carpet fibers out there. | | | | based spills. Polyester is non allergenicand mildew |
| After several other changes, the DuPont | | | | resistant. |
| companyintroduced the fifth generation nylon fiber. | | | | Acrylic/modacrylic |
| Thisstain resistant fiber would repel most dye stainsif | | | | Both of these fibers were first used as carpetyarns |
| treated in a reasonable time. This fiber ismore | | | | around the late 1940s. They disappearedaround 1988 |
| accurately called an acid dye blocker in thatit doesn't | | | | due to the competition from other fibers. |
| allow acid dyes to penetrate and stainthe fiber. | | | | In was reintroduced to the market around 1990in |
| The protective coating mill is applied and fills thedye | | | | Berber styling. |
| sites with anionic molecules. | | | | This was done so that people could take advantageof |
| Tip | | | | the wool like appearance, hand feel, and thefact that |
| An easy way to test fiber for the presence of | | | | its more spot resistant, much easier toclean, and not |
| afluorochemical is to cut a couple of fibers from anon | | | | damaged in the ways that wool is. |
| traffic area and apply a few drops of oil andwater | | | | Olefin |
| mixture. If it beads up, then there is anactive | | | | Olefin is the latest of the synthetic fibers tobe adopted |
| fluorochemical present. | | | | to carpets. Once only available incontinous filament, it |
| Whenever testing for the presence of the acid | | | | is now produced in stapleform as well. Olefin has a |
| dyeblocker, you should again cut a couple of | | | | wide variety of usesthat include primary and |
| fibersfrom a non traffic area, then immerse the fibersin | | | | secondary backing oftufted carpets, warp yarns, and |
| a red kool-aid mixture and wait for 5 minutesor so. | | | | other uses as well. |