Stainmaster®

Stainmaster® has kicked off its latest advertising campaign for the fall of 2009.

It's a blessing for anyone who makes a living on carpet either in sales, installation or cleaning and we all should buy Stainmaster carpet. For those who don't know the history of the product as it relates to the cleaning industry and more particularly to Bane-Clene®, here's a short update:

The genesis

In the late '80s. DuPont spent 50 million dollars, a big ad budget in those days, to introduce Stainmaster and it was the best thing that ever happened to a lethargic carpet industry. For the next ten years all carpet sales, not just Stainmaster, reached new heights. In 1987. DuPont's public relations department failed to respond to my inquiries about maintenance requirements for the new product, so I started a test program to see for myself how to clean it and how it would perform. As cleaning professionals, we needed to know if there were any faux pas associated with Stainmaster carpet.

Several mills would gladly have donated the test carpet, but I decided to purchase it through regular channels to see how it would survive shipping in a hot trailer, roll storage in a warehouse, installation and especially how salespeople would present it to the public. A beige cut-pile was purchased from a floor covering store for the break room at our Keystone facility. I was told that it was near bullet proof and my location, color or texture choices were not questioned. Another floor covering store put Stainmaster on 10 steps at my office.

A salesman at my wife's favorite department store, told me that Stainmaster carpet would require no professional cleaning. "Just spot clean it with clear water and vacuum it regularly," said he. I chose a light, champagne-colored cut-pile for the family room in my home. Since there was a blacktop driveway adjacent to the entrance and the room is next to the garage with foot traffic funneled through the center of the room, this seemed to be a poor choice (but good for testing purposes) of color, texture, construction, resilience, durability and longevity. Interestingly, none of the salespeople questioned any of my selections and not one of them, nor the installers, provided a copy of the warranty or any cleaning instructions.

Test results in the plant break room

After testing Stainmaster carpet from 1987 to 1991, there was no indication of discoloration or yellowing in the break room at the plant. The carpet was replaced in 1992 to test a product for another manufacturer. Resistance to matting and crushing was good considering the fact that a residential grade carpet was installed in a commercial application. Spills of soft drinks, coffee and sundry other stains were easily removed.

Test results on the steps at my office

The Stainmaster on the steps at the corporate office was replaced with another manufacturer's carpet in 1997. After ten years it still looked respectable, had good resiliency and tip definition was acceptable considering that it was a cut pile.

Test results in the family room at my home*

The really impressive test carpet is in my family room. After twenty-two years, the Stainmaster carpet is still there and is a tribute to the product considering all that happened to it. During the first five years of concentrated testing, it was cleaned on a monthly schedule using several different methods. A plethora of topical treatments were applied at various times even though most of them were not recommended by the DuPont company. It survived pizza, pets and grandchildren. The only noticeable blemish is an indentation from a hot soldering iron dropped by a clumsy electrician.

For the past few years cleaning has been done at normal intervals of once a year. The traffic lane through the center of the room is not apparent, tip definition is excellent and the fibers still demonstrate remarkable resilience after routine vacuuming. Spills are easily removed and there is no indication of yellowing or any other discoloration.

Conclusion

Stainmaster carpet, produced by a reputable carpet mill with decent face-yarn weight, is long-lasting, retains its aesthetic qualities and is easy to clean.

*Note: The family room carpet was made by West Point Pepperell, a company which was largely known for bed and bath products. It was sold by L.S. Ayres & Co., a major Indiana department store now owned by Macy's.

Fall 2009
Cleaning Digest
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