Scotchgard, Stainguard, Teflon, Guardsman - there are many brands of 'protector' in the professional market place, but what do they actually do - and how do they work?
Well first of all, ALL protectors are designed to adhere to the fibre - whether it's on a carpet or upholstery and are essentially a sort of soft coating. It is manufactured this way deliberately because if it was a hard coating (and more resilient) then it would dramatically alter the texture and make it feel hard - a bit like varnish I guess! So it HAS to remain soft but the only downside is that it won't last forever and will slowly lose it's effectiveness over time.
BUT, that doesn't mean it won't give great protection - it just means people need to realise that it isn't a hard finish and then stop everything possible thrown at it!
So how does it work? Well the protector molecules bond to the fibre surface and once fully dried and cured can stop lots of different liquids from permanently staining a carpet. This gives you time to blot it up before it goes any further [scroll down on this page to see a video here]
Will it stop every liquid from penetrating the carpet? The truth is no it won't. Now that's not because the technician hasn't applied it correctly - or used the wrong product. It just means that the protector can only do so much (remember it's not a hard coating).
Will all liquids 'bead up' and sit on the surface? Again, no. Some liquids will, others won't as it depends on the temperature of the liquid, the content of the liquid & the fibre make up. Remember there are some instances when even if a protector is applied correctly it won't bead up - especially if it's a synthetic yarn in a woven construction for instance.
Is there anything else you should know about it? Yes, there is one thing that may be of interest and that is that the actual wear to the fibre is reduced because you are essentially wearing the coating of the protector - before you actually wear the fibre itself. So this does mean that it will help against premature wear of the carpet.
Is it expensive? Well for a good product to work, it's like anything in life - you get what you pay for I guess. So beware of very cheap 'quotes' that say that they will apply a protector for what seems a fantastically low price. They could actually be spraying water down instead of protector, and you would never even know about it!
Author: Kevin Loomes
http://clean-pro.co.uk/Carpet_Cleaning_Blog.htm#What_is_Anti_Stain_Protector_&_Does_It_Work
