A comparison of soil repellent vs. dual action fluorocarbon finishes on cotton blends

The new dual-action technologies provide the best of both worlds in stain protection. The repel function allows most liquid based spills, to bead up and be wiped off, thereby preventing soils from staining the fabric. The release function works on soils that penetrate fabrics such as grass, mustard, and motor oils. The Clothes Care Research Center (CC RC) took on the challenge of conducting a head-to-head comparison of soil repellent and a stain repel/ release product in the apparel market. To meet the challenge and answer these questions, CCRC's technical committee developed a series of recommended care instructions for flurocarbon treated garments. A leading brand of fluorocarbon treated plants was selected. The objective of the research project was to compa re the appearance and performance characteristics of both finishes. The care instructions provided with the fluorocarbon treated pants were used as a guideline for the care instructions for both soil repellent and stain repel/ release products. In every performance test except the spray test, the repel/release fabric out-performed the repel-only fabric. Most notably, the color retention, the performance in the alcohol test, and the release of the dirty motor oil stains was substantially better for the repel/release fabric. Due to the fact that fabric softener and ironing had little to no effect on most of the repel/release performance results, it was concluded that warning against using fabric softener and the suggestion to iron after every five wash cycles would not be needed on the repel/ release fabric. This is important since consumer research suggests that these recommendations are unlikely to be followed by the average consumer.