Cleanfax Online :: Brought to you by Grand View Media 7/10/10 7:17 PM

Product Certifications
From Volume 22, Issue 7 - July 2007

Feature
Will SOA succeed a second time?

by: Aziz Ullah, Ph.D., MBA

I had heard and read about the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) Seal of Approval (SOA) program,
but I was confused.

I did not know what the benefits of certification would be for either manufacturers of carpet
cleaning products, or for professional cleaners.

After receiving a call from one of my customers, I investigated the CRI website. I came across
an SOA product that aroused my curiosity because I knew this product had a high pH.

Please note that all my findings in this article are current up to April 2007, when I wrote this
article.

The CRI protocol calls for a pH of 4 to 10 for SOA certification.

I went to the website of the product’s manufacturer and looked at the material safety data sheet
(MSDS). I looked at the ingredient list; the blended product had listed the pH between 10.5 and
11.5.

One of the ingredients listed had a pH of (by the manufacturer of that raw material) 13 to 14,
which means very alkaline.

In addition to this ingredient there was one more alkaline ingredient listed with a pH of more
than 11, based on my experience, and the listed ingredients I would have the pH of the
composite blend at 12 to 12.5 for 1 percent solution.

You might think that one to two points’ difference is no big deal, but keep in mind the pH scale is
logarithmic, so each higher number is 10 times the previous number.

A pH of 11 versus 10 is 10 times more alkaline, and a pH of 12 is 100 times more alkaline than
10.

This is not a small company, but a big fish in the small pond of cleaning chemical manufacturers.

More investigation
After seeing this product had SOA certification but apparently did not meet the pH criterion, I
called my contact at a large carpet mill, a CRI member, around January of this year and told him
about it.

He gave me a contact name and telephone number at CRI. I called and was told by the CRI
representative that the product manufacturer sets the ready-to-use dilution and that is the pH
they use.

I told him about the supplier’s given pH and how the pH becomes more alkaline as the carpet
dries. This is due to the fact that after wet-cleaning there is always residue of the cleaning

http://www.cleanfax.com/articleprint.asp?print=1&IndexID=6636734 Page 1 of 7
Cleanfax Online :: Brought to you by Grand View Media 7/10/10 7:17 PM

detergent on the wet carpet, and as the carpet begins to dry this residue gets more and more
concentrated.

This concentration leads to higher and higher pH of an alkaline product.

He promised he would look into it, but as of today I can still say there is at least one product on
paper that has SOA certification that does not meet all SOA criteria.

This is a question of credibility and faith. It undermines the confidence in the certification process
and I felt an article on this topic was in order.

History
Endorsement of products by professional associations is not new; in 1958, Procter & Gamble
promoted the approval of their fluorinated Crest toothpaste by the American Dental Association
and was able to wrest the toothpaste market lead from Colgate.

Government agencies also offer certification, but that has more to do with regulation.

Any product that makes pesticide claims has to be registered with Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).

This registration can be renewed each year.

Penalties for violations are high.

In addition, states also require registration of such products. Similarly, the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) regulates food and drugs. The drugs must be clinically proven to be safe
and effective.

The Gemological Institute of America certifies diamonds.

But, in the United States, there is no agency that certifies detergent or dry cleaning agents
(except, of course, in carpet cleaning).

The reason for this is that “big soapers” will not go for any certification unless there is market
advantage.

In 1986, the fiber producers came out with stain resistance chemistry that protected against
spills from acid dyes, such as those in Kool-Aid.

To maintain warranties, the carpet was to be cleaned within parameters that met certain criteria.

Among the restrictions imposed were that the cleaning chemicals could not contain raw materials
that carry a positive charge, and the pH would not be more than 10.

Later, two of the fiber producers — DuPont and Allied — began certifying specific products that
would meet their criteria and passed their battery of tests.

If my memory serves me correctly, there was no charge for the testing and later a nominal
charge was added in getting the required product tested.

After the product passed the test — and to maintain the certification — the fiber producer would
from time to time obtain the product from the marketplace and test the products again.

Whether the subsequent testing ever took place, I do not know.

Another organization called WoolSafe is a privately run group based in the United Kingdom.

http://www.cleanfax.com/articleprint.asp?print=1&IndexID=6636734 Page 2 of 7
Cleanfax Online :: Brought to you by Grand View Media 7/10/10 7:17 PM

Previously known as the International Wool Secretariat, it was established in 1991. The products
are endorsed to be safe for wool after they pass a battery of tests on cleaning agents.

Tests are run for oxidizing/reducing agents, optical brighteners, buffering and alkalinity tests, pH
of concentrate and ready-to-use, non-volatiles, cleaning efficacy and re-soiling propensity, and
effect on color-fastness.

To maintain approval, the approved products are re-tested annually.

WoolSafe may do random-sample testing if any suspicion is raised about the products.

The charges for testing range from $795 to $1,125, depending on the type of product and
quantity of products tested.

It includes a $440 screening fee. The annual retest is $400.

I will not go into much detail here, but I would say is that a significant amount of hand-knotted
wool carpet entering this country is already damaged during the finishing process, where sulfuric
acid, chlorine bleach, and caustic soda are used copiously.

When I asked one of the carpet manufacturers on an overseas trip why they use corrosive
materials on wool, he answered, “This is what the customer wants.” That is to say, they want
shiny, lustrous carpet.

Cleaning with a WoolSafe-approved product is no different than trying to revive a dead sapling
with bottled spring water.

The first SOA

In 1994, carpet mills that were members of the Carpet and Rug Institute brought about a testing
program called the Seal of Approval.

To maintain warranty on the carpet, in addition to the extensive exclusions, CRI mandated the
carpet must be maintained using SOA products.

The cleaning chemicals were tested for the following:

Efficacy — the ability to remove soil

Re-soiling — from detergent residue
The pH of the ready-to-clean solution — between 4 to10, as recommended
Optical brighteners — that the cleaning chemical has none
Color-fastness to light.

It does not grade the product’s cleaning power or other attributes as compared to similar
products being tested, so a retail product available at a grocery store that has SOA certification
might be considered equivalent to a commercial product with an SOA certification that is
formulated for professional cleaners.

Basically, it is a pass/fail test.

On the surface, the SOA certification appears to be a fine idea, but it has created uncertainty
and confusion for the cleaners and the cleaning industry, not too different from 1986 when stain-
resistant nylon was introduced.

But unlike 1986, now there is a hefty charge for getting the product tested.

The charge for pre-spray and in-tank cleaners is $2,100 per year, and for spotters $1,250; this

http://www.cleanfax.com/articleprint.asp?print=1&IndexID=6636734 Page 3 of 7
Cleanfax Online :: Brought to you by Grand View Media 7/10/10 7:17 PM

was later modified to $2,000 and $1,200, respectively.

The annual retesting fee was brought down from $2,100 to $700 for cleaners, and spotters went
down from $1,250 to $600, but only 25 percent of all the SOA products were randomly tested.

The CRI member charges are about 25 to 30 percent lower than for nonmembers, and for
retesting are 50 to 60 percent lower.

Now, let us look at the products with CRI SOA certification. As of today, only 113 cleaning
products from 67 companies have the CRI SOA certification, which is a very small fraction of the
manufacturers of cleaning chemicals. So it averages less than two products per company.

Most listed companies have only one SOA product and mostly these are spotters.

The company with the most SOA products is owned by The Home Depot.

Most companies with the CRI SOA certification cater only to the retail trade, which relies on high
volume.

Of the 67 companies, only 25 percent are related to the professional cleaning industry, indicating
this industry has not eagerly embraced it.

There are more than 130 chemical companies that cater to the carpet cleaning industry (this
information is listed in a trade magazine). Only 17 of these companies have SOA certification
mostly on one product of the numerous products the companies offer.

A number of chemical and equipment manufacturers have adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

They do not understand if CRI is trying to only protect its turf at suppliers’ expense, or if there
are real benefits to carpet cleaners.

They do not know where CRI SOA certification will lead to.

Would it be reminiscent of 1986?

After the introduction of Stainmaster and similar fibers, there was a lot of anticipation, anxiety,
and uncertainty for the next few years, especially for producers of cleaning chemicals and their
customers.

I do not know if anyone remembers the problem with two Over Sprays, SR and NR, which not
only retailed then for the price of $88 per gallon but also stained carpet.

What happened to other approved products? What is the market share of those products now?
Have many cleaners specifically ask for them by name? Is anyone checking their authenticity and
if they meet the cleaning criteria?

The approved products would meet the physical criteria, but the cleaning efficacy was a different
matter.

There were rumors of cheating going on at that time. To get the cleaning efficacy, non-approved
products were being substituted for the approved ones.

Some manufacturers will not take action on anything that costs them money or customers, and
certainly not all companies want to participate or pay for such things as testing that were once
free.

It would be easier for manufacturers to accept the certification process as long there is no

http://www.cleanfax.com/articleprint.asp?print=1&IndexID=6636734 Page 4 of 7
Cleanfax Online :: Brought to you by Grand View Media 7/10/10 7:17 PM

significant conflict with the bottom line.

Some companies are wary of the high cost of getting a cleaning product tested.

According to Werner Braun, president of CRI, 80 to 89 percent of the cost goes to the testing
lab.

So if you are not a member and you have to get a conservative number of 10 cleaning products
evaluated for SOA certification, you are out-of-pocket to approximately $20,000 even before
you’ve sold a single gallon of the product.

This is just in the first year.

This money has to come from some place, and especially in such a competitive marketplace
small companies with limited resources and limited market have to justify the cost.

If the intention of CRI is to encourage you to become a member, this is not the right way of
doing it.

CRI membership is not cheap.

The least expensive membership is $2,000 per year. CRI has 111 members, which includes
manufacturers and associate companies, not a very high number compared with the American
Chemical Society (ACS), which has a membership of 155,701.

It’s possible that the test-cost differentials may be an incentive to raise CRI membership. Not all
carpet mills are members of CRI.

Who benefits?
The president of CRI in an online interview stated that the SOA program is designed to have
“products that work to clean carpet.”

According to CRI, the purpose of the SOA program is to mandate that the certified products
remove stains and soil from carpet without damaging the carpet pile or causing re-soiling
problems.

CRI states: “Effective cleaning has cost-saving, environmental and health-related benefits.
Preserving and even extending a carpet’s life saves residential, commercial and institutional users
from spending money on premature replacement and reduces the amount of carpet going to
landfills. In addition, carpet serves as a trap for allergens and other particles that fall to the
floor. Removing them with vacuums that keep dirt and dust within the canister helps improve air
quality. Likewise, using extractors that effectively recover water and cleaning detergents from
the carpet minimizes the possibility of mold growth, which can occur when dirt and moisture
remain in the carpet.”

But how would this benefit chemical and equipment manufacturers and their customers? From
the carpet cleaning chemical and equipment manufacturer perspective, what are the benefits to
them, and what are the benefits to the professional cleaner?

None are spelled out in the CRI brochure or their website.

To make this program successful, all these parties — especially the professional cleaner — have
to be willingly involved, and without their participation, this program may not succeed without
incentives for them.

This program may become a sideline, and the companies that accepted and pursued SOA
certification will have wasted money on testing, all for nothing.

http://www.cleanfax.com/articleprint.asp?print=1&IndexID=6636734 Page 5 of 7
Cleanfax Online :: Brought to you by Grand View Media 7/10/10 7:17 PM

I am not a lawyer but, under the tie-in provision of the federal Magnusson-Moss Warrany Act, if
the cleaner uses non-CRI SOA products, member companies cannot deny warranty coverage for
the carpet if the products meet the criteria set forth.

So who needs SOA products?

Old habits die hard

To adopt the SOA products may prove a challenge as cleaners are entrenched in the traditional
alkaline products.

Many resist change because the immediate benefits are not always obvious. Evidence is
circumstantial, but the pattern is clear.

Many manufacturers offer cleaning products with pH of more than 10, in addition to those
acceptable to CRI guidelines.

If you check with the suppliers that offer products with both pH more than and less than 10, you
will no doubt find that the products that are more than 10 outsells products that have the lower
pH.

None of these higher pH products would pass the CRI screening test. It does not mean higher pH
will not clean worse than a product with the lower pH.

I am not endorsing higher pH products; other things being equal, the higher pH product will
remove more oily soil than lower pH product, but at a cost.

It is the professional cleaners who are comfortable with the products’ performance that make it
popular.

Decision makers
No matter how hard you try, in a free economy it is the end user who will make or break an idea
or product.

A lot of instances of this come to mind, such as Ford’s Edsel, Coca-Cola’s ill-fated introduction of
New Coke in 1985, the demise of the Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea dollar coins, and
President Carter’s unsuccessful attempt to convert the United States to the metric system.

For a program to be successful, it should be made into a law, like taxation, where the penalties
are high if you are caught evading it, or like the EPA’S FIFRA law, where you substantiate the
antimicrobial claims.

The alternative is that the professional cleaner must drive or create a demand.

There was very little demand for personal computers until Steve Jobs put one on the market and
persuaded consumers it was something they should have.

Unless the professional cleaner sees tangible benefits in SOA products, they will be reluctant to
switch.

Making it work
Manufacturing companies desire and like endorsement, but not at a steep cost.

For the program to succeed, CRI has to make it more palatable in terms of cost.

Instead of imposing from the top, CRI needs to obtain input from the manufacturer before trying
to regulate them.

http://www.cleanfax.com/articleprint.asp?print=1&IndexID=6636734 Page 6 of 7
Cleanfax Online :: Brought to you by Grand View Media 7/10/10 7:17 PM

To make this SOA certification endeavor successful, there should be a more concerted and
collaborative effort by involving the manufacturing companies of cleaning chemicals and
equipment and their customers — the professional cleaners, the real foot soldiers.

The professional carpet cleaner is fiercely independent and does not like to be dictated to.

The president of CRI indicates the old SOA certification program died due to lack of interest.

Only time will tell as to the success or failure of the current program.

Aziz Ullah, Ph.D., MBA, is president of Fabpro Manufacturing, a leading formulator of top-quality
carpet and upholstery cleaning products. He is a member of the American Chemical Society,
senior member of the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists, and member of
The Textile Institute (UK). He can be reached at www.fabpro.com.

http://www.cleanfax.com/articleprint.asp?print=1&IndexID=6636734 Page 7 of 7