ber towel, mop or duster. The more fibers, the more surface area; the more surface area, the more absorbency and cleaning power. Microfiber made for cleaning applications is split. The fiber is split with a chemical process which creates open spaces in the fiber. If you were to look at a cross section of the fiber under a microscope you would see something similar in shape to an asterisk. On the other hand, a cotton or non-split synthetic would be round. The benefits of the split fiber are two-fold: It creates defined edges which are useful for scraping and lifting soil from surfaces, and it creates open spaces and surface area which make microfiber absorbent. Microfiber is aggressive without being abrasive. This fact makes it ideal for helping our green cleaning chemicals get the job done. It’s the defined edges of each split fiber that do the work. Think of it this way: Obviously, a sharp scraper would be more effective at remov-ing gum from underneath a desk than some-thing with a rounded edge. The comparison between split microfiber and other textiles is the same just on a micro level. The defined edges of each fiber give mi-crofiber the ability to scrape and lift soil from the surface. Microfiber is extremely absorbent. It’s not just great at absorbing liquids, it’s great at storing soil that you have removed from the surface being cleaned. The reason it is so absorbent is simple — surface area. Because the fiber is so small and there are so many of them there is an incredible amount of surface area for liquid and soil to attach to. That surface area is increased exponen-tially by the splitting process. When looking at both close up, compare how much surface area there is on the cot-ton fiber to the microfiber. Now, take all of those tiny fibers, weave them into a fabric, sew that into a tube and then loop it into a tube mop. It’s easy to understand why a microfiber tube mop would absorb three to four times as much liquid as a cotton mop. Microfiber holds many other advantages over cotton and synthetic textiles as well. It’s far more durable; a microfiber towel or mop pad will typically last hundreds of washings if a few simple instructions are fol-lowed to not diminish its useful life. These instructions include: 1. Air dry if possible. If machine drying is necessary, use low heat or no heat. 2. Don’t use fabric softener or detergents with softeners. 3. Use bleach as sparingly as possible. Microfiber doesn’t give off very much lint because of the long staple length of the fi-bers, especially compared to cotton. It’s also electrostatic. It is positively charged so it will attract dust like a magnet, eliminating the need to treat a cloth or dust mop. Because of the changes in the way we clean, we expect our textiles to do more. CM FREE INFO: Reader Service 201 or CMMOnline.com/freeinfo www.cmmonline.com 27
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