Carpet made from Corn

suprdewey · February 16, 2008, 05:14 PM

Has anyone seen much of this stuff? I'm curious to know what everyone thinks of it.

Peter Kodner · February 16, 2008, 07:03 PM

Suprdewey: Review this previous thread restretch

PTT is discussed in it.

BTW welcome aboard

Jeff Needham · February 16, 2008, 09:23 PM

Hi, guys. DuPont Sorona is a 3 GT polyester. What's that mean? I'm no chemist, but my understanding is, simply, we are looking at a third generation fiber. Polyester- PET, PTT poyester as in Cordura, and now DuPont Sorona- 3GT. I understand there is an application in process to label this a new fiber class. This is, for now a Mohawk exclusive fiber. They've been talking the made from corn story for 4 years. Finally came on line this past fall. Corn or no corn, this is a great product for me. More stain resistant than PET or PTT, more wear resistant than nylon- according to Mohawk/DuPont testing, super soft. My best selling collection of products. And lowest claims ratio of any product line Mohawk has ever made. And of any new product class I've ever sold. Usually we get sold the story, we sell the story, put a lot of something on the floor for about a year, and then start buying back the problems. Not with this! Sell it, install it, love it. And now from up to 37% corn for a real green story.

Peter Kodner · February 17, 2008, 09:21 AM

Jeff, I certainly will not argue with your success with Sorona. If it works for you, keep at it!

This said, I believe there are some inaccuracies in your post. Sorona and Corterra (my error in calling the Shell product Cordura

) are both PTT. How they vary form previous PTT polymer is that the 1,3-propanediol (PDO), the component added to terephthalic acid (PTA) to make the polymer, is made from corn starch through fermentation and genetic engineering versus using ethylene glycol which is an inorganic compound.

There are significant difference between PET and PTT. Resiliency is far more similar to nylon for PTT due to the nature of the molecular chain. PTT forms a spiral/crimped chain and has far superior elastic properties. It also has a significantly lower melting point, in this case a benefit as it will dye at 100° c with any additional carrier substances.

You may find these two attachments interesting:

Note of interest, PTT were actually discovered in 1941 by Shell

They have been around for a considerable amount of time but the bio-engineering of the PDO has finally made them commercial viable.

Last comment: Jeff, please keep us informed on your success with Sorona. My attitude has always been to look for new products that make floors better. If they have built a better mousetrap, I'm all for it. The truth be told, Sorona has been on the market for a while and I have not been commissioned to look at a single job. To use less non-renewavble resource is an admirable pursuit and I turly hope that DuPont/Shell/Mohawk have found a way for our industry to do this.

Respectfully,

Peter

Jeff Needham · February 17, 2008, 01:48 PM

Peter- certainly, everything I know of Sorona is through Mohawk and DuPont. Mohawk treats Sorona as a seperate entity from Corterra, perhaps because of the exclusivity they enjoy with it. And, while till this past year, the made from corn has been "coming soon", perhaps you are right as to that being the difference. They have always touted thae green aspect from day one. Obviously there is no distinction in the attachments you've provided between PTT and the Sorona 3GT. So, I'm now more educated than before. In the meantime, I still love the product. Thanks for the enlightenment.

Peter Kodner · February 17, 2008, 02:51 PM

DuPont has always been the most effective marketer in the industry and has repeatedly used minutiae (Def: precise details; small or trifling matters) to differentiate themselves, i.e. 6 versus 6,6 nylon. They truly are the hype masters of flooring.

I will again iterate, I hope PTT proves to be a better fiber for carpet. Maybe I'm skeptical due to all the other marketing claims we have all heard claims that are not backed up with performance in the field.

February 18, 2008, 01:41 PM

This is the greatest product since sliced bread. We have carried carpet made from corn for Many years. The carpet is softer and easier to seam. We now have carpet tiles along with the broadloom also made from corn. No problems, Great Product. It is amazing how DuPont and some carpet companies are now following the lead other smaller carpet companies that have been doing this for while.

cproader · February 18, 2008, 01:55 PM

Alright, now ya guys have got me curious. I aint even heard of corn carpet.

Where do I go to see somethin on it. I'm thinkin I might need to start carryin some butter and salt in my toolbox too.

rusty baker · February 18, 2008, 02:31 PM

That corn could have been put to better use, making corn liquor.

Daris Mulkin · February 18, 2008, 03:22 PM

They had carpet made out of corn back in the 1800's. Corn husks that is. The women would get together and weave, ya know what I mean.
The stores that sell it around here haven't had any complaints that I know of yet.

Daris

Jeff Needham · February 18, 2008, 04:40 PM

go to Mohawk360.com - Everything Mohawk. Everything Online. This is a clearinghouse of Mohawk websites. down the left side are 2 sites for Mohawk greenworks. Lots of posts there.

Hoss · February 18, 2008, 06:46 PM

We had the distinct opportunity to install this product in the theatre room at the DuPont experimental station in Wilmington Delaware. They also had us make over 200 pieces of 8"x10" bound rugs for the unvailing in New York City. They used the small rugs as rolled up pieces of corn on fake stalks and as people walked by, they just grabbed a small piece of "corn cob carpet samples". It did not feel or seam up any different than other fibers on tufted carpets.

Mark in Tulsa · May 29, 2008, 01:51 PM

According to Jeff Lorberbaum they are not using corn to make the carpet yet. And may not ever do to prices and shortages. I hope they don't because corn prices are already high for the increase in ethanol. This is already causing feed prices go up, so pretty much every meat on the market is going up, then milk.......etc.

Capiii · September 15, 2008, 07:11 AM

Mark_in_Tulsa said

According to Jeff Lorberbaum they are not using corn to make the carpet yet. And may not ever do to prices and shortages. I hope they don't because corn prices are already high for the increase in ethanol. This is already causing feed prices go up, so pretty much every meat on the market is going up, then milk.......etc.

I agree with you Mark. Diverting food/feed for use in the floor (or the car) just does not sound like a good long-term marketing plan to me. It will not be too long before the general public catches on and starts to associate rising prices with increasing demand from non-food end use. I would expect consumer backlash when it does.

I asked our Mohawk Rep about this in a very direct manner and he indicated that the PTT fiber could be made with other renewable non-food crops. Overall I think it is a great idea...but, whomever thought that using food to do it just hasn't thought this through enough.

We sell the Smartstrand line and I personally love the carpet. Seem to be a good and very different product. If it is half as good as they say it is...We have a real winner here. I do wish that there was more color diversity in the line, I can always sell it, but sometimes have to change over to another product because of color and I sometimes feel as if the customer now thinks they may be getting an inferior product because of color commitment.

Country Flooring Direct · November 1, 2008, 01:57 PM

All I have to say about this product is its GREAT. I sell it as often as possible have no problems with it, its perfect for busy families on a budget. Nicely priced cleans and wears very well. I am of the understanding that the dupont product is more expensive than the Shell product. The shell product is a polyester where as the dupont product is catagorically different. We had a carpet cleaning company go clean a dupont sorona piece and they said it was the easiest carpet they ever cleaned! Sell this rug.