Fabric Protection

Fabric protectors like **Scotchguard are a very good way to protect your fabrics and help keep them clean. 

Fabric protection is often sold as an impervious, fool proof, protective coating rendering your fabric unstainable. This is not and has never been the case. The barrier once cured still has to allow the fabric to "breathe."  This means eventually, if left long enough even cold water will pass through the barrier.

Unfortunately many people have been tricked or at best accidentally misinformed about what fabric protection will and won't do. This has led to a false expectation of the product and therefore eventual disenchantment. Fabric protectors do provide a valuable layer of protection which will give you more time to react to a spill and help you keep your carpets and fabrics cleaner for longer. They do wear out so need to be re-applied, the frequency will depend on the use the item receives.

There are many different fabric protectors on the market and as with most things there are cheap ones and good ones. The cheapest ones tend to have less active ingredient suspended in their carrying agent rendering them less effective.

The carrying agent is designed to keep the active ingredient liquid until it is applied. At this time the carrying agent evaporates and the active ingredient is left to cure. You can see from this, the effectiveness of the barrier is directly effected by the ratio it has to the substance that evaporates. (carrying agent.) Application rates and the application process are also very important.

Hence it may not be a good idea to go for the cheapest as they are most likely to have the least active ingredients.

** Scotchguard is a well known proprietary brand which has been so successful it has become the lay person's word for fabric protection.