Surfaces 2021 Takeaways

I’m just back from the annual Surfaces show in Las Vegas. This is the trade show for most anything that goes into a house or building, carpet, hard floor, stone, counters etc., is shown. Here I get a chance to talk to the manufacturers, and often their technical people. This gives me a better idea of the proper care and maintenance of these surfaces, as well as any problems that have developed from field experience. This year’s show was much smaller than normal, around 190 vendors compared with the usual 700-800. Almost all of the international vendors were absent. So not as useful as usual, but still some takeaways.

LVT

LVT is everywhere.  This product category has gone from nothing to 20% of the flooring market in 5 years. Much of it Solid Poly Core (SPC) which is more stable than the straight vinyl core. The vinyl is a thermo-plastic and can deform in direct sun light The SPC takes care of this by adding limestone to the core. Last year I was hearing concerns about using steam mops on these products. It seems that the vapor would get down between the planks, condense, and not evaporate back out leading to a mold problem. This was confirmed this year by most vendors. There was one notable exception. See below.

Water Proof Wood

For several years there has been a move toward surfaces that are easier to clean and maintain. This year two manufacturers showed water proof wood floors that actually had a top layer of wood on a poly core. There is no problem getting a waterproof finish on top, the problem is between the boards. This is solved by the creation of a tight click joint locking the boards together. Mohawk was showing such a joint on its top line laminate last year and has now extended it to its top line LVT and new Ultra Wood. They will warranty these top line products even with the use of a steam mop. Their Ultra Wood has lifetime warranty.

Above, a demo at the Mohawk show room showing 2 ½ gals of water sitting on the Ultra Wood floor vs. water going through a traditional wood floor.

Hygiene Theater

There were presentations throughout the day in a theater set up on the show floor. There was a stage and plastic chairs set up in front. After every presentation there were several people wiping down the chairs with disinfectant wipes. The only problem, studies at the University of Northern Arizona showed that by the third desk of doorknob with the same side of the wipe, you were adding, not subtracting germs from the surface. As I watched, the cleaner wiped down 10 chairs with one wipe. Now since it is highly unlikely that there was anything of concern on the chairs little harm was done, but also little if anything was accomplished to prevent the spread of Covid. This is a perfect example of hygiene theater where cleaning and disinfecting are done primarily to make people feel safer, but not actually be safer.

Recycling

The carpet industry is recycling a lot of drink bottles into polyester carpeting. Mohawk alone has recycled between 7 and 8 billion bottles.

Next year should be back to the Big Show. I’ll be there, God willing,  to make sure we are up to date on how to care for and protect the surfaces in your home or business.