Hi Guys,
Microsplitters have been massively hyped and the science has become blurred along the way.
A typical cleaning detergent for carpets will contain among other things surfactants , which wet out the substrate and reduce the surface tension of the water and phosphates which 'shear' the dirt from the fibres.
Microsplitters which is a marketing , not technical term are basically the phosphates without the surfactants , predominantly sodium tripolyphosphate STPP.As there is no surfactant to wet out the fibre and allow the phosphate to work this step is replaced by agitation.
So back to the original question why don't MS work sometimes.
I believe the answer is that some fibres will wet out better than others, MS will probably contain a wetting agent , but some fibres and particularly if they are heavily soiled will require a surfactant to wet out.
If we are using an inline detergent rather than a prespray this will be at temperatures of 50- 90C which will be very effective , MS just cannot do this .
As for enviromental facors this is an incredibly complex subject as all chemicals have enviromental impacts and there are all the other considerations such as energy consumption etc.
Privately almost all CC's I have spoken say they use detergent based chemicals and MS depending on level of soiling, type of carpet and how much time they can spend on a particular carpet.
I have tried to keep it simplish , but there are lots of conflicting arguments which people who are selling products will use the arguments which best suit them.However you cannot beat what you see with your eyes.
I persoanally only use MS on some upholstery and lightly soiled carpets . If a customer is chemical concious , I will prespray and extract with hot water . This prespray may be detergent or MS .
Cheers
Doug