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by PaulHoule
1724 days ago
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To put a brand name to it. The original "Scotchguard" was PFOS and it was reformulated in the early 2000s to PFAS which is believed to be less dangerous. PFOS and PFAS are "fluorosurfactants" which are surfactants in the sense of "surface acting agents" but are very different from the usual soaps, detergents and disinfectants that help things mix. Applied to solid surfaces it does the opposite. It's pretty amazing that you can apply it to a rug, pour coffee on it, and it wipes right off without sticking. |
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This should be PFBS, according to Wikipedia. PFAS is the whole family of chemicals, PFBS is a particular member with a much shorter half-life than PFOS. “PFAS” getting a non-abbreviation moniker would sure help to disambiguate things.
Also from WP, Scotchgard now uses “a proprietary fluorinated urethane,” which means we know next to nothing about it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotchgard