AATCC Test Method 122-2000 Carpet Soiling: Service Soiling Method.
3. Terminology
3.1 carpet, n.—all textile floor cover- ings not designated as rugs.
3.2 soil, n.—dirt, oil or other sub- stances not normally intended to be present on a substrate such as a textile material.
3.3 soiling, n.—in textiles, a process by which a textile substrate becomes more or less uniformly covered with/or impregnated with soil.
3.4 textile floor covering, n.—an article having a use-surface composed of textile material and generally used for covering floors.
3.5 use-surface, n.—of textile floor covering, the part of a textile floor cover- ing directly exposed to foot traffic.
4. Safety Precautions NOTE: These safety precautions are for information purposes only. The precautions are ancillary to the testing proce- dures and are not intended to be all inclu- sive. It is the user’s responsibility to use safe and proper techniques in handling materials in this test method. Manufacturers MUST be consulted for specific details such as material safety data sheets and other manufacturer’s recommendations. All OSHA standards and rules must also be consulted and followed.
4.1 Good laboratory practices should be followed. Wear safety glasses in all laboratory areas.
5. Soiling Location
5.1 The soiling location shall be sufficiently removed from any street or other outside area so that the specimen will not be subjected to wet traffic. A distance of at least 15 m (50 ft) is suggested.
5.2 It shall be sufficiently isolated from greasy, oily or other nontypical soiling which might be present in factory areas and the like.
5.3 The traffic pattern in the soiling area shall be such that all specimens are subjected to all of the traffic as in the case of a narrow aisle or passageway with ac- cess only at either end or, alternately, if the traffic cannot be so confined or directed, it shall be randomized to such a degree as to produce the effect of uniform soiling.
5.4 In the case of the long narrow arrangement with traffic only in two opposite directions, a 4 m (12 ft) length of buffer carpet shall be installed at both ends of the test area. For other arrange- ments, or where there is a random traffic pattern, the buffer carpet shall be installed around the perimeter of the test specimens and may extend for a proportionately shorter distance but in no case for less than 6 ft in any direction. The buffer carpet may be of any available fiber or construction but should be light in color in order to avoid errors due to the transfer of fiber or dyestuff to the test specimens.
6. Carpet Specimens
6.1 Specimen size. The size of the test specimens shall be 30 × 30 cm (12 × 12 in.). 6.2 Specimen mounting. The carpet specimens shall be stapled to 12 mm (0.5 in.) marine plywood panels using a heavy duty staple gun (see 13.1). Other suitable methods of fastening the carpet speci- mens may be used. The panel shall then be mounted in a recessed frame with the sides of the frame beveled and with a thin sheet of hardboard attached to the underside to add rigidity. The carpet panels are not fastened in place but remain unattached so that they may be readily shifted or removed.AATCC Test Method 122 pdf download.