CEBE Now in the Internet! |
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| After a year of planning and site development CEBE finally went online in May of this year. "We are preparing for a global and more transparent market. Even though the internet is still in its infancy in Germany, we export into many countries outside the EU and are hoping to improve service and exposure this way." said Aswin Reimers, President. "We also went online with our first exposure to the North American market coming up in Chicago at the ISSA Show", Dr. Jan Michael Reimers, in charge of product development, said. The website, currently at www.cebechem.de and in the future, most likely end of this year, also at www.cebechem.com, features a neatly sorted and easy to step through catalog of the entire product line that CEBE offers. The visitor enters the home page and may choose between the German and English language for the rest of the visit. Even though the amount of information is vast, the structure allows the visitor to view only what (s)he wants. It is not only the spacious and easy to get into product overview but also the sections containing specialties and new developments that make the site so interesting. " The feedback we have had so far has only been positive", says Dr. Reimers. " Clients from all over the world are excited about being able to look into our product lines any time of the day. If they have questions, all they do is send an e-mail, directly from the site." Future add-ons will include the option to download product data sheets and MSDS as well as the ability to place orders online. | ||
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| Enzymes are a necessity for human life. They help
our metabolism to function by catalyzing many biochemical reactions in the human
body. Without enzymes our bodies would not function. It is their catalytic ability
that has made enzymes so useful in the chemical industry, be it bleaching jeans,
making wine, foodstuff for livestock or helping the cleaning industry.
In Germany enzymes have had a continual growth in the laundry detergent industry. Since saving energy has been a big issue, economical as well as political, research and development was emphasized. The result has been exemplary: clothes that had to be washed at 140°F now only need to be washed at 104°F. The whites, which were usually exposed to near boiling temperatures now need only be washed at 140°F with development pushing towards the 104°F mark. These accomplishments were possible due in the main part to enzymes and their improvement in the last twenty years. Of course not only the laundry detergent manufacturers saw enzymes as a possibility to improve product performance. In the cleaning industry enzymes are useful as substitutes for "harder" ingredients. Grease removal, for example, is possible by saponifying it with the help of highly alkaline products, emulsifying it with emulsifiers that are seldomly 100% biodegradable or by using enzymes that break the fat down into watersoluble components. Enzymes seem the logical choice, as they are more user friendly as well as kinder to the environment. CEBE has used enzymes in its product for over twenty years now. In these twenty years the quality and effectiveness of enzymes has improved greatly. However, the greatest challenge lay elsewhere: in the past most enzymatic products were in powdered form. This had to do with the stability of the enzymes when stored in a liquid medium. This problem was overcome over ten years ago, so it was possible to formulate liquid enzyme products, spreading their use. The next challenge was to increase the number of enzymes used in a product. Enzymes are very specific: one type destroys fatty substances, the other starch-containing substances and the next protein-based substances. So why not just combine these in one product? Simple: enzymes are proteins, therefore the protein - degrading enzyme will attack all other enzymes and break them down, making them useless. This challenge has been overcome to a certain extent: it is possible to buffer two enzymes from one another in a liquid medium, without a great loss of performance over a shelf-life of on average one year. The problem, however, is that for every situation you need a different product: you don«t use a shampoo when extraction-cleaning a carpet and vice versa. You don´t use a shampoo when bonnet buffing a carpet either. This means that for each product extensive research and testing is required in order to determine the stability of the enzymes and the effectiveness of the product. The latest developments, after a Bonnet Buffer with two active enzymes, Tapi Bonnet, was put on the market five years ago, and a degreaser with high-protein dissolving power, Cebazym, again using two enzymes, was put on the market four years ago, are Liquid Enzyme Shampoo and Liquid BioGreen, a carpet and upholstery - shampoo and - extraction cleaner, respectively. Liquid Enzyme Shampoo is designed to fight even the toughest dirt. With its enzyme action protein and grease- based stains are no problem, making it suitable for use in hotels, restaurants and dining halls. In addition this product has an extremely stable and dry foam making it ideal for use in foam generators for the Dry-Foam-Method. Its properties do not affect resoiling in a negative manner. Liquid BioGreen does not clean through a high pH as many do, it uses a combination of enzymes and other environmentally friendly actives to obtain an even better result. The multiple enzymes ensure protein, starch and fat-based stain removal. Due to the neutral pH Liquid BioGreen may be used on any fiber or upholstery material giving it allround use. These are the two latest developments of CEBE and will be the centerpiece of the exhibition at the ISSA Show in Chicago from October 12 - 15, 1999. |
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CEBE at the ISSA Show for the first time - as an exhibitor! | ||
| Although CEBE representatives have been at numerous ISSA Shows in the past, and CEBE has been a manufacturer member since 1993, the show in Chicago is the first time CEBE is exhibiting in North America. A business relationship to the U.S.A. has been in existence for many years: both machines and other non-chemical specialty products have been purchased from other ISSA membersand introduced in the German market. Certain ingredients contained in CEBE«s products are also obtained from the U.S.A. However, a sale for CEBE has never been made in North America. It has been a wish of the president and second generation owner of CEBE, Aswin Reimers, to enter the North American market for some time, but he waited for his son, Dr. Jan Michael Reimers, to join the ranks of company ownership to begin in earnest. "He has studied and lived both in the U.S. and Canada for a total of nine years and therefore is better equipped to deal with beginning business here" says Aswin Reimers. This does not mean that he won´t take part, of course. As a focus of this show, CEBE is looking for distributors interested in taking innovative, ecologically safe and user friendly products up in their programs - quality made in Germany. For this purpose an ad was placed in the September/October issue of Maintenance Sales News as well as a product showcase. The fair team consists of Hans-Jürgen Naeder, an experienced sales representative from the Berlin area and Dr. Jan Michael Reimers, Head of Product Development. Both are looking forward to a great show and visiting/revisiting Chicago. | ||
BONNET BUFFING - Progress in Cleaning Depth | ||
| Bonnet Buffing or Bonnet Mop Cleaning or Textile Mop Cleaning, the method has many names but is a simple concept: spray the areas to be cleaned with a quick-drying chemical and work on it using a simple rotary machine with a textile mop made of polyester or cotton. This method, when done on a regular basis and started either after the carpet has been installed or has undergone corrective cleaning, is a low cost but effective way to maintain the carpet and increase the interval size between corrective cleaning by way of extraction cleaning or a combina-tion of shampooing and extraction. The low cost, as we all know, arises from the low labor intensity of this method. In addition, the drying times are fast, decreasing the down time of the cleaned areas; plus moisture sensitive carpeting may be cleaned in this manner as well. Opponents have always argued that this method is only superficial, that is, it only cleans the top of the pile and does not penetrate deeply into the pile. Thus the carpet only appears clean. This argument may be countered with hard facts: wherever this method is applied correctly, corrective cleaning is not necessary as often as when it is not applied. Anybody who has employed this method in the described manner will agree with this statement. Of course, like all other methods, it is not perfect. But manufacturers of bonnet pre-spray products, like CEBE, try to improve the effectiveness of the method all the time. The effectivenes relies on three factors: the cleaning agent used, the bonnet pad used, and the machine used. One could also add the time given for the chemical to work or the time per square meter. We will assume, for the sake of this discussion, that these factors are constant. The machine´s effectiveness may be varied by increasing its weight or its RPM. However, there is a limit: too heavy may damage the pile and too fast may melt the fibers due to the increased frictional heat. The choice of bonnet pads is also limited, if we disregard the multitude of patterns they come in: use the short looped polyester or cotton or the longer fiber polyester or cotton or both. One is mechanically more active, the other absorbs more moisture. Given the time it is probably recommendable to use both - first the short looped one, then the long fiber one to absorb remaining dirt and as much residual moisture as possible. It is the chemical agent that can make the most difference. The principle behind it is quite simple: the pad is clean and the floor is dirty so that a potential driving force to carry the dirt into the pad is there. | ||
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Schematic representation of the working of the chemical agent and the driving force created by the moisture introduced through it. | ||
| How to activate this driving force? With an agent that makes it possible for the dirt to travel. This is accomplished with the pre-spray. The better this pre-spray works, the more dirt will travel from the carpet into the pad, until the pad is dirty. It is the chemical that determines how fast and how efficient this transport is. The more active the chemical, the deeper it will delve into the pile of the carpet and the more dirt will be removed from the carpet. This means that with the right pre-spray bonnet buffing no longer needs to be a superficial cleaning of the carpet´s surface! At CEBE this concept has been understood for quite some time. In addition it has always been a matter of principle that a bonnet buff product not contain any surfactants since this would only accelerate the resoiling process. Even a surfactant with crystalline residue is not good enough, you only need some rain before the next day´s vaccuming to see why. CEBE has had to find other substances that will clean, wet and then dry quickly. In addition the effectiveness of loosening dirt and eliciting its transport into the pad have been under close scrutiny. The first product relied heavily on hard solvents back in the early 80´s. This was altered by using alternatives that were less hazardous for the user and more pleasant in smell. The 90´s brought about a complete change. CEBE came out with Tapi Bonnet in 1995 based on isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) as the ingredient to accelerate drying and a combination of salts and enzymes to enhance the effectiveness of cleaning. This product has had great success on the European and Asian market because the cleaning has become more effective and user friendly. The trend away from solvents occupied product development since and in 1998 BioMatrix® was introduced. No solvents are contained in this product. It has a unique combination of organic and inorganic salts that are extremely effective in loosening dirt and carrying it into the pad. No odor is associated with using this product making it perfect for use in objects where inhabitants are allergic or sensitive to odors. Continuous research is being done at CEBE on improving the products´ effectivenes and making this carpet cleaning method even more thorough. | ||
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