Pro's Corner

We designed this blog to be as generic as possible. No one wants to read anything that constantly uses a product name in every sentence or paragraph. However, we wanted our cleaning customers to get a glimpse into product development as it happens. Therefore, we need to discuss the names in order to relay the details of the new formulas developed. One good thing for our customers is that we have an organized vetting process that follows every step of the development process. Any final formula will have several iterations before this process ends. Sometime the project is tabled or dropped altogether. A few will be tested by competent cleaners who we know will give objective feedback.

Imagine yourself being in a meeting where there was a challenge to make a powdered restorative pre-spray. We had powdered pre-sprays with the pH range being between pH 8 to 10. The end of 2010 was the time frame where we had transitioned to make all powdered formulas in our Salt Lake City Plant. The starting place for this new formula was in the branding. We decided to use the name of our two best known brands: Flex and Citrus Solv. We had the name and needed to develop a cleaning formula honoring this brand awareness with a launch in June of 2012.

Making this formula in a powder had a couple of advantages over the liquid counterparts. First, strong alkaline liquids were corrosive hazards in the bottle. A powder needs to be liquid to fully utilize the alkalinity in the formula. The result human exposure was at the ready to use dilution and not in the liquid gallon. Second, d’limonene needs 3 to 5 times more surfactant to be dissolved equally in a liquid concentrate. Powders are limited to about 10% of formula being liquid before bricking issues abound. The result is that we could put a typical boost of Citrus Solv in the powder without needing any more added to the ready to use pre-spray. The result was that Flex Powder with Citrus Solv only need to be diluted in one step. Early cleaning tests confirmed that the basic formula was the best powdered pre-spray that we had made for soft surfaces with no doubt. 

In the days before the release, we discussed among ourselves if this would be a good launch. We felt that it would become part of the Bridgepoint family of powdered products. However, we had no idea how quickly this product would grow. We can say in retrospect that the product exploded into orbit and has never returned to earth as of this date. For the first 18 months we made production decisions every week without the use of computer predictions. Within the first year we made twenty-seven 2000 pound batches back to back for a whole week.

As you can imagine, our colleagues did their best to create an alternative. However, the brand recognition was amazing and the product worked well at restoring soiled carpet with a pure orange aroma. Our colleagues made their offerings with d’limonene. However, we used food grade d’limonene at a level unaffordable for our industry counterparts. We already had the advantage of buying truckload quantities of food grade d’limonene at a price that no one could match. This price advantage essentially made our quality and level of d’limonene equal to our colleagues half measures. In short, Flex Powder with Citrus Solv was a pleasant surprise, and we still wonder if the amazing growth trends were a dream.