Cleaning Up

Life can be messy, so Chrysler Group is expanding the availability of Milliken Automotive's stain-fighting interior fabric, YES Essentials.

Expect to see YES Essentials in the Chrysler Pacifica cross/utility vehicle. That's in addition to the '07 Dodge Caliber small car, '07 Chrysler Sebring midsize car and four previously announced '07 SUVs — the Jeep Compass and Patriot and Dodge Nitro and Durango.

The fabric, which debuted last month in Caliber as a $150 standalone option, resists stains, affords easy cleanup and features an anti-microbial agent to eliminate odors.

And while Chrysler confirms the special fabric will migrate to Durango's pending platform-mate, the Chrysler Aspen, the auto maker is mum on its next-generation minivan, which is where Milliken will see the most volume, Ward's is told.

Admittedly, however, Chrysler has adopted a strategy of offering the fabric on its “lifestyle” vehicles, says Mitchell J. Clauw, director of front-wheel-drive interior systems engineering.

“Because people are spending more time in them,” Clauw says. And much of that time is spent eating. A recent study by Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research and Taco Bell Corp. shows nearly 60% of vehicle owners permit eating in their vehicles — which leads to the inevitable.

“We made it a point to try to put our development people through what we call basic fire drills, which is try to act like a customer,” Clauw says. “We were particularly looking for people to, in some cases on Caliber, spill things.”

Traditionally, the toughest stains are condiments and coffee. But in a vehicle equipped with YES Essentials, “contaminants” are like water off a duck's back, he adds.

Focus groups were dumbfounded, says Mike Guggenheimer, Milliken's YES Essentials product manager.

“We had parents and just people in general say, ‘You mean, I (don't have to) worry that I knocked my coffee over on the way to take the kids to day camp before I went to work?’”

Milliken's trademarked technology is based on chemicals commonly used in similar applications in the apparel industry. “It's embedded in the fabric,” Guggenheimer says. “It's part of our manufacturing process.”

Cleanup is done with a mild soap solution. And the chore can be left for days without eroding the fabric's performance.

Another breakthrough is the addition of a silver-based anti-microbial agent to prevent odors. “Clean means more than just being able to get stains out,” Guggenheimer adds.

Milliken uses the anti-microbial agent for other products, including wound dressings and refrigerator piping. And as a bonus, YES Essentials resists static, the supplier claims.

Despite its toughness, the fabric has been easy to work with, Chrysler suggests. “There are no limitations,” Clauw claims. “Our seat manufacturers have not found any issues with YES Essentials. It's transparent to their processes.”

Colors, patterns and weaves will be unique to YES Essentials to help distinguish it from base interior fabrics, he adds.

Chrysler retains exclusive rights to the technology through 2007, after which an Asian auto maker will feature it, says Milliken, which also makes a waterproof material — FXC (Fabric for Extreme Conditions) — found in the Honda Element CUV.

Soda, milk and other family staples clean up easily. “Extreme” contaminants such as motor oil, permanent ink and lipstick require a stronger soap solution, Guggenheimer says.

Paint, urethane, varnish, dyes, industrial gums and adhesives — other than water-based glues — still present a problem. So what's next on the stain-fighting horizon?

“Dried nail polish,” Clauw says, ruefully. “There's nothing any fabric in the world can do when it gets down and hardens between the weave.”