When you’re readying your supplies for a job, you want to make sure that you have high quality materials at hand. Moreover, you want to make sure that the supplies you’ve purchased actually are what the company says they are. Unfortunately, it is common for retailers to label rope nylon when it is in fact a blend or different fibers. The next time you’re looking for nylon rope for a project, make sure that it really is 100% nylon rope.
Is your rope 100% nylon? Here’s how you can be sure:
Your Rope Might Not Be 100% Nylon
Believe it or not, the rope you’re using may not be 100% nylon. That’s right – many rope companies sell rope marketed as nylon when they are actually a blend of nylon and other fibers, or they may be composed of another material entirely.
The problem is not just that these companies are misrepresenting the product; they are also potentially compromising their customers’ projects. When you purchase a rope that’s labeled nylon, more often than not, it’s because the task at hand requires a rope that’s 100% nylon.
Don’t be misled by product labels, find out if the rope you’re using really is 100% nylon:
The Muriatic Acid Test
The most reliable method for determining if the rope you have is 100% nylon is the muriatic acid test. Here’s how it works:
Muriatic acid, a corrosive hydrochloric acid, will dissolve nylon, but leave other fibers, like polyester or polypropylene, unaffected.
The test is simple. Submerge the rope in question in muriatic acid. Within just a few minutes, if the rope is truly 100% nylon, it will start to dissolve and become discolored. Other ropes will bear no visible changes from the muriatic acid.
If you want to complete this test yourself, remember that muriatic acid is corrosive, and use caution. Use the proper safety gear, in a very well ventilated area and contact your local waste removal company to appropriately dispose of the muriatic acid.
If you don’t want to get your hands dirty by doing the muriatic acid test yourself, no worries. In this video, QNR does it for you, demonstrating that their 100% nylon rope is aptly named and exposing generic ropes for being misleading.
The Float Test
For a test that’s a little quicker and easier than the muriatic acid test, try the float test.
If the rope in question floats in water, then it is not 100% nylon, as nylon does not float in water. (If the rope does float, this may indicate that it is polypropylene, as that is the fiber’s expected behavior.)
Unfortunately, the float test is not full-proof. While the rope may not float, it is not safe to automatically assume that it is 100% nylon. For instance, the rope could be polyester, as that material also doesn’t float in water. If the rope doesn’t float, there’s also a chance that it is a blend of different fibers and is, therefore, not 100% nylon.
(By the way, for rope enthusiasts who are now wondering if they should also take pains to test if their rope is 100% polypropylene – save your time and effort. Polypropylene is an inexpensive material, so companies rarely misrepresent a rope as 100% polypropylene.)
If you need 100% nylon rope for your next project, but don’t want to do the muriatic acid test or the float test, there is another way: just make sure you’re getting your rope from a reliable supplier, like QNR.
At QNR you can trust that, when we label our rope 100% nylon, it really is 100% nylon. After all, quality nylon rope? It’s in our name.
If you want to judge our 100% nylon rope for yourself, check out this video, where we compare our Knotrite 100% nylon rope to the competing, generic, “nylon” ropes.
Then, browse our nylon rope , and you can inspect them yourself!
Have questions? We welcome you to contact us.
Visit QNR to see more.
