Monofilament Mania

It’s official! Everyone in the synthetic turf business now has a monofilament “turf” system, and the misinformation is flying! As recently as July 2005, Desso was one of the only providers of monofilament synthetic turf systems in North America. Imitation is said to be the most sincere form of flattery, so we welcome the industry to our technology!

Newcomers to monofilament systems are now stating that the key point of differentiation between all products is face or fiber weight. This argument is not new, in fact it was the only way the herd of turf companies all offering identical fibrillated slit-film fibers could differentiate themselves from their commodity competitors. 34 ounce/yd slit-film was superior to 27 ounce, and so on, as the fibers used by all turf vendors were identical.

We believe the key point in examining the merits of monofilament turf systems should be based upon the proven history of fiber performing in a synthetic turf system. Simply put experience and proven performance trump pile weight.

Desso has been using its monofilament fiber in synthetic turf systems since 1991, with over 3600 installations in place world-wide! The oldest Desso field still in use is 14 years old (about two to three times the length of time most of our competitors have been in business).

Desso is one of the only providers in North America that extrudes its fiber... all others, from the oldest to the newest entry to the turf market, buy their fiber from the same 2 or 3 fiber makers. These fibers share the following traits:

• No track record of use in synthetic turf systems prior to mass introduction in the summer of 2005.

• No field testing of the fibers in synthetic turf systems prior to mass introduction in the summer of 2005.

• No experience in the tufting of these fibers into a synthetic turf.

• No experience in the coating of turf systems containing these fibers.

As a result, these turf providers have no earthly idea of how these fibers will actually perform!

The “sales” story now being offered that one turf is “better” because it has more unproven monofilament fiber than the other is true but meaningless. Unproven monofilament fiber represents a significant risk to the owner and one should not be misled by recycled sales pitches of slit-film turf vendors.

The design of a synthetic turf system has many components that affect performance. Pile height, pile weight, fiber thickness, all affect playability.

To simply state that one variable, the amount of fiber, ( unproven fiber at that) is the key issue shows a lack of understanding of the design of high performance synthetic turf systems.

But, if that is all you have... well one can understand the competitive sales pitch!

Home  >  SSNA News  >  Monofilament Mania

• Lambeau Field To Receive Playing Surface Upgrade (December 7, 2006) [PDF File]

• SSNA addresses the misinformation surrounding Monofilament Turf Systems (October 31, 2006)

• Invesco Field is Professional Football and Soccer Field of the Year (February 6, 2006) [PDF File]

• Marturano Recreation Company (December 9, 2005)

• Sports Turf Group (December 6, 2005)

• Oklahoma State University (May 3, 2005)