By: George Midlik, Midwestern Regional Sales Manager
“My color mill uses less water…no, mine uses less water…” As producers you hear this all the time. Do you really want to use less water or do you need to take a look at that raw material pile you’re about to start coloring? You can use less water and less colorant with some help.
A few years ago I wrote an article on optimal fiber sizing. Optimal size is 5/16” to one inch with fines being 5/16” and less with overs one inch and above. In general, the market has listened; we see more and more producers watching how they are grinding and using screeners in their processing plants. Remember, the quest to produce the optimally sized mulch at zero percent overs, less than 10% fines and 85-95% optimally sized product is real for all mulch manufacturing companies. To be cost effective, the processing systems need to be adjusted. We recommend that you screen to size and only regrind overs. Review options on what screen sizes and shapes are being used in the grinding and screening process.
Producers who achieve optimally sized mulch reap greater profits because the product’s volume isn’t as affected by fines and requires less water to color, therefore, reducing its weight. Regrinding of targeted (optimally sized) material and lack of screening in the industry results in product that contains more volume and weight than necessary and absorbs a greater amount of water to color the fiber, not to mention the impact the weight has on freight costs. The fines cause the loads to be heavier, which means less profit for you the producer.
The real twist we are finding is how much less colorant you can use once the fines are removed. Fines act like little sponges absorbing all the water and colorant before the optimally sized pieces get their share. If you remove any percentage of fines you can see a difference in the finished product. The piles with fewer fines and the same colorant usage rates look bolder and brighter in color value. We took it a step further and matched the look of the fines piles and found we were using half a pound less colorant and getting the same look. I know that half a pound of colorant doesn’t sound like a lot, but multiply that by the yards of colored mulch you produce and it can really add to your bottom line.
If you would like a sieve analysis performed on your raw material to see if you are achieving the optimal fiber size, give your area sales manager a call today.