Shaw Industries Invents New Testing Methodology to Detect PFAS

Company Makes Process Publicly Available to Help Those Seeking to Remove PFAS from their Operations

DALTON, Ga., Dec. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Global flooring provider and sustainability leader Shaw Industries (Shaw) has invented a new testing methodology that allows organizations to detect PFAS (perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances) in their operations.

The methodology was developed as part of the company's rigorous efforts to keep PFAS out of its manufacturing processes.

Shaw ceased using PFAS-based materials to repel soil and stains in all of its U.S. carpet products by January 2019 – contractually requiring its third-party suppliers to provide materials that did not contain PFAS. However, through its ongoing due diligence, Shaw found that testing was needed to prevent PFAS from entering its manufacturing processes because suppliers oftentimes did not know that PFAS were in the materials they were selling.

"When materials we purchased were tested using existing protocols, they would show non-detect for PFAS, but what we discovered is that drinking water testing wasn't accurate for soaps, oils, resins, and other solid materials – really anything other than drinking water," Kellie Ballew, Shaw vice president of environmental affairs noted, adding, "An adequate testing methodology didn't exist, so we invented one."

About PFAS
PFAS, a group of nearly 15,000 chemicals (source: EPA), have been used in a wide variety of industrial applications since the 1940s and are used in hundreds of everyday products including soap, pizza boxes, microwave popcorn bags, cosmetics, dental floss, contact lenses and other items for heat, soil or stain resistance. As a result, they are ubiquitous in society.

Since filing for the patent in December 2024, Shaw has used this methodology to uncover PFAS in more than 60 materials where PFAS testing previously showed 'non-detect' levels.

"Working with our suppliers over the past year, we've sought feedback regarding the impact of this new testing methodology to understand, its ease of use, and the various ways in which it might be applied. Based upon those learnings and confirmation of the viability of this testing to others, we wanted to more proactively share the patent-pending process with others because this isn't carpet issue or even a manufacturing issue. Until chemical manufacturers stop making PFAS, anyone looking to remove these chemistries from their products, operations or supply chains will have to be as diligent as we've been. And I hope that by sharing our testing innovation, others don't have to start from scratch like we did," Ballew concluded.

About the testing methodology:
Developed by Shaw scientist Clay Hampton, the methodology focuses on how test samples are prepared. The process mimics the impacts of time, temperature and PH that materials are typically exposed to in industrial settings revealing PFAS that are otherwise hidden in the ingredients companies purchase. Learn more: https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2025217656A2/en?oq=WO2025217656A2

ABOUT SHAW
Shaw Industries Group, Inc. is a leader in flooring and other surface solutions designed for residential housing, commercial spaces and outdoor environments. Leveraging strengths in design, innovation and operational excellence, the company takes a people-centered, customer-focused, and growth-minded approach to meet diverse market needs. It creates differentiated customer experiences through its expansive portfolio of brands: Anderson Tuftex®, COREtec®, Shaw Floors®, Patcraft®, Philadelphia Commercial®, Shaw Contract®, Shaw Sports Turf®, Shawgrass®, Southwest Greens®, Watershed Geo® and more.

Headquartered in Dalton, Ga., Shaw is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. with approximately $6 billion in annual sales and 18,000 associates worldwide. 

SOURCE Shaw Industries Group, Inc.