In the past several years not only have polypropylene sorbents changed so has some of their configurations along with the manufacturing process, now we are seeing a multitude of colors to add to your confusion.

To help solve this problem of identifying this rainbow of colors we need to keep in mind that despite their looks there are still three (3) basic types of poly sorbents which are:

• Oil Specific
• Universal (any aqueous liquid)
• Anti Static

No matter the color, the sorbent sill is one of the three. Generally speaking the colors usually indicate the following:

White—is almost always oil specific sorbent designed to wick hydrocarbons only.
Yellow--is always a universal sorbent. These should be used for any chemical spill including glycol and anti-freeze. It is almost always anti-static in nature and should not be used to recover spills on water.
Grey—90% of these will be the wet-able universal types. Characteristics are like the yellow sorbents.
Blue—are regular selective sorbents. There are colored blue for those users that want to identify their pads and need aid in retrieval when sorbents are left in the snow.
Orange—is the same as blue. These were developed for the North Slope of Alaska to aid in retrieval off of the snow covered tundra.
Green—Universal, the same exact characteristics if yellow. Fewer manufactures select this color as it is has no meaning other than preference.
Black—Normally Universal.
Pink—May be regular sorbents or static resistant. If the pad isn’t marked as “Static Resistant” it shouldn’t be used where safety (static rich environment) is a concern.

Static Resistant—White in color. Usually marked with words “Stat-Resistant” on the pads and rolls. This is not the case in all static-resistant products, the user should be careful to choose the correct pad if safety is a concern. Anti-Stats are mainly packaged in Blue or Pink Bags.