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Laundry detergent
Laundry detergent is a type of detergent (cleaning agent) used for cleaning dirty laundry (clothes). Laundry detergent is manufactured in powder (washing powder) and liquid form.
While powdered and liquid detergents hold roughly equal share of the worldwide laundry detergent market in terms of value, powdered detergents are sold twice as much compared to liquids in terms of volume.
From ancient times, chemical additives were used to facilitate the mechanical washing of textile fibers with water. The earliest recorded evidence of the production of soap-like materials dates back to around 2800 BC in ancient Babylon.
German chemical companies developed an alkyl sulfate surfactant in 1917, in response to shortages of soap ingredients during the Allied Blockade of Germany during World War I. In the 1930s, commercially viable routes to fatty alcohols were developed, and these new materials were converted to their sulfate esters, key ingredients in the commercially important German brand FEWA, produced by BASF, and Dreft, the U.S. brand produced by Procter & Gamble. Such detergents were mainly used in industry until after World War II. By then, new developments and the later conversion of aviation fuel plants to produce tetrapropylene, used in household detergents production, caused a fast growth of domestic use in the late 1940s.
Washing laundry involves removing mixed soils from fiber surfaces. From a chemical viewpoint, soils can be grouped into:
Soils difficult to remove are pigments and dyes, fats, resins, tar, waxes, and denatured protein.
Laundry detergents may contain builders (50% by weight, approximately), surfactants (15%), bleach (7%), enzymes (2%), soil antideposition agents, foam regulators, corrosion inhibitors, optical brighteners, dye transfer inhibitors, fragrances, dyes, fillers and formulation aids.
Builders (also called chelating or sequestering agents) are water softeners. Most domestic water supplies contain some dissolved minerals, especially in hard water areas. The metal cations present in these dissolved minerals, particularly calcium and magnesium ions, can react with surfactants to form soap scum which is much less effective for cleaning and can precipitate onto both fabric and washing machine components. Builders remove mineral ions responsible for hard water through precipitation, chelation, or ion exchange. In addition, they help remove soil by dispersion.
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Laundry detergent AI simulator
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Laundry detergent
Laundry detergent is a type of detergent (cleaning agent) used for cleaning dirty laundry (clothes). Laundry detergent is manufactured in powder (washing powder) and liquid form.
While powdered and liquid detergents hold roughly equal share of the worldwide laundry detergent market in terms of value, powdered detergents are sold twice as much compared to liquids in terms of volume.
From ancient times, chemical additives were used to facilitate the mechanical washing of textile fibers with water. The earliest recorded evidence of the production of soap-like materials dates back to around 2800 BC in ancient Babylon.
German chemical companies developed an alkyl sulfate surfactant in 1917, in response to shortages of soap ingredients during the Allied Blockade of Germany during World War I. In the 1930s, commercially viable routes to fatty alcohols were developed, and these new materials were converted to their sulfate esters, key ingredients in the commercially important German brand FEWA, produced by BASF, and Dreft, the U.S. brand produced by Procter & Gamble. Such detergents were mainly used in industry until after World War II. By then, new developments and the later conversion of aviation fuel plants to produce tetrapropylene, used in household detergents production, caused a fast growth of domestic use in the late 1940s.
Washing laundry involves removing mixed soils from fiber surfaces. From a chemical viewpoint, soils can be grouped into:
Soils difficult to remove are pigments and dyes, fats, resins, tar, waxes, and denatured protein.
Laundry detergents may contain builders (50% by weight, approximately), surfactants (15%), bleach (7%), enzymes (2%), soil antideposition agents, foam regulators, corrosion inhibitors, optical brighteners, dye transfer inhibitors, fragrances, dyes, fillers and formulation aids.
Builders (also called chelating or sequestering agents) are water softeners. Most domestic water supplies contain some dissolved minerals, especially in hard water areas. The metal cations present in these dissolved minerals, particularly calcium and magnesium ions, can react with surfactants to form soap scum which is much less effective for cleaning and can precipitate onto both fabric and washing machine components. Builders remove mineral ions responsible for hard water through precipitation, chelation, or ion exchange. In addition, they help remove soil by dispersion.