Cellulase
The enzyme that does not attack the stain at all. It shaves the cotton, which is why 'colour care' products contain it.
In detail
A cellulase acts on cellulose — which in a wash means the cotton itself rather than anything spilled on it. Repeated laundering raises microscopic fibrils on the surface of cotton fibres. Those fibrils tangle into pills, scatter light so colours look faded, and trap particulate soil that then cannot be rinsed out. A cellulase hydrolyses those raised fibrils selectively, removing them and the soil attached to them. The fabric looks brighter and feels smoother, and the effect is often described as colour restoration when it is really the removal of a light-scattering fuzz. It is the clearest illustration of the whole enzyme idea: an enzyme is chosen for a SUBSTRATE, not for a stain, and here the substrate is the garment. Declared within the enzyme class irrespective of concentration.
Why
- Cellulase is explained by Enzymes in cleaning
- Cellulase is explained by Penetration into fibres
Sources for this page
Sources
Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 on detergents, Annex VII — labelling and ingredient data sheet
European Parliament and Council, as retained in UK law (legislation.gov.uk), 2004 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That the class must be declared on a detergent label irrespective of its concentration. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — Annex VII section A, the weight-range list and the declare-regardless list. Supports the claim as stated. Enumerates the ingredient-class family completely, and supplies the vocabulary a reader is actually confronted with on the back of a bottle.
Handbook of Detergents (Surfactant Science Series)
CRC Press / Taylor & Francis · Reference work
Relied on for: That cellulases act on cellulose fibrils raised on cotton during laundering, removing pills and attached soil and improving colour appearance. (background and mechanism only)
Verification: the work exists and is described correctly. Nobody has yet read the specific passage.
Last reviewed by a person on .