Laundry detergent
A built, multi-component formulation — not simply soap for clothes. The biological and non-biological split is about enzymes, and it is the one that changes what you can wash.
Precautions
- Keep away from children and pets
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
In detail
A laundry detergent is the most complex product in a domestic cupboard: surfactants to lift soil, builders to manage water hardness, enzymes to break down specific stain classes, a bleaching system in most powders, optical brighteners, anti-redeposition polymers and perfume. Understanding it as a system rather than as soap explains most of the questions people ask about it. Biological detergents contain enzymes — proteases for blood and perspiration, lipases for fats, amylases for starches, cellulases that trim raised fibres — and they are why a cool wash can work at all. Non-biological detergents omit them, which is why they are recommended for wool and silk: both fibres are protein, and a protease does not distinguish a stain from the garment. Powders usually carry an oxygen bleaching system that liquids do not, which is why a powder whitens and a liquid protects colour. Two ingredients cause trouble outside the machine. Optical brighteners are fluorescent dyes, and the carpet trade excludes laundry detergent from carpet cleaning by name for that reason. And residual detergent attracts soil, which is why rinsing is part of the method.
Properties
- pH
- Alkaline
What works
Laundry detergent is effective against Perspiration Supported
Laundry detergent is effective against Grease Supported
Why
- Laundry detergent is explained by Surfactancy
- Laundry detergent is explained by Enzymes in cleaning
- Laundry detergent is explained by Builders and water softening
- Laundry detergent is explained by Oxidation and bleaching
Sources for this page
Sources
Spot Solver: spot and spill removal procedures
The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That laundry detergent of any type is excluded from carpet spot removal because laundry detergents may contain optical brighteners which dye the fibre. (states this directly)
Chemistry World, Royal Society of Chemistry · Credible secondary source
Relied on for: That proteases act on the proteins in blood and perspiration, lipases on fatty stains, amylases on starchy residues and cellulases on raised cellulose fibres. (states this directly)