Lipase
The enzyme for fats and oils, and the one whose effect is often only visible after the second wash.
In detail
A lipase splits fats and oils into fatty acids and glycerol, which are far easier to remove than the intact triglyceride. It addresses the soil family that ages worst: an oily stain left on fabric oxidises and polymerises over time into something no surfactant will lift, and the yellowish marks that appear on stored white cotton are frequently old oil rather than anything acquired since. Lipases are unusual among detergent enzymes in that their benefit is often cumulative rather than immediate. A significant part of the fat removal happens during drying and the following wash, so a single cold cycle may show little and a sequence of washes shows a great deal. Declared on a label as part of the enzyme class, irrespective of concentration.
Why
- Lipase is explained by Enzymes in cleaning
- Lipase is explained by Polymerised oil
- Lipase is explained by Why old stains are harder
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 lipases hydrolyse triglyceride soils into fatty acids and glycerol and are formulated into laundry detergents for fatty and oily stains. (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 .