Enzymes in cleaning
Enzymes cut specific stain molecules into smaller soluble pieces. Highly targeted — which is exactly why they attack some fabrics.
In detail
Enzymes are biological catalysts, each acting on one class of molecule. Laundry detergents use several: proteases break down proteins such as blood, egg and milk; amylases break down starches; lipases act on fats. They work by cutting large, insoluble stain molecules into smaller fragments that dissolve and rinse away, and because they are catalysts they are effective in very small quantities and at lower temperatures than the chemical routes would require. This is genuinely why biological detergents outperform non-biological ones on protein stains at moderate temperatures. Their specificity is also the source of their main restriction. A protease cannot distinguish between a protein stain and a protein fibre, so biological detergents damage wool and silk, both of which are proteins. Enzymes are also denatured by heat and by strong oxidisers, so a very hot wash or the presence of chlorine bleach destroys the enzyme activity that was supposed to be doing the work.
Why
- Wool detergent is explained by Enzymes in cleaning
Explained by the ABSENCE of enzymes: the reason this product exists is what has been left out of it.
Sources for this page
Sources
Handbook of Detergents (Surfactant Science Series)
CRC Press / Taylor & Francis · Reference work
Relied on for: That detergent enzymes are substrate-specific catalysts hydrolysing proteins, starches and fats, and that they are deactivated by heat and oxidising agents.
Verification: the work exists and is described correctly. Nobody has yet read the specific passage.
Wool care: how to wash wool, and caring for wool
The Woolmark Company · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That detergents formulated for wool are recommended in preference to standard biological detergents.
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The "How to wash wool" page (machine and hand washing, drying) and the "Caring for wool" page (tumble drying, flat drying, detergent). Supports a narrower statement — our claim was reduced. These pages support the temperature, agitation and drying guidance but NOT the bleach position, which CleaningHQ had attributed here in Sprint 1. That claim was moved to woolmark-detergent-guidance, where the statement actually appears. CleaningHQ's felting explanation is not supported by Woolmark at all and is now carried by the fibre-science record as an interpretation rather than cited here.
Last reviewed by a person on .