Clean knowledgeably with these laundry detergent facts.
- Laundry detergent is a compound typically used in conjunction with water, to clean articles of clothing, towels, sheets, and other linen, most often in washing machines.
- ‘Laundry detergent’ is also known as ‘washing powder’ and ‘laundry powder’.
- Laundry detergent is most commonly available in the form of a powder, but it is also readily available as a liquid.
- Laundry detergent was historically made of a combination of charcoal, water, ash, sulphur and silicates, and at different times, only some of these ingredients were used.
- Soap was the traditional and most common cleaning agent for cleaning laundry items, up until the late 1940s.
- Chemical laundry detergent has been manufactured since 1916, first in Germany due to the lack of soap available as a result of World War I.
- Laundry detergent became popularised in 1950, due to the increased use of washing machines, and was primarily made of branched alkylbenzenesulfonates, which were not environmentally friendly, until the improved, linear alkylbenzenesulfonates, were used.
- Laundry detergent is typically made of alkylbenzenesulfonate, although other surfactants may be used, water softener, bleach and enzymes.
- Modern laundry detergent often contains phosphates, that can cause significant ecological issues, and for this reason are currently being removed from most detergents.
- Laundry detergent helps to remove dirt and other particles from materials, mainly by suspending them in water, which prevents them from reattaching themselves to the fabric.
Bibliography:
Laundry Detergent, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laundry_detergent
Long H, Laundry Detergent History, 2014, Love to Know, http://cleaning.lovetoknow.com/Laundry_Detergent_History
