68901981-detergent

Laundry detergent From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Laundry powder Laundry detergent, or washing powder, is a substance that is a type of detergent (cleaning agent) that is added for cleaning laundry. In common usage, "detergen t" refers to mixtures of chemical compounds including alkylbenzenesulfonates, wh ich are similar to soap but are less affected by "hard water." In most household contexts, the term detergent refers to laundry detergent vs hand soap or other types of cleaning agents. Most detergent is delivered in powdered form.[1] Contents [hide] • 1 History • 2 Chemistry of detergents • 3 Components o 3.1 Builders o 3.2 Bleach o 3.3 Enzymes o 3.4 Other ingredients • 4 Environmental concerns • 5 References • 6 External links [edit] History From ancient times, chemical additives were recognized for their ability to faci litate the mechanical washing with water. The Italians used a mix of sulfur and water with charcoal to clean cloth. Egyptians added ashes and silicates to softe n water. Soaps were the first detergents.[2] The detergent effects of certain sy nthetic surfactants were noted in Germany in 1917, in response to shortages of s oap during World War I. In the 1930s, commercially viable routes to fatty alcoho ls were developed, and these new materials were converted to their sulfate ester s, key ingredients in the commercially important German brand FEWA, produced by BASF, and Dreft, the US brand produced by Procter and Gamble. Such detergents we re mainly used in industry until after World War II. By then, new developments a nd the later conversion of aviation fuel plants to produce tetrapropylene, used in household detergents, caused a fast growth of domestic use in the late 1940s. [3] The use of enzymes for laundry was introduced in the early part of the 1900s by Otto Rohm. Only in the latter part of the century with the availability of therm ally robust bacterial enzymes did this technology become mainstream.[4] At the present time, soap has largely been displaced as the main cleaning agent in developed countries. Soap is, by weight, relatively ineffective, and it is hi ghly sensitive to deactivation by hard water. By the 1950s, soap had almost been completely replaced by branched alkylbenzenesulfonates, but these detergents we re found to be poorly biodegradable. Linear alkylbenzenesulfonates (LABs), howev er, proved to be both highly effective in cleaning and more biodegradable than t he branched relatives. LABs remain the main detergents used domestically. Other detergents that have been developed include the linear alkylsulfonates and olefi nsulfonates, which also resist deactivation by hard water. Both remain specialty products, for example only an estimated 60 million kilograms of the sodium alky lsulfonates are produced annually.[5] During the early development of non-soap s urfactants as commercial cleaning products, the term syndet, short for synthetic detergent, was promoted to indicate the distinction from so-called natural soap s. [edit] Chemistry of detergents Main article: detergent Many kinds of molecules and ions can serve as high-efficiency surfactants. They are often classified according to the charge of the molecule or ion, the three m

68901981-detergent

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