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Laundering in Cold Water: Detergent Considerations for Consumers
Author(s) -
Cameron Bruce A.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
family and consumer sciences research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.372
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1552-3934
pISSN - 1077-727X
DOI - 10.1177/1077727x07308159
Subject(s) - bleach , laundry , pulp and paper industry , chromatography , stain , chemistry , colorimeter , waste management , staining , engineering , medicine , physics , organic chemistry , pathology , quantum mechanics
The e fectiveness (ability to whiten) of six consumer laundry detergents, three powders and three liquids, was tested using a standard procedure. Assessment of each detergent's ability to clean (ability to remove stain, thus whiten) a standard soiled cloth in six di ferent cold water samples was evaluated. Two of the detergents, one powder and one liquid, are new laundry products designed to function in cold water. Results were based on a standardized procedure using launder‐ometer treatment and reflectance colorimeter testing. Although no one detergent was very e fective in whitening, the di ferences in the detergents were significant when compared to the original standard soiled cloth. In addition, when laundering this particular standard soiled cloth (carbon black/olive oil) in cold water, neither of the new cold water detergents were better at cleaning (whitening) the samples than the detergents without bleach or the bleach‐containing detergents, and in fact, the powdered detergent with bleach performed the best in each of the tests in this study. The liquid detergent with bleach was best in comparison to other liquid detergents in only half of the tests performed.