History
Soap has been around for 5000 years. Both the Egyptians and the Babylonians used soap for personal cleaning. The soap was a mixture of fats and ashes from extracted animals. Although its basic principles remain the same, it is now manufactured using a sophisticated manufacturing and chemical process.
During the Middle Ages, the use of soap was considered unnatural. Some historians suggest that the rejection of soap and the associated poor hygiene may have contributed to the Black Death that ravaged Europe.
Even the intolerance of people who continued to use cleaners may have been exacerbated. Their religious laws required cleanliness, so they continued to use soap. However, the Europeans rejected soap at this time because it was considered a diabolical product.
For some people it is a mysterious product that they imagine filled with numerous secret ingredients boiled in a cauldron. While it is not a magic product, it is definitely a substance that has helped transform society. It’s something we use every day to make our busy lives easier and safer.
Detergent is not soap
Before World War II, clothes were cleaned with soap or soap flakes. After the war, detergent became the predominant choice for cleaning clothes. It was less expensive, more convenient, and worked better with the newer washers.
How to clean clothes
Most people don’t realize that it is the water in the washing machine that does most of the cleaning, not the detergent. Mainly, it is the water that mixes with the dirt on the clothes that lifts the dirty matter and keeps it in suspension. Then, when the washing machine drains, the water finishes the job, taking the dirt with it.
Question: So if the water does the job, why do we need the detergent? Answer: Because detergent makes everything happen more efficiently.
Although water appears to be a large body of liquid, in reality it is not. In fact, it is made up of tiny balls of water due to a phenomenon called surface tension. The job of the detergent is to break this surface tension. Once the surface tension is broken, the water will mix better with other water molecules.
By reducing its surface tension, water can be made to penetrate the fabric of clothing instead of sliding off its surface. So in effect, the detergent makes the water more efficient. Some people describe it as making the water “slippery.” The result is that water can attack dirt more aggressively, loosen it, and then hold it back until it can be washed.
In addition, the detergent helps keep the dirt suspended in the water. This is necessary to prevent dirt from adhering to the clothing fabric.
Detergent and hard water
When detergent is used in hard water, it produces soapy suds. Yes, the same thing that ring does in your bathtub. The harder the water, the more soap suds.
The hardness of water is a measure of its mineral content. So the more minerals, the more soap suds. The more foam, the less concentrated the detergent. Therefore, if your water is hard, you must compensate with more detergent. On the contrary, the softer the water, the less detergent is needed to clean the clothes. If you read the detergent box, it will usually tell you how much detergent is needed for different water hardnesses.
Not sure how hard the water is? Call your municipality or water supplier and ask for the hardness level of the water. It is priced in grains. That is, 2-4 grains is soft, 4-6 grains is medium, and above 6-8 grains is hard water. If you don’t know the hardness of the water, experiment. Reduce the use of detergent. If the clothes are still clean, cut them more.
Once the perfect amount of detergent required is determined, continue to use this same amount for each load. Always use a measuring cup to dispense your detergent. The plastic that usually comes in the detergent box is enough. Use a marker pen to draw a line across the measurement so that the proper amount is consistent. Simply throwing away an amount from the box is wasteful and will contribute to poor cleaning results.
New products
In recent years, the front-loading washing machine has become common. They have attracted a lot of attention because they use substantially less water and electricity. A front loader uses approximately 40% less water and 50% less electricity.
Clothes are no longer suspended in a large tub of water. Instead, they roll into a horizontal tub and only pass through the water when they are at the bottom of the tub. Clothes are constantly being collected and then thrown into the water. This flipping action replaces the agitator used in a top loading machine.
Along with the introduction of the front loader, a new generation of laundry detergent has arrived. It’s called a high-energy or high-efficiency detergent. Generally known as HE detergent. This type of detergent produces very little suds.
A low sudsing detergent is needed for a front loading washing machine. If there was foam, they would form a cushion at the bottom of the tub, between the clothes and the water. This would drastically reduce the cleaning action of the water.
Additionally, front-loading machines generally require less detergent per load of laundry.
Some sources indicate that this is because less water needs less detergent to obtain the same ratio of water to detergent. Other sources suggest that it is because the HE detergent is more concentrated and therefore less is needed to produce the same cleaning action.
The future
What will the future bring to the field of laundry detergent and cleaning?
Manufacturers have been hinting at a type of washing machine that does not require detergent. Some think it will take the form of a microwave washing machine. Dirt radiates to the point where it practically vaporizes. It sounds like something out of Star Trek.
Others suggest that washing machines can use electrically charged particles to do the cleaning. Dirt would be given a different electrical charge than clothing. In this way, dirt can be removed from the fabric and then disposed of in a filter.
These things seem pretty far-fetched and theoretical.
But the same thing is always said until someone learns how to turn a crazy theory into a practical device.