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Laundering in Cold Water: Detergent Considerations for Consumers

University of Wyoming, unsw{at}uwyo.edu

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.

Key Words: laundry • detergent • cold water detergents • soils • stains • standardized methods

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Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, Vol. 36, No. 2, 151-162 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1077727X07308159


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Cameron, B. A. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?