The Cleansing Action of Detergents on Stains and Dirt on Clothes

Most of the dirt is oily in nature and oil as we all know doesnt dissolve in water.
Clothes, when worn, are natured to absorb stains and dirt that naturally contain bacteria,
especially clothes worn by children, workers such as farmers, carpenters, construction workers,
etc. But because of the work and contributions of Research, Chemistry, and different studies,
they have come up to combine chemicals that created the most functional and essential on
expunging unnecessary spots and blots, the detergent.

A detergent is a cleaning agent. It is similar to soap, but with a general structure of

R-SO4-,Na+, where R is a long-chain alkyl group. Detergents were developed in response to the
shortage of the animal and vegetable fats used to make soaps during the World War I and
World War II. Detergent molecules dissociate to form sodium or potassium ions and detergent
ion. They are primarily surfactants, which could be produced easily from petrochemical.
Surfactants is a word made from bits of the words surface active agents, lower the surface
tension of water, essentially making it wetter so that it is less likely to stick to itself and more
likely to interact with oil and grease. Detergents have also molecules with one side that prefers
water (hydrophilic), and another side that prefers oils and fats (hydrophobic). The hydrophilic
side attaches to water molecules, and the hydrophobic side attaches to oil molecules. This
action allows the oil droplets to break up into smaller droplets, surrounded by water. These
smaller droplets are no longer stuck to the material to be cleaned, and are washed away.

Modern detergents may be made from petrochemicals or from oleochemicals derived

from plants and animals. Alkalis and oxidizing agents are also chemicals found in detergents.
There are molecules present in detergents and here are their functions:

Petrochemicals: These fats and oils are hydrocarbon chins which are attracted to the
oily and greasy grime.

Oxidizers: Sulfur trioxide, ethylene oxide, and sulfuric acid are among the molecules
used to produce the hydrophilic component of surfactant. Oxidizers provide an energy source
for chemical reactions. These highly reactive compounds also act as bleaches.

Alkalis: Sodium and potassium hydroxide are used in detergents even as they are used
in soapmaking. They provide positively charged ions to promote chemical reactions.

Some laundry detergents contain optical brighteners. These are fluorescent dyes that
glow blue-white in ultraviolet light. The blue-white color makes yellowed fabrics appear white.
Other ingredient of laundry detergents is Diethyl Ester Dimethyl Ammonium Chloride
(DEEDMAC) that is a fabric softener. It works by reducing the friction between fibers.
Detergent Additive

Mono Ethanol Amine (MEA) is a solvent used to dissolve other laundry detergent ingredient. It
also lowers the freezing point of liquid laundry products to allow them to be transported in cold
weather.

Sodium carbonate peroxide is used as bleach. It breaks down into sodium carbonate and
hydrogen peroxide, which does the actual bleaching

Sodium sulfate I used to dilute powdered detergents

Cleanliness in our body and clothes is one of the parameters of our entire personality; It
symbolizes our personality. Thus, with the existence of such chemicals and its combinations and
mixtures, we can have a clean generality that can expunge not just stain and dirt but a bad
reflection of anyone.

Resources:

Sci-toys.com

Scribd

eHow article by Tucker Cummings

www.rsc.org

scienceelectronics.blogspot.com

BYJUS THE LEARNING APP

Chemistryteam95.blogspot.com