Trial Purpose:
To evaluate the effectiveness of Better Life laundry detergent and a comparative product in removing soils from white cotton, purple nylon and orange polyester.
Date Run:
07/26/2019Experiment Procedure:
Nine 4”x 5” swatches per cleaner, three of each fabric type, were contaminated with motor oil, ink, dirt, and mustard and air dried for 24 hours. Fabrics were washed at 88˚F for 12 minutes per cleaner. Fabrics were placed in a five minute spin cycle and a nine minute rinse cycle before drying for 24 hours. A colorimeter was used to take initial, contaminated, and clean measurement values.
SRI = 100 – ((Lc-Lw)2 + (ac-aw)2 + (bc-bw)2)1/2
Where:
L = reflectance
A = redness/greenness
B = yellow/blueness
C = unstained fabric, washed in the treatment conditions
W = stained fabric, washed in the treatment conditions
Trial Results:
Table 1: Results from Cleaner 1
| Cleaner | Fabric | Soil | SRI | Average |
| 1 | White Cotton | Oil | 76.630 | 72.84 |
| Ink | 54.8 | |||
| Dirt | 77.72 | |||
| Mustard | 82.22 | |||
| Purple Nylon | Oil | 93.7 | 72.48 | |
| Ink | 80.94 | |||
| Dirt | 23.13 | |||
| Mustard | 92.14 | |||
| Orange Polyester | Oil | 90.3 | 66.65 | |
| Ink | 55.77 | |||
| Dirt | 22.39 | |||
| Mustard | 98.12 |
Table 2: Results from Cleaner 2
| 2 | White Cotton | Oil | 82.64 | 75.12 |
| Ink | 57.92 | |||
| Dirt | 81.45 | |||
| Mustard | 78.47 | |||
| Purple Nylon | Oil | 93.79 | 77.19 | |
| Ink | 80.74 | |||
| Dirt | 40.62 | |||
| Mustard | 93.62 | |||
| Orange Polyester | Oil | 87.98 | 84.79 | |
| Ink | 56.69 | |||
| Dirt | 96.37 | |||
| Mustard | 98.11 |
Table 3: Cleaner 1 L, a, and b values. % Difference is included
| Initial | Clean | % Difference | |||||||
| L | A | B | L | A | B | L | A | B | |
| White Cotton | 85.59 | -1.23 | 7.29 | 63.02 | 0.82 | 12.49 | 26.38 | 166.76 | -71.25 |
| 85.55 | -1.16 | 7.32 | 41.75 | 0.89 | -3.64 | 51.20 | 176.79 | 149.70 | |
| 85.77 | -1.20 | 7.35 | 63.54 | 0.00 | 6.67 | 25.92 | 99.72 | 9.25 | |
| 85.53 | -1.18 | 7.50 | 82.85 | -2.42 | 25.01 | 3.13 | -104.80 | -233.47 | |
| Purple Nylon | 30.00 | 17.04 | -35.60 | 26.50 | 16.28 | -30.42 | 11.65 | 4.46 | 14.55 |
| 30.07 | 16.84 | -35.36 | 26.63 | 8.16 | -18.75 | 11.44 | 51.56 | 46.98 | |
| 30.34 | 26.42 | -35.67 | 29.51 | 15.50 | -33.79 | 2.75 | 41.35 | 5.27 | |
| 30.27 | 16.83 | -35.58 | 29.37 | 12.14 | -29.34 | 2.98 | 27.88 | 17.54 | |
| Orange Polyester | 66.76 | 26.39 | 42.40 | 58.08 | 30.65 | 42.36 | 13.00 | -16.14 | 0.10 |
| 66.75 | 66.75 | 42.72 | 39.23 | 7.55 | 13.68 | 41.22 | 88.69 | 67.97 | |
| 66.66 | 66.66 | 42.29 | 64.53 | 25.76 | 41.48 | 3.19 | 61.36 | 1.92 | |
| 66.91 | 66.91 | 42.14 | 66.88 | 27.81 | 43.18 | 0.05 | 58.43 | -2.48 | |
Table 4: Cleaner 2 L, a, and b values. % Difference is included
| Initial | Clean | % Difference | |||||||
| L | A | B | L | A | B | L | A | B | |
| White Cotton | 85.80 | -1.36 | 7.45 | 69.54 | 0.48 | 13.11 | 18.95 | 135.14 | -75.94 |
| 86.04 | -1.26 | 7.46 | 44.31 | 0.89 | -3.36 | 48.51 | 170.63 | 145.11 | |
| 87.15 | -0.97 | 3.95 | 68.64 | -0.03 | 4.44 | 21.24 | 96.90 | -12.41 | |
| 88.41 | -0.96 | 1.58 | 85.44 | -3.35 | 22.75 | 3.36 | -248.10 | -1337.05 | |
| Purple Nylon | 30.05 | 16.86 | -35.48 | 26.71 | 15.94 | -30.34 | 11.13 | 5.44 | 14.48 |
| 30.28 | 16.86 | -35.59 | 26.84 | 8.07 | -18.81 | 11.37 | 52.14 | 47.16 | |
| 30.15 | 16.84 | -35.39 | 29.07 | 15.56 | -33.89 | 3.58 | 7.60 | 4.25 | |
| 29.85 | 16.74 | -35.22 | 28.94 | 12.88 | -30.24 | 3.05 | 23.06 | 14.15 | |
| Orange Polyester | 66.80 | 26.23 | 42.11 | 55.91 | 31.24 | 42.06 | 16.31 | -19.10 | 0.11 |
| 66.92 | 26.29 | 42.13 | 39.49 | 8.37 | 13.81 | 40.98 | 68.17 | 67.23 | |
| 66.56 | 26.32 | 41.90 | 63.62 | 25.62 | 39.92 | 4.43 | 2.65 | 4.73 | |
| 66.95 | 26.51 | 42.53 | 65.94 | 27.91 | 42.98 | 1.51 | -5.29 | -1.06 | |
Table 5: Average percent change in fabric color
| % Change | |||
| Better Life Detergent | L | a | b |
| White Cotton | 26.65 | 84.62 | -36.44 |
| Purple Nylon | 7.20 | 31.31 | 21.09 |
| Orange Polyester | 14.37 | 48.09 | 16.88 |
| 7th Generation Detergent | L | a | b |
| White Cotton | 23.02 | 38.64 | -320.07 |
| Purple Nylon | 7.28 | 22.06 | 20.01 |
| Orange Polyester | 15.81 | 11.60 | 17.75 |
Success Rating:
Results successful using TACT (time, agitation, concentration, and temperature, as well as rinsing and drying) and/or other cleaning chemistries examined.Conclusion:
Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent was slightly more effective at removing stains than Better Life Laundry Detergent. Neither were considered overall effective at removing the stains from the fabrics.
