Trial Purpose:
To evaluate the effectiveness of laundry pods in removing soils from cotton, purple nylon and green polypropylene.
Date Run:
07/01/2019Experiment 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 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 minutes using both Better Life Laundry Pods and Seventh Generation Laundry Pods. 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:
Change in L values denotes the change in concentration of stain while a and b values denote the spectrum on blue and green shades in the sample. Thus, these values denote the amount of stain that the detergent was capable of removing.
The SRI for all materials when the test was performed with supplied detergent is calculated as:
Table 1: Results from Cleaner 1 and 2
| Cleaner | Fabric | Soil | SRI | Average % Removal |
| 1 | White Cotton | Oil | 85.81 | 62.5975 |
| Ink | 39.47 | |||
| Dirt | 49.23 | |||
| Mustard | 75.88 | |||
| Purple Nylon | Oil | 85.99 | 79.0125 | |
| Ink | 71.16 | |||
| Dirt | 80.71 | |||
| Mustard | 78.19 | |||
| Green Polypropylene | Oil | 52.15 | 45.6225 | |
| Ink | 30.41 | |||
| Dirt | 49.2 | |||
| Mustard | 50.73 | |||
| 2 | White Cotton | Oil | 86.18 | 77.7475 |
| Ink | 44.08 | |||
| Dirt | 88.08 | |||
| Mustard | 92.65 | |||
| Purple Nylon | Oil | 95.75 | 87.0775 | |
| Ink | 64.55 | |||
| Dirt | 91.62 | |||
| Mustard | 96.39 | |||
| Green Polypropylene | Oil | 85.07 | 71.955 | |
| Ink | 28.88 | |||
| Dirt | 78.71 | |||
| Mustard | 95.16 |
Table 2: Color test for Cleaner 1
| Initial | Clean | |||||
| L | a | b | L | a | b | |
| White Cotton | 91.18 | -0.71 | 3.50 | 78.90 | -0.12 | 10.52 |
| 91.77 | -0.83 | 3.51 | 40.62 | 0.02 | 2.09 | |
| 91.83 | -19.86 | 3.39 | 69.64 | 0.23 | 4.41 | |
| 91.54 | -0.66 | 3.67 | 85.38 | -1.88 | 13.37 | |
| Purple Nylon | 38.91 | 21.20 | -28.16 | 33.19 | 18.95 | -24.98 |
| 37.20 | 23.11 | -29.83 | 25.69 | 1.64 | -2.31 | |
| 37.82 | 23.06 | -29.56 | 34.20 | 17.42 | -23.03 | |
| 37.35 | 22.15 | -28.69 | 35.60 | 17.54 | -23.45 | |
| Green Polypropylene | 62.35 | -57.52 | 41.73 | 52.26 | -45.92 | 33.88 |
| 62.09 | -58.30 | 42.57 | 25.87 | -8.46 | 6.50 | |
| 62.48 | -59.52 | 43.89 | 52.14 | -45.38 | 38.00 | |
| 62.79 | -58.57 | 42.87 | 58.33 | -52.57 | 39.05 | |
Table 3: Color test for Cleaner 2
| Initial | Clean | |||||
| L | a | b | L | a | b | |
| White Cotton | 91.38 | -0.38 | 3.18 | 80.32 | 0.14 | 11.43 |
| 91.64 | -0.36 | 3.15 | 35.75 | 0.05 | 1.63 | |
| 91.91 | -0.27 | 3.17 | 80.03 | 0.18 | 3.96 | |
| 90.77 | -0.92 | 4.77 | 86.74 | -1.30 | 10.39 | |
| Purple Nylon | 38.08 | 22.56 | -29.26 | 34.35 | 21.89 | -27.99 |
| 39.71 | 21.93 | -28.92 | 26.88 | 1.89 | -2.64 | |
| 39.73 | 22.07 | -29.02 | 36.36 | 17.27 | -23.04 | |
| 39.74 | 21.84 | -28.90 | 37.58 | 20.38 | -26.46 | |
| Green Polypropylene | 62.11 | -56.16 | 42.12 | 52.65 | -46.93 | 35.20 |
| 61.49 | -57.99 | 42.72 | 24.93 | -8.83 | 6.65 | |
| 61.90 | -57.40 | 42.06 | 50.93 | -42.10 | 32.14 | |
| 62.38 | -57.30 | 41.58 | 59.23 | -54.27 | 39.50 | |
Table 4: Average percent change in fabric color
| % Change | |||
| Better Life Pods | L | a | b |
| White Cotton | 25.0258 | 26.0342 | -113.7290 |
| Purple Nylon | 14.9729 | 37.1994 | 35.9760 |
| Green Polypropylene | 24.5391 | 34.9128 | 31.4608 |
| 7th Generation Pods | L | a | b |
| White Cotton | 22.6138 | 93.4457 | -88.3796 |
| Purple Nylon | 14.0042 | 30.6863 | 31.0643 |
| Green Polypropylene | 24.3630 | 33.2864 | 32.3622 |
Success Rating:
Results successful using TACT (time, agitation, concentration, and temperature, as well as rinsing and drying) and/or other cleaning chemistries examined.Conclusion:
Better Life Laundry Pods were not as effective as the comparative product.
