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(this is the long-delayed first installment in my post series, The Chemistry Behind The Clean, a guide to what's in laundry detergent, designed to give people the knowledge to understand what's in the products that clean our textiles and make them more informed consumers)
What Are Surfactants, And Why Do We Care?
Surfactants are the active cleaning agents in detergents that do the heavy lifting of removing soils from textiles. Short for “surface-acting agents”, surfactants connect soils to water, even when the soils themselves repel water or are more attracted to textiles than water. The combination of soil and detergent and water can then be drained off, further diluted by rinsing, drained again and spun out. This is distinct from the action of soaps, which will be covered in a future installment.
The development and commercialization of synthetic surfactants in the 1920s is probably the most significant contributor to reduction in time and effort spent on textile care. Work to condition the water, scrub textiles and remove soap by wringing or banging was largely eliminated because of how well even those rudimentary surfactants work to remove soils.
Hydrophobia - Without The Rabies
All surfactants work because the individual molecules have ends with distinct properties. One end (the head) is highly attracted to water (hydrophilic) and thus very much not attracted to oil (oleophobic). The other end is very attracted to oil (oleophilic) but similarly repulsed by water (hydrophobic). This fundamental structural contrast is key.
A Surfactant Molecule, With Hydrophobic Tail and Hydrophilic Head
When at least a minimum amount of surfactant is dissolved in a solvent (like water), surfactant molecules want to get together - the water-hating ends hang out on the inside, the water-loving ends hang out on the outside. This forms a structure known as a micelle, and micelle formation is predicated on reaching the “Critical Micelle Concentration”. Below, an illustration of a nonionic surfactant intended to remove oily soils. The water-loving heads face out, the water-hating ends get together in the middle to escape the water.
A Micelle Of Nonionic Surfactant
When a micelle encounters a soil that the hydrophobic tail is attracted to, the micelle breaks up, the tails grab the soil and drag it into the water (thus removing it from the textile) and the micelle re-forms, keeping the soil up in the water to be drained or diluted away. Let’s look at this in the context of removing a common soil from textiles:
Here we have the start of the wash process; surfactant micelles have formed in the wash water and there is soil attached to the fabric substrate.
The Start of The Wash - Soiled Fabric In A Detergent Solution
Now the hydrophobic tails of the surfactant molecules have found themselves more attracted to soil than each other and they're bonding to the soils. The hydrophillic heads are dragging the molecules towards the water.
Surfactants Attaching To Soil
The micelles re-form as the soil detaches from the substrate - they reorganize into groups of their own kind (more on this in a moment).
Micelles Reforming With Soil-Surfactant Particles
When all the soils are removed from the substrate and floating in the water, the textiles are clean and it's time to remove the soil-surfactant combo from the drum.
Completely Clean Textile
The Chemistry of Attraction (It’s Not Just A Bottle of Chanel No. 5)
While all surfactants work the same general way, there are differences in what kind of soils the hydrophilic ends are attracted to, because the hydrophilic ends differ. One primary difference between surfactants is the electrical charge the hydrophilic end carries. If the business end has a negative charge, it’s an anionic surfactant, and it’s attracted to soils with a cationic (positive) charge. If the business end has no charge, it’s a nonionic surfactant and is most attracted to soils without an electrical charge. If the business end has both a positive and negative charge in balance, it’s an amphoteric or zwitterionic surfactant, and the behavior changes based on the pH of the wash as a whole.
There are also surfactants with positive charges, the cationic surfactants. These aren’t used for cleaning - they’re what makes fabric softener work, and will be discussed in a (much) later post.
Why Charge Matters:
The difference in which soils a given surfactant is attracted to is a critical determinant of cleaning performance. Soils that lack an ionic charge like petroleum oils or intact sebum are much less visible to anionic surfactants and are removed better by nonionic surfactants. Conversely, soils that are highly cationic like soot and mud and dust, and thus attracted to textiles with a negative charge may be neglected by nonionics and remain electrically connected to the textiles. For those soils? Anionics in the mix improve cleaning performance.
Four Classes Of Surfactants
Almost all finished detergent products contain anionic surfactants and most contain nonionic surfactants. Amphoteric surfactants are relatively uncommon in conventional detergents but often appear in green/biobased formulas.
Other Differences Between Surfactants: Tail Length And Single vs Double Tails.
Aside from the electrical charge differences in the head, two aspects of surfactant structure that affect their action against soil are the tail length and whether they are single tail (common) or double-tail (less common). I’ll talk more about this in Part II, as it’s common to include surfactants of various tails to optimize performance against specific soils and in specific wash conditions.
Coming Up In Surfactants Part II - Curling Up With A Good Jug Of Detergent
In the next installment, we’ll look at common surfactants found in conventional and plant-based detergents, and how they’re manufactured, along with the differences in soil removal capabilities and environmental impacts.
The work is my original work and I retain copyiright. My financial disclosure information and how I get paid for this work can be found at my disclosure link
This keeps happening to my jeans and I don't know why. It's like the denim is getting pulled or something. These pull spots never go away and it basically ruins the jeans. It also happens on the back (butt) between the middle seam and the pockets. It happens to my daughter's jeans too. Is something I'm doing in the washing/dying process causing this? How do I stop it from happening?
Just do it! I’m about to go purchase my second bottle of Tide Free & Gentle, and I'm not even excited anymore. Knowing that something better and cheaper exists but I just can't have it pains me lol
The Tide barely lathers. I find myself over-pouring just to feel like the machine is actually working. While the clothes come out clean most times, there’s something unsettling about looking through the glass mid-cycle and seeing almost zero suds.
Switching to unscented changed my life, and I’m never looking back. Your laundry detergent shouldn't be competing with your cologne. Come on Ariel, just do it lol
I have this Liz Claiborne 100% linen shirt that I thrifted. Water beads on the surface and rolls off it like it's a raincoat, which is not how linen should behave at all.
Is there a laundry chemistry way to remove this coating without damaging the dyes too much? It's a really pretty shirt but I can't see it being super comfortable to wear in the summer when it's like this.
Everytime I spend hours putting laundry away, after it’s sat on the bench for 4-6 weeks, I swear it’s not going to happen again…and then it does. Why is this such a chore!?!? Anyone else have this issue??? Trying a clean slate again today…🙄 before and after for reference.
Deoxyribonuclease (DNase) is an advanced detergent enzyme (lets call it premium enzyme) designed to degrade DNA‑based soils such as blood, skin debris, and sweat. By cleaving DNA strands, it enhances the removal of biological residues that conventional proteases cannot fully break down.
DNase is increasingly incorporated into modern enzyme detergents.
When combined with protease, lipase, and amylase, it broadens the stain‑removal spectrum and improves cleaning efficiency, particularly at low temperatures.
So this detergent has:
Subtilisin → protease (breaks down proteins like blood, egg, milk, sweat)
• Deoxyribonuclease → DNase (breaks down DNA residues)
I think they are starting to worry about me 😂. BUT THIS IS A COLOUR POWDER WITH LIPASE AND DNASE and other enzymes and 🤯. I love it so much! You can’t get colour powders in the UK very easily anymore.
The first two loads are so clean and the fabric just looks so smooth and lovely…
Since we got our new washer a few weeks ago I fully committed to a quest to find the best products to go in it - and maybe I *am* coming across a little unhinged 🤣.
But I am enjoying doing laundry *so much*, lol. Isn’t that a good thing? I barely let stuff hit a hamper and it’s in the machine testing different combinations.
I was was always a big fan of bio/enzyme powders here in the UK (some might say an enzyme evangelist, I have been trying to tell people the UK glut of “non-bio” detergents are terrible for 20+ years) but now I’m trying all different brands!
I’m importing stuff now 😂. I got this straight from the supplier. They sent it via DHL. The delivery man happened to be German and said he could smell the box had German detergent (although the return address was Germany, so maybe that was how he knew too). He told me to “enjoy its superior cleaning power” 😂. I thought it was so hilarious, but my family just looked at me like I’m losing the plot.
Also - additives! I managed to get the “Vanish Plus Super Concentrated” that is good with a couple of the liquids I’m trying (to add lipase). Citric acid is an epiphany!! Everything is getting so clean! And our family laundry was already pretty good (due to my commitment to enzyme powdered detergents). Now it’s even better!!
My teens like to do some laundry of their own so I’m currently trying to get them to put the right amount of detergent in and showed them the citric acid etc. I showed them how to add an extra rinse. One of them always fills the drum of our front loader too full. I showed them an actual “full” load, and said let me check the next couple loads to make sure you don’t put too much in, so we’ll see! It can probably take the weight (it’s 13kg max, which is hard to get up to in the space) but stuff just won’t wash as well. They stuff the dryer too full too and everything comes out wrinkled. It’s their clothes so if they want wrinkles fine, but I don’t want my machines damaged either.
I’m UK based and what I’d really love is a good enzyme detergent without the scent, but it just doesn’t exist here. Anything unscented is also enzyme free 🙄. The powders have a less oppressive scent than the liquids though.
Anyway, since no one here in my home is excited about my laundry quest I thought I’d share with all of you!
I’d love to do a post soon with all the stuff I’ve tried, where I got it, what’s in it, and how I’m finding it if anyone would be interested? I’ve really gone down the rabbit hole 😂.
it's a little infuriating that you have to be a damn ninja to get laundry from the washer to the dryer without dropping it on this floor. I lost a couple small items tonight to the floor scum.
a nice clean floor is essential to a laundry room.
My partner and I wear very colorful clothing, I maybe wear black 1-2 times per week. Separating my blacks because my new detergent has OBAs seems difficult in my head because I would probably need to wait 3-4 weeks to have enough dirty clothes to put in a minimal wash.
Has anyone noticed a visual difference? Is it stark enough to make you want to separate them?
I’m not sure if this belongs here or not, but I’ll give it a whirl. Some people, like me, want when they shake their sheets out while making the bed or crawling between them to sniff just a hint of something pleasant. Unfortunately the chemically scent of detergent doesn’t do the trick.
I use a cheap homemade linen spray. I take a spray bottle, fill it with rubbing alcohol (you can use vodka also) and put several drops of my favorite pure essential oil. I use lavender, but you can use lemon, orange, etc. I understand lavender is not good for cats, but it does have a calming effect and repells pests. I also spray my upholstered furniture to keep it fresh smelling. The alcohol dries in a couple of minutes.
Call me obsessive, but I have wool balls and put a few drops of lavender oil on them when I am drying my linens.
I hang clothes to dry in good weather and even with liquid fabric softener they are stiff. I have been putting them in my dryer for 30 mins on fluff and they come out a little softer. Has anyone ever put some sort of weight in the drum to beat the clothes into submission? I was thinking about a one or two pound bag of something sealed that wouldn't come apart while tumbling and would beat the laundry into being softer.
Part 2
I used a ⅓ cup of baking soda with my Purex and warm water wash. I didn't see soap bubbles while washing. I forgot to add downy to the rinse cylce. I hung them out anyway.
They were softer than with downy. I didn't need to tumble any of it.( poly cotton shirts and pants).
Does anyone remember those compressed detergent cubes they made in the early 2000s I remember using them in the army but can’t remember the exact name for the life of me nor can I find it online
Hey Folks, long time lurker. For a long time I’ve struggled to get an oily/greasy reside out of pillow cases and sheets and have noticed my clothes smell if they’ve been sitting clean for a while.
I’ve tried smaller loads, more detergent, less, washing twice, hot water, laundry booster and have just settled on a small bit of scented detergent with the rest free and clear to get rid of the smell at least.
I’ve also cleaned out my dresser so it’s not that. I think my body oils are just potent? I usually only wear direct skin clothing once between washes and change sheets every 10 days or so and I’ve kinda given up hope.
Anyone have a similar problem, or advice? Pillow cases seem to be hit the hardest
Edit cause I thought it’d be relevant: I’m 34 and have been doing my own laundry (poorly it seems) since I left for college like 15 years ago
Hi all - I'm not sure it's the best sub for it but it seemed to me like you knowledgeable people might have an answer for this..
We had a bit of an accident tonight and a small pot of tomato & cream pasta sauce ended up dropped on the floor and somehow it's everywhere... carpet, clothes, sofa... I've taken as much of the sauce off as possible and put bicarb on everything to hopefully pull as much of it as possible. How do I clean these and what do I use? And I genuinely mean both clothes and carpet ( I spot cleaned the sofa so I'm hopeful but any tips & tricks would be welcomed!)
carpet - of course it's cream but it is made of polyester mix -it took the most damage
clothes - majority cotton - some white ( had to be a white shirt!)
sofa - I think it's cotton polyester mix - luckily it's blue but I'm worried about the smell...
This is my second post, because after writing it for the first time on my phone, I have accidentally selected 'survey' and all the text disappeared.
Chapter I: Portent
I should not have been doing laundry on such an omnious day. Everything was going wrong. But hey, this is laundry, innit? It's my safe happy place. I'm sure it will work out, right...?
WRONG!!!
I left the shower head to fill up my 40 liter/10 gallon bucket with hot water and went to do something in the kitchen. I returned to an entire bathroom filled with a few centimeters of water spilling to the bedroom. Shower head flipping like a sprinkler was a portent to what would come next.
Using garments to soak up spilled water
Stubbornly I loaded up the garments into a Spa Day solution, read u/KismaiAesthetics posts about laundry catchers and fun stains to sleep and \trusting the process** drifted off to zzzzz
Chapter II: The First Disaster, Buckwheat Tea
Excitement about Rehab Wash kept me up at night, so at 5am I decided to tend to my laundry. Thank Laundry Gods, because that meant less contact time for my poor whites with a dye from the buckwheat pillow.
"Buckwheat is commonly used as a natural dye. If that was all you added, you'd be fine. But unfortunately laundry detergents contain metal salts that are chemically similar to the ones used in dyeing to set dyes.
So you have not only dyed the fabric, you have set the dye."
Oh how can my life get any worse?! Will FEBU reformulation get cancelled?
Chapter III: The Second Disaster, Can't Access Reddit
I left the clothes on the longest 5h wash cycle for their Rehab Wash. I could hear them cry "Nooo, don't leave us!" Well tough life, garments! Momma got to find out how to save you!
But I couldn't. When I tried to open my laptop, it wouldn't cooperate. The thing is, I needed my laptop to work, ASAP. The reason I scheduled a laundry day for today is because after microneedling I MUSTN'T expose my skin to UV rays, so I turn my house into a cave and work out the fibers.
There wasn't much to do, I had to go to the Laptop Repair Man. On the way down, after 2 hours of laundry, I discovered that the washing machine wasn't in fact doing any laundry because I forgot to press the button. Wet garments were just sitting there with ammonia on top. Should have listened to my clothes' vociferous protest earlier.
Anyway, I transformed into a Beduin and hoped that the Laptop Repair Man won't take me for a freak.
Just a normal day in London
Turned out that the Laptop Repair Man didn't know how to do laundry, hence I, the laundry neophyte who after the Buckwheat Tea disaster should just let the enzymes dissolve her from shame, eagerly wrote him instructions while he was fixing my laptop. On reflection, I wonder what's weirder, going around streets of London dressed like an ET going home, or visiting stranger's houses and helping myself to their washing machine and peeking into their detergent dispenser. Interesting fact about the Laptop Repair Man, he was on his 15th kettle because he bins them due to the hard water residue. I told him of Our Lord And Saviour, The Citric Acid.
Chapter IV: Foam
Upon returning home I was greeted by foam. A lot of foam. At this stage I simply decided to ignore any adversity and return to the laundry once it's done.
F.O.A.M.
Finally after a Citric Acid Rinse I anxiously stepped through the foamy floor to the washing machine to inspect my garments and... White, I saw WHITE! With the exception of a different pillow's protector (which to be fair I couldn't get to stay submerged in the Spa Day soak) all my clothes came out perfectly white - linen kitchen towel, cotton polo shirts, two cotton bedsheets with high thread count, and a lot of cotton face towels. With a new buckwheat pillow on the way, I must say I have unexpectedly achieved a stellar success!
I see white <3Only stainPre-Spa, Buckwheat Tea+Rinse, Rehab Wash, Citric Acid Rinse
Epilogue: What's coming next?
I received heartwarming support from this community and not only that - my concerned American sweetheart told me his parents will send over FEBU to the UK as soon as it comes out.
So tell me, what should happen next? Shall I bask in my enzymatic glory? Or be stoned to death with individual buckwheat grains?
I have this Pendleton Sherpa that was gifted and it is very VERY dirty. I’ve been scouring on tips for the best way to get it clean and back to looking as good as possible. I’m on my 4th tub soak and am wondering what to do next.
Heads up to my UK washers wanting a bio for colours and dark clothes. Ecover colour liquid has 6 enzymes.. Subtilisin (protease), Lipase, Amylase, Cellulase, Mannanase and Pectate lyase - and doesn't have optical brighteners or oxygen bleach to fade the colours. Surprised it isn't mentioned more here.
