iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Detergent

Enlarge picture
Laundry detergents are just one of many possible uses for detergents


Detergent is a compound, or a mixture of compounds, intended to assist cleaning. The term is often used to differentiate between soap and other chemical surfactants used for cleaning purposes.

Composition

Detergents, especially those made for use with water, often include different components such as:

Detergent Choice

There are several factors which dictate what compositions of detergent should be used, including the material to be cleaned, the apparatus to be used, and tolerance for and type of dirt. For instance, all of the following are used to clean glass. The sheer range of different detergents which can be used demonstrates the importance of context in the selection of an appropriate glass-cleaning agent:
  • a chromic acid solution—to get glass very clean for certain precision-demanding purposes, namely in analytical chemistry;
  • a high foaming mixture of surfactants with low skin irritation—for hand washing of drink glasses in a sink or dishpan;
  • other surfactant-based compositions—for washing windows with a squeegee, followed by rinsing;
  • any of various non-foaming compositions—for glasses in a dishwashing machine;
  • an ammonia-containing solution—for cleaning windows with no additional dilution and no rinsing;
  • ethanol or methanol in Windshield washer fluid—used for a vehicle in motion, with no additional dilution.

Terminology

Sometimes the word "detergent" is used in distinction to "soap". For a while during the infancy of other surfactants as commercial detergent products, the term "syndet", short for "synthetic detergent" was promoted to indicate this, but never caught on very well, and is incorrect in any event because soap is itself synthesized via saponification of glycerides. The term "soapless soap" also saw a brief vogue. Unfortunately, there is no accurate term for detergents not made of soap other than "soapless detergent" or "non-soap detergent". These detergents actually contain equal if not greater amounts of synthesized soap than the regular "detergent".

Also, the term "detergent" is sometimes used for surfactants in general, even when they are not used for cleaning. As can be seen above, this too is terminology that should be avoided as long as the term "surfactant" itself is available.

Technically, plain water, if used for cleaning, is a detergent. Probably the most widely used detergents other than water are soaps or mixtures composed chiefly of soaps. However, not all soaps have significant detergency. Often the word "soap" is used to indicate any detergent, especially those that have characteristics similar to those of soap.

See also

[1]

Sources

External links

Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
Cleanliness is the absence of dirt, including dust, stains, bad smells and clutter. Purposes of cleanliness include health, beauty, absence of offensive odor, avoidance of shame, and to avoid the spreading of dirt and contaminants to oneself and others.
..... Click the link for more information.
Simple Object Access Protocol, and lately also Service Oriented Architecture Protocol, but is now simply SOAP. The original acronym was dropped with Version 1.2 of the standard, which became a W3C Recommendation on June 24 2003, as it was considered to be misleading.
..... Click the link for more information.
Surfactants, also known as tensides, are wetting agents that lower the surface tension of a liquid, allowing easier spreading, and lower the interfacial tension between two liquids.
..... Click the link for more information.
Surfactants, also known as tensides, are wetting agents that lower the surface tension of a liquid, allowing easier spreading, and lower the interfacial tension between two liquids.
..... Click the link for more information.

Fat

Fat may refer to:
  • Fat, a group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water
  • Adipose tissue, an anatomical term for loose connective tissue composed of adipocytes

..... Click the link for more information.
An abrasive is a material, often a mineral, that is used to shape or finish (see metal polishing and wood finishing) a workpiece through rubbing which leads to part of the workpiece being worn away.
..... Click the link for more information.
    pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. Aqueous solutions at 25 ℃ with a pH less than seven are considered acidic, while those with a pH greater than seven are considered basic (alkaline). The pH of 7.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) is a set of properties that guarantee that database transactions are processed reliably. In the context of databases, a single logical operation on the data is called a transaction.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    A descaling agent, also known as descaling, anti-limestone, anti-limescale, anti-lime, or anti-scale, is a solution to remove limescale, e.g. from water taps, kettles, toilets and water pipes.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    A corrosive substance is one that will destroy or irreversibly damage a substance, including living tissue, by chemical action (rapid corrosion of living tissue). The main hazards to people include damage to eyes, skin and tissue under the skin, but inhalation or ingestion of a
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    A water softener reduces the calcium or magnesium ion concentration in hard water. These "hardness ions" cause three major kinds of problems. The metal ions react with soaps and calcium sensitive detergents, hindering their ability to lather properly and forming an unsightly
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    oxidizing agent (also called an oxidant or oxidizer) is
    1. A chemical compound that readily transfers oxygen atoms or
    2. A substance that gains electrons in a redox chemical reaction.
    The former definition is not applicable to what most people read about.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    bleach is a chemical that removes color or whitens, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include "chlorine bleach", a solution of sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), and "oxygen bleach", which contains hydrogen peroxide or a peroxide-releasing compound
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Suspension is a heterogenous fluid containing solid particles that are sufficiently large for sedimentation. Usually they must be larger than 1 micrometre [1]. Unlike colloids, suspensions will eventually settle. An example of a suspension would be sand in water.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Enzymes are proteins that catalyze (i.e. accelerate) chemical reactions.[1] In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, the products.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Proteins are large organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues.
    ..... Click the link for more information.

    Fat

    Fat may refer to:
    • Fat, a group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water
    • Adipose tissue, an anatomical term for loose connective tissue composed of adipocytes

    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
    If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    foamed plastic being used as a temporary dam for firestop mortar in a cable penetration in a pulp and paper mill on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.]] The most general definition of foam
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    A foaming agent is a material that will decompose to release a gas under certain conditions (typically high temperature), which can be used to turn a liquid into a foam.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    An antifoaming agent is a food ingredient intended to curb effusion or effervescence in preparation or serving. Antifoaming agents are included in a variety of foods such as Diet Pepsi, Diet Coke, Sprite, and chicken nuggets in the form of polydimethylsiloxane (a type of silicone).
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Optical brighteners, optical brightening agents, fluorescent brightening agents or fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs) are dyes that absorb light in the ultraviolet and violet region of the electromagnetic spectrum, and re-emit light in the blue region.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, objects, and living spaces a pleasant smell.

    Describing a perfume



    The precise formulas of commercial perfumes are kept secret.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Chromic acid refers to a collection of compounds generated by the acidification of solutions containing chromate and dichromate anions or the dissolving of chromium trioxide in sulfuric acid.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    For the journal, see .


    Analytical chemistry is the science that seeks ever improved means of measuring the chemical composition of natural and artificial materials.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    dishwasher is a mechanical device for cleaning dishes and eating utensils. They can be found in restaurants and also in the kitchens of many private residences.

    How dishwashers work


    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Ammonia is a compound with the formula NH3. It is normally encountered as a gas with a characteristic pungent odor. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of the planet as a precursor to foodstuffs and fertilizers.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol, drinking alcohol or grain alcohol, is a flammable, colorless, slightly toxic chemical compound, and is best known as the alcohol found in alcoholic beverages.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, carbinol, wood alcohol, wood naptha or wood spirits, is a chemical compound with chemical formula CH3OH.
    ..... Click the link for more information.


    This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
    Herod_Archelaus


    page counter