Petrochemicals Diploma

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3. Laundry Aids:
Laundry aids comprise pre-treatment aids (pre-spotters, water softeners), boosters, and
After-treatment aids (fabric softeners, stiffeners, laundry dryer aids, refreshing products
for dryer application, and odours removers).

(a) Pretreatment Aids.

 Soil and stain removers (prespotters) in the form of pastes, sticks or aerosols, or in trigger
spray bottles help removing greasy and/or bleachable stains.
 Although the great majority of heavy- Heavy duty laundry detergents contain sufficient
builders and cobuilders to prevent buildup of lime deposits upon multicycle washing.
 Surfactants and solvents or solubilizers are a major part of their formulations. even in hard
water, water softeners are still used both in the United States and in and polycarboxylates,
and sodium silicate. Europe. European water softeners generally contain ion exchangers such
as zeolite A

(b) Boosters:
 To remove or pretreat stains on washing, today soaking with fine or heavy-duty
detergents (formerly special soaking products) or the application of bleach boosters
dominate. In special cases, liquid or pasty stain removers mentioned above are also used.
 As an independent product group, bleach boosters have been developed from the bleach
component of the so-called unit construction systems once anticipated as environmentally
favored detergents but not accepted in the marketplace to a greater extent. The typical
composition of bleach boosters is given in Table 5
 Powder or tablet bleaching products generally contain sodium perborate or sodium
percarbonate, whereas most liquid bleaching agents are diluted solutions of sodium
hypochlorite (for whites only) or hydrogen peroxide
 The formulations contain either sodium silicate, sodium citrate, sodium borate, or sodium
carbonate, usually in combination with surfactants and enzymes as well.

(c) After treatment Aids.

 After-treatment of washed fabrics is aimed at restoring textile characteristics that have
suffered in the course of laundry.
 December 20, 2014 [PETROCHEMICAL DIPLOMA]

 The products in this category have to provide elastic stiffness, improved fit, and body (shirts
and blouses); smoothness, sheen; good drape (curtains); fluffiness and softness (underwear,
towels, bath gowns); or antistatic properties (garments, underwear, hosiery, and other easy-
care articles made from synthetic fibres).
 Fabric softeners and conditioners added because of the mechanical stress in the washing
machine and subsequent drying indoors in static air, many fabrics get a harsh washing
machine and subsequent drying indoors in static air, many fabrics get a harsh feel. Addition
of a liquid fabric softener in the final rinse results in fabrics that feel softer. This is caused by
adsorption of the active ingredient, a quaternary ammonium salt with two hydrophobic
groups.
 For mechanical drying fabric softeners is to impart antistatic properties and a pleasant odor to
the garments. Therefore fabric softeners are frequently applied as sheets made from
nonwoven material and impregnated with active material (laundry dryer aids).

 poor biodegradability, the formerly used distearyldimethylammonium chloride(DSDMAC)

has been replaced with the so-called esterquats [14],
 cationic with predetermined breaking points for hydrolysis, and subsequent biodegradation
Fabric softeners have additional benefits (fabric conditioners) [15]. They impart good
antistatic properties and a pleasant fragrance to the fabrics. They make fabrics easier to iron
and help reduce wrinkles in garments. They reduce drying times, saving energy when
softened laundry is tumble-dried
 More recently, it has been shown that caring silicone additives used in hair-care applications
can improve the caring properties of today’s fabric softeners [16]. Transparent fabric
softeners are also a new development. This is achieved by usin esterquats that bear
unsaturated hydrophobes such as oleyl groups at the quaternary nitrogen [17].
 Besides the specialty detergents for woolens, the incorporation of cationic fabric softener
(conditioner) actives into laundry detergents that do not contain anionic surfactants could not
achieve a notable market share. Stiffeners. If stiffness and body are desired rather than soft
and fluffy laundry,

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