Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey

Campus Saltillo

Key Activity
Final partial

Matter and Sustainability

April 14th of 2023

María José Mercado

A01384439
Maria Fernanda Valenzuela Padilla
A01384479
Emiliano Méndez Jiménez
A01384447
Georgina Menchaca Garza
A01384553
Table of contents

Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………………….…3

Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………...4

Hypothesis and variables ……………………………………………………………………………4

Theoretical framework …………………………………………………………………………….5,6

Experimental design- Materials and Methods …………………………………………………….7

Analysis of Results …………………………………………………………………………………..8

References ………………………………………………………………………………………9,10

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Abstract

Throughout a series of tests, several dish soaps were tested with the objective of
determining which is the best. Different criteria are taken into account, such as, the efficiency
of them whenever cleaning duties are done, the biodegradability and impact that these have
on the environment. The experiments are intended to provide the public with valuable
information that impacts the way domestic tools are chosen. Generating a positive impact in
our environment and the wallets of the reader is also one of the objectives of the work
presented. Eco-friendly products end up being benefited in the end results of the
experiments, showing the advantage that these represent to our modern world.

Keywords:
Biodegradability: capacity for natural degradation of organic materials by living organisms down to the
base substances.
Environmental impact: changes made in the natural/ built environment resulting from an activity that
have adverse effects on the inhabitants of the ecosystem, land, water, air and more.
Eco-friendly: refers to goods and services, guidelines or policies intended to make low to no harm to
ecosystems or environment.

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Introduction

Testing the dish soap's effectiveness is important for many reasons. The most important
being that using the correct dish soap prevents harmful bacteria from developing on the
dishes and causing harm to our health. The purpose of this study is to determine which soap
works better and to test how well the biodegradable soap works compared to the two other
soaps. The reason we included a biodegradable soap is because we wanted to test if they
work the same way or better than the other soaps since they break up oil causing damage to
marine organisms.

Hypothesis and variables

The hypothesis is that the three cleaning products, Kuxtal, Salvo and Dawn will have
different results in the dishes and pans. Our expectation is that the Dawn solvent will work
better, leaving the dishes cleaner and shiner and free of bacterias.
Independent variable → cleaning products
Dependent variable →how clean the dishes get

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Theoretical framework

How has the use of cleaning products changed over time?

Firstly, they used plain water for cleaning, then they invented soap in the earlies 90s, which
was created by cooking fatty acids, together with water and an alkaline, like lye.It was a
greasy and smelly goop that got ridden of dirt.The first cleaning tool invented was the
vacuum cleaner, in 1950. Then, in 1960 the most popular cleaning product was chlorine
bleach and ammonia, this was followed by the detergent fabric softener and surface cleaner.
In 1980, dish soap was first introduced, invented by William Sheppard. Dawn was the first
brand of dishwasher soap introduced in the market in America.

Importance of those products in our daily life.

Prevents bacteria, fungus, and other harmful elements developing on the dishes, and this
could be detrimental to our health.

Top five brands that exist nowadays.

1. Dawn
2. Salvo
3. Axión
4. Eficaz
5. Palmolive

Basic components of those products

Kuxtal Dawn Salvo

Water Process aids Process aids

Surfactant Alkyl sulfate sodium Alkyl sulfate sodium
Fatty coconut milk Amine oxide Amine oxide
Sodium carbonate Sodium alkyl ethoxy sulfate Sodium alkyl ethoxy sulfate
Emulsifying Aesthetics Aesthetics
Fragrance
Lactic acid
Sodium hydroxide
EDTA
Bergamot extract
Clove extract

How and why some of those ingredients affect our environment?

Process aids generate acidification-related stress in forests and oceans ending in alternating
the chemistry of the place where it is occuring.
Surfactants After use, residual surfactants are discharged into sewage systems or directly
into surface waters. The discharge of wastewater polluted with massive quantities of
surfactants could have serious effects on the ecosystem.

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Chemical difference between soaps and detergents.
Soaps are surfactants, produced via saponification of fats and oils. “They are potassium or
sodium salts of a carboxylic acid having a long aliphatic chain attached to it.” (Seattle PI, n.d)
Detergents are long alkyl chains of potassium or sodium salts ending on a sulfonate group,
which gives the product its solubility, due to it not attaching to hard water’s ions.

What makes the difference between non biodegradable and biodegradable cleaning
products?
They are both waste materials categorized on their degradation. Biodegradable products will
decompose and break naturally by microorganisms and other living organisms while non
degradable products won't, rather leading to pollution.

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Experimental design – Materials and Methods

In order to develop this experiment, it is necessary to gather 3 small bowls for the soap and
three dishes to get dirty with food.
We will start by getting the three dishes equally dirty with the same type and amount of food,
in our case yogurt.
Continuing with placing three different containers with both the same amount of water and
the corresponding dish soap.
Now, we are meant to observe the production of foam when mixed with the water and the
presence of the sponges, to then proceed to the actual dish washing.
The process of dishwashing must be the same to have a fair comparison and a well based
and structured result.

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Analysis of Results

What was the final result?

In our experiment of using different types of dish soap to clean yogurt off a plate, so we
could see the difference between some quality of cleaning products,
Starting with the Kuxtal dish soap, which presented the least amount of foam but showing
good effectiveness on the cleaning duty. We continued with the Salvo soap, which produced
much more soap and showed a better performance when cleaning. We could tell that the
Dawn dish soap was the one that made the most foam and could clean the dishes better.

Was the hypothesis correct?

The final result showed that the hypothesis was right, even though all of the soaps did their
work properly and the dishes ended up clean. It was clear that Dawn soap generated more
foam, proving that if needed it would be better when talking about doing a whole stack of
3dishes than any of the other two.

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References

● Goswami, P., & O'Haire, T. (2016). Developments in the use of green (biodegradable),
recycled and biopolymer materials in technical nonwovens. Advances In Technical
Nonwovens, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/biodegradability
● Islam, T., & Ryan, J. (2016). Mitigation Rules and Regulations. Hazard Mitigation In
Emergency Management, from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/economics-econometrics-and-finance/environmental-im
pact
● When soap and water are not a good thing. (2023). Retrieved 14 April 2023, from
https://ecology.wa.gov/Blog/Posts/January-2014/When-soap-and-water-are-not-a-good-thing#
:~:text=Soaps%20and%20deterg
● Cleaning, K., Cleaning, B., Care, C., cleaning, F., home, I., & home, O. (2022). Why Is
Washing Dishes Important? | Cleanipedia ZA. Retrieved 26 January 2023, from
https://www.cleanipedia.com/za/kitchen-cleaning/why-is-washing-dishes-important.html
● Jung, A. (2022, April). The Evolution of Cleaning Products From 1950-2000.
Everybot;Everybot
https://everybot.global/blogs/news/the-evolution-of-cleaning-products-from-1950-2000
● ‌Ridner, J. (2020, May 12). The dirty history of soap. The Conversation.
https://theconversation.com/the-dirty-history-of-soap-136434#:~:text=Ancient%20Mesopotami
ans%20were%20first%20to,goop%20that%20lifted%20away%20dirt.
● ‌Who Invented Liquid Soap? When Did it Become a Mass Product? (2023). Botanie Soap.
https://botaniesoap.com/blogs/misc/who-invented-liquid-soap
● (n.d.). Difference between biodegradable and non-degradable. Seattle pi. Retrieved January
26, 2023, from
https://education.seattlepi.com/differences-between-biodegradable-nonbiodegradable-4470.ht
ml
● Admin. (2022, November 17). Soap and detergent - preparation, difference between soap and
detergent. BYJUS. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from
https://byjus.com/chemistry/difference-between-soap-and-detergent/
● Ticsay, J. (2016, August 18). Simple science: Difference between soap and detergent. Nyco
Products Company. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from
https://www.nycoproducts.com/resources/blog/simple-science-the-difference-between-soap-a
nd-detergent/#:~:text=The%20Chemistry,synthetic%2C%20man%2Dmade%20derivatives.
● Acid Deposition and Its Effect on the Environment - NYSERDA. (2023). Retrieved 30 January
2023, from
https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Environmental-Research/Atmospheric-Deposition/A
cid-Deposition-and-its-Effect-on-the-Environment#:~:text=Soils%20have%20become%20mor
e%20acidic,that%20are%20eaten%20by%20fish.

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● J;, I. T. H. (n.d.). Surfactants in the environment. Retrieved January 30, 2023, from
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20338873/#:~:text=After%20use%2C%20residual%20surfact
ants%20are,aquatic%20organisms%20are%20well%20known.

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