Cleaning skin oil stains on pillow cases

[mrboilwash]

Are you sure you don`t confuse plain citric acid with a combination of citric acid and washing soda which would form sodium citrate as soon as the product comes in contact with water? Have you checked the finished products pH levels in the MSDS?

As far as I know alkalinity is even more important for dishwashing detergents than laundry detergents because dishes can hold a lot of dried on stuff and alkalinity helps to swell and soften dried on food residue.
I think surfactants alone couldn`t accomplish this.
I`ve also never seen an acidic hard surface cleanser with or without nonionics that would come close to an alkaline one when it comes to removing oil and grease. So I have my doubts about acidic DW detergents.

There are also lots of anionic surfactants that show no or very little sensitivity to hard water minerals and can be mixed with acids. Just think of cleaning vinegar (Essigreiniger) or shower gel which is typically pH 5.5 to match the pH of healthy skin.

 

[henene4]

You are correct actually

The thing I thought should be acidic is Somat's new formula.

And it does contain up to 5% citric acid.
But it also contains up to 40% natrium carbonate.

What's even more odd after your info is that it also contains sodium citrate straight up, so I see even less of a reason for citric acid to be in there...

The data sheet does list pH of finished product at 10, so I messed up somewhere there, but no idea where my mind pulled these numbers.

Having done some more general reading suggest that high pH is beneficial for fats and alike since not unlike soap production the high alkaline environment attacks fatty acids directly.
And that alkaline solutions tend to be more stable and less suds prone.

Then, however, P&G holds this patent:
https://patents.google.com/patent/EP2804938A1/en

And unlike previous patents, Google lists it as still active and not abandoned.

I'll do some more searching around...

 

[mrboilwash]

I only skimmed through it, those patents are just too much text to read and nearly impossible to understand for a normal person but it is indeed interesting that P&G considered an acidic laundry detergent.

As to the DW detergent we all mess up something sometimes, no one is a professional here and we all learn from each other.
I think the reason why they put in citric acid, citrate and sodium carbonate instead of just citrate and washing soda could be to speed up the dissolving process of the tablet by a fizzy reaction when the acid reacts with the base.

 

[henene4]

My searching wasn't sucessfull either

Best I could turn up was that most Tide pods are actually very close to neutral, being labeld 7-7.2.

Dishwasher detergents around 7 are common in the eco-sphere aswell (Seventh Generation and such).

 

[warmsecondrinse]

I have super oily skin and that makes up most of the 'dirt' I have to deal with.

I've found temperature is the single most important factor

- Hot water
- 1 part Borax to 3 parts detergent
- Ammonia to the 'full' line in the bleach dispenser
- Regular cycle

The best pre-treatment I've found for oils is the Shout(?) stick that you rub on the stain, throw the item into the hamper and leave until laundry day. However, with the above system I rarely need it.

 

[stan]

Well John

What did you end up using ?
And what were the results ?

 

[launderess]

No, you don't need high or even moderate alkalinity for laundry, as you say surfactants can do the job in theory....

But that also explains why so many domestic washing machines are fouled with muck, crud, and god only knows what else from doing nothing but using neutral to slightly base detergents coupled with cool or cold water.

To clear the crud and remove odors from washing machine we're now told to run "maintenance" cycles using *gasp* hot water and a packet of chemicals. Those products are full of oxygen bleach and alkaline substances, the same things people are *NOT* using on wash day.

Examine water as it drains from washer after using many liquid detergents, especially the green variety that are loaded with soap based or like surfactants. You see crud and scum same as when a very dirty person takes a bath using soap. Crud that comes off said body leaves tide marks and otherwise fouls bathtubs or showers. Eventually one must get in there and scrub out all that muck.

As have stated repeately there are reasons why commercial or industrial laundries largely stick with chemicals instead of enzymes. Former is proven technology that works, and will do so with short cycle times. Lowest wash temperature for such places is 140F, not 120F and surely not 104F or 84F.

 

[launderess]

Ever hear or see Disol-Vol?

It's been around for ages, sold in laundromats and elsewhere for attacking greasy and oily soils.

https://www.cleanersupply.com/Laund...gent-booster-2-ozpack-100carton/?sku=VEND1013

What's in it you say?

Mostly sodium carbonate and sodium metasilicate. Again raising pH of wash water to attack oily dirt.

http://www.tschoppsupply.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/SDS-Disol-Vol-USA.pdf

Another product for same purposes is Soilove...

https://www.amazon.com/Soilove-Laundry-Soil-stain-Pack-Special/dp/B00FZPL4KA

Here again you see same sort of ingredients; sodium metasilicate, ammonium hydroxide (ammonia liquid), and ethylene glycol monoethyl ester....

https://www.wardrobesupplies.com/media/pdf/MWScan06192013_0000.pdf

Chemistry of laundry is pretty straight forward and hasn't changed much in one hundred or so years if not older.

Main differences are man made surfactants have largely replaced true soap, more environmentally friendly builders have replaced complex phosphates,and of course creation of enzymes and some other bits. But otherwise facts on ground remain remarkably consistent. Alkalies or acids will clean, remove stains and so forth for a large part of wash day issues.

 

[kenmoreguy89]

It is simple, while it is possibile to clean merely using a synth soap with a neutral pH, it will have many downsides affecting many things hence why few are so. Price is one.
Synth soaps-surfactans sulfonates sulfates etc are more expensive to make than alkalis, alkalis allows to use less of them by reducing water hardness and offering advantages.
A neutral laundry-dishwasher detergent that will have to rely merely on the surfactant will result being way more expensive, because of the cleaning ingredients plus whatever will be added in larger amounts to keep suds down, but of course that also depends on water hardness. It is also true you have to develop a product that would adapt or at least try to adapt to the most different water kinds.
Take for istance dish soap, often advertised being neutral if not acidic (to match human skin 5.5pH) they clean and clean good themselves, but everyone with hard water will know that it takes a lot more product with hard water conditions to clean, and by adding even a small dash of a weak base such as baking soda to wash water makes a huge difference.
If you needed an espresso cupful of product by adding whatever alkali carbonates it reduces needing only a coffee spoon with same results.
Of course baking soda alone will not clean that much
If it wasn't possible to clean and cut oil-grease w/out a base you would not even have all those 5.5 pH shower and bath products.
Said this, alkalis as builder or cleaning ingredients are still huge in cleaning degreasing products and are still considered a "requirement" for this reason, it is wise to use them when possibile and that is even because they are sure more enviroinmentally friendly than synth soaps especially the heavy duty ones.
Cost as mentioned is another advantage

[this post was last edited: 5/17/2021-07:38]

 

[robbinsandmyers]

Stan

Sadly my work load has been pretty heavy the last 2 weeks and I get in pretty late and just want to veg out. Other than the usual whites and colors of weekly laundry I was hoping to wash the bed linens this weekend cuz they're due but didnt have time. looks like sometime this week is when it will happen. Lots of options to weigh. Thanks for the input. I want my Lanz bed linens to look new again lol.

 

[stan]

Hi John

Curious ..
Do you have a TL or FL machine?
If you have a top loader, a good old fashioned overnight soaking may help too..especially since the sheets have been sitting with oil residue in them.
HTH

 

[sudsmaster]

Maybe I'm old school, but I wonder if some of those pillow stains are from hair products, not normal skin oils.

You know, a little dab'l do ya, as well as your pillow case.

Just a thought, even though oily products like Brylcreem seem to have fallen out of favor, with various non-or-lesser staining products like hair gel taking their place.



Me, I hated Brylcreem. I have very fine hair (actual strand size measured under a microscope in a science lab one day) and Brylcreem just made it more limp and lifeless. When gels hit the market for men, I switched ASAP.

 

[robbinsandmyers]

Reply #29

I have a Maytag A407 TL. Im not big on soak cycles in it as that would make it prone to seep water in the trans seal up top as once in a while it leaves spots on whites.

 

[robbinsandmyers]

Reply #30

I shave my head cuz the bald demons found me years ago so no hair products lol. Prob just oil and sweat.

 

[kenmoreguy89]

Well...
The seal needs to be addressed anyway, if tranny got water in it is just a matter of time until it fails-seize.

 

[robbinsandmyers]

Agreed. I would really like to find a good used trans or junk machine to pull the trans out and service it, then swap into mine while I do damper pads, bearings, bushings, etc and keep it a one day project down time wise.

 

[launderess]

According to use and care manual for my (now gone)vintage Whirlpool convertible/portable washer maximum soaking time was two hours. This seemed fairly consistent with other top loading washers of all sizes through the years. Some may be have and longer or shorter suggested times, but there often was a limit.

At first didn't understand, then dawned upon one that unlike a wash tub or other solid bottom container washing machines have sumps, pumps and various seals. These things may or may not be water tight forever when faced with a large volume of water.

 

[stan]

Well

Since it just on the pillow cases.
How about a overnight soak in the kitchen sink with a little powdered tide and a little ammonia!
Wring out by hand the next AM and rewash normally in machine with the rest of the sheets?

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, if a bald head leaves obnoxious stains on pillows, then perhaps the reason why I don't see them on my stuff is because my hair absorbs the skin oils?

Another solution might be a nightcap. Not the one you drink, but the little hat one can wear to bed. Like a bonnet, sort of.

 

[robbinsandmyers]

Reply 37

I think the oils are mostly from my face and forehead. I did wash them since but just a regular wash without a soak and it didnt really brighten them up. I need to take care of this and have lots of great options here. I may try a soak in LA's Awesome and detergent first.