Non-Biological detergents & Colour detergents...

[thelaundrylab]

Hello guys, I was wondering if some one can help me out by understanding the difference between Non-Biological detergents & Colour detergent. I know Non-Biological detergents are use for people who have sensitive skin, but I've also heard this is also safe to use on colours, is this actually true?

So for instance, I have a load of white garments with prints on them, and afraid of using normal detergent on them (in my case Ariel) as the print's will eventually fade. But I also want to keep my whites white... and leaves me with this on going battle on which detergent to use, ie Non Bio or detergents for colours?

What's everyone's opinion & verdict on this?

Thanks guys...
Hass

 

[MrX]

Non-Bio detergents are a bit of a UK and Ireland only thing.

Someone had a reaction to some early biological detergent in the 1970s and ever since there has been a claim that biological detergents can cause skin irritations. In reality, I am not sure if that's true anymore as a lot of 'sensitive' detergents on the continent are allergy-safe yet biological.

Non biological detergents are absolutely not any safer for colours, in fact, they might even fade them more quickly as they are totally dependent on surfactants and bleach and do not use enzymes to breakdown stains. The % of bleach in the forumla might even be higher than biological powders.

Colour detergents are biological, they contain no bleach, so your colours will last longer.

In a lot of cases, the colour detergents are actually extremely effective at removing stains. However, over time they will cause your white clothes to seem a bit dull. They're absolutely great for jeans and other coloured clothes though.

 

[launderess]

All Non-Biological Means

Is the absence of enzymes which aid in breaking down organic soils and stains on laundry. These substances per se do not affect colours or interfere with colourfastness of textiles. Chemicals such as bleaches (oxygen or chlorine) and bluing agents are the problem there.

What one finds as "non-bio" will depend upon what is on offer locally. For instance on this side of the pond there are plenty of detergents (usually middle or bottom shelf types, but also some expensive "garage" brands like Linen Wash or similiar products for delicates) that do not contain enzymes but may or may not contain bleaches or bluing/fabric whitening agents. One has to read the label to determine.

Cheer powder detergent for colours sold in the United States at various times contained bluing agents and or enzymes. Today you have to read the packet carefully as some versions do have bluing others do not, most all however contain enzymes.

On the other side of the pond, yes in general "all purpose" detergents that do not contain enzymes (again leaving aside certain products meant for delicates,infants or "green") contain heavier doses of surfactants and bleaches to compensate for the loss of cleaning power via enzymes. Extra doses of bluing agents may be added to give the impression of a cleaner/whiter wash. This is especially true if the product does not contain bleaching agents.

Personally do not see the point of non-enzyme general purpose detergents. We only have to look what our mothers, grand-mothers and such went through to shift organic stains/soils from laundry. Bile soap and other rather odd substances were the only recourse aside from bleaches, and even then traces often still remain.

It is important to remember that so much of what the human body produces (blood, sweat, tears, etc..) is protien based. They also to a degree contain starches and fats. Therefore without something to break down these substances one must subject laundry to a much harsher launderng method than otherwise would be required. The use of enzymes has made much of the "low temperature " washing craze possible. This has become more true as newer variants have been developed that have a much wider range of temperature options such as working in cool or cold water instead of just the narrow range of near body temperature to slightly not (98F to 120F).

 

[MrX]

The detergent choices here are as follows:

Powders / Powder Tablets:

Normal Biological - Contains at least one, but usually several enzymes to breakdown stains and oxygen bleach, optical brighteners as well as surfactants. This is by far the most powerful formulation.

Colour - Contains enzymes and surfactants. These also usually contain cellulase to prevent / reduce bobbling. They do not contain bleaches but do contain optical brighteners. They're excellent for coloured clothes.

Non-biological - Contains no enzymes, but contains lots of surfactants and oxygen bleach.

Liquids / Capsules:

Normal Biological - Contains at least one, but usually several enzymes to breakdown stains as well as surfactants and optical brigteners. This is by far the most powerful formulation of liquid.

Colour - Contains at least one, but usually several enzymes to breakdown stains as well as surfactants. These often don't contain optical brightners.

Non-Biological - This is just a detergent based on surfactants and optical brighteners. There are no enzymes.

Specialist:
Wool / Silk products - these often resemble a shampoo i.e. gentle surfactants and fabric care additives to prevent shrinkage / damage to wool / silk.

Additives:
There are various wash-boosters on the market that vary from a mixture of oxygen bleach, optical brightners and enzymes. These are suitable for brightening whites, removing colour runs, or removing organic stains.

Ecoloigical alternatives:

Again, there are a lot of ecological alternatives on the market here. These vary from quite effective products like Ecover, which comes in a full biological version to really weak products that are just surfactant based.

Note on enzyme content: In general the top of the line detergents like Ariel and Persil tend to contain more sophisiticated cocktails of enzymes which is on reason why they tend to be able to shift stains more effectively.

Surf, despite it's new increased price and fragrence-focus, only contains 1 enzyme vs Persil's 4 or 5.

Some store brand detergents area actually pretty excellent formulas too.

 

[labboy]

OBAs in Powder but not liquid??

I always thought that the color products did not have optical brighteners as they contribute to darks fading over time.

Based on MRX's previous post, I went back and looked at my box of (Unilever) Persil Colour powder and Persil Small and Mighty Colour liquid. Sure enough, OBAs in the powder but not the liquid.

Launderess: Any wisdom as to why this is the case?

 

[launderess]

Cannot Say Why Other Than Choice?

P&G and most other liquid detergents on this side of the pond contain bluing/fabric whitening agents. Tide, Gain, Cheer (some versions), and so forth all contain the stuff. Cheer is marketed for colours the rest are general purpose however.

The French Ariel "Excel" Gel (Alpine Frachie) in my stash as OBAs. One can tell without looking at the content listings because the product and wash water almost glow from the bluing agents. *LOL*

 

[MrX]

It seems some colour detergents here contain OBAs while others don't.

If you read the packaging optical brightening agents are listed, if they're present.

It's nice to have the choice. Some fabrics, particularly black and very dark colours don't benefit from OBAs, while strong colours do.

 

[launderess]

Important Thing To Remember About Bluing Agents

Is that they are designed to make textiles appear "whiter" by cancelling out yellow and or otherwise causing the human eye to see things as brighter.

Depending upon the levels of OBAs present a change in colour can be seen after one or several washes. Happily the flouresent dyes used to give the effect aren't permanent so subsequent laundering without should take things back to where they were.

Off white, ecru, tea coloured, champange and the like linens shouldn't be laundered with bluing agents either. As the OBAs will cause them to eventually start looking "white".

 

[chris74]

Normally...

Detergents which contain enzymes don't have bleach as it would destroy the biological helpers. By the way, bile soap is a traditional additive sold as a liquid over here...

Optical brighteners are added to the colour detergent because it gives an extra cheer up on any coloured item. Not sure what it does to blue jeans or black clothing though...

 

[paulc]

Chris74

In the UK powdered detergent with enzymes do contain oxygen bleach unless it is stated that it is a dedicated colour detergent. Liquid/Gel detergent do not contain bleaching agents as from what I understand oxygen bleach is difficult to stabalise in liquid form. Products like liquid vanish or Ace have hydrogen peroxide as their bleaching agents. I know in the US you can buy liquids with "bleach alternative" such as Tide and Gain and I presume the "alternative" is hydrogen peroxide. However when I looked on Wisk and All's websites they contain liquid with "oxy", I wonder if one of our US members could tell us does the "oxy" refer to hydrogen peroxide or if it is another form of bleaching agent.

PaulC

 

[chris74]

Hydrogen peroxide?

Are you sure? This may be pretty dangerous... I only know it as an agent to bleach ones hair... German detergents never contain bleach AND enzymes...

 

[hunter]

Biologicals...enzymes...

Don't these detergents "eat" organic fibers, such as wool, silk, cotton, etc.?

They are proteins, yes?

Just curious; last time I bought woolens from woolovers.com/woolovers.co.uk/etc

 

[paulc]

Chris74

I know Vanish liquid and Ace used hydrogen peroxide as their stain removing agents but Vanish may have changed now. I will look next time I go to the supermarket what the ingredients are now. I did manage to find out that Ariel stain removing liquid has oxygen based bleach so that has confused me a bit. I think we need to call on Laundress, who has a superb knowledge of detergents and their make up.

Hunter, enzyme detergent should not be used on silk or wool but is pretty safe on other fabrics.

 

[hunter]

Thanks!

Gotcha, that makes sense now.

 

[foraloysius]

Oxygen bleach

Is Sodium percarbonate, an adduct of sodium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide.

Sodium percarbonate - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[paulc]

Thanks Louis.

 

[launderess]

All Oxygen Bleaches

Are hydrogen peroxide based. With powders (sodium perborate or sodium percarbonate) either borax or sodium carbonate are treated with hydrogen peroxide which is then released in wash water to liberate the oxygen required for bleaching. Liquid hydrogen peroxide, even that sold in brown bottles at chemists can also be used for laundry bleaching/stain removal.

By binding hydrogen peroxide to borax or washing soda it makes a more stable bleaching compound with a longer shelf life. Hydrogen peroxide is famously unstable and will break down into water (amoung other ingredients) pretty quickly if not stored properly/stablising chemicals added.

Another benefit of binding peroxide to alkaline substances is that it increases the bleaching power and can allow that process to take place at lower ambient temps. For instace sodium percarbonate will bleach in cold or cool water, though the process takes longer than with warm or hot.

An old French laundry trick to whiten linens is to add a cup (more or less) of 3% by volume peroxide (the stuff you find at chemists) to a boil wash or while boiling laundry.

Many professionals like pure peroxide (again the stuff that comes from the chemists, but there are stronger formulas available), because it breaks down faster and rinses easily/totally as opposed to the powder forms of oxygen bleach. So if you wanted to whiten something delicate that you didn't wish to subject the thing to multiple rinses...

 

[paulc]

Many thanks Laundress. Chris74, you say German detergents never contain bleach and enzymes. Does Henkel Persil powder/megapearls not contain oxygen bleach?

 

[chris74]

Sorry for the misunderstanding

Of course Persil DOES contain bleach and enzymes but only in powdered formulae. What I really meant was that LIQUID detergent for all fibres (called "Vollwaschmittel" in German) never combine these two ingredients due to destruction of enzymes by bleach.

@ Hunter: If the detergent contains enzymes type cellulase they would destroy clothes over time. It is to "cut off" little fiber threads which otherwise making clothes looking dull...