How do cleaners and detergents work?

Answer 1

A detergent is a compound, or a mixture of compounds, intended to assist cleaning.

Such a substance, especially those made for use with water, may include any of various components having several properties:

* surfactants to 'cut' grease and to wet surfaces
* abrasives to scour
* substances to modify pH, to affect performance or stability of other ingredients, acidic for descaling or caustics to destroy dirt
* water "softeners" to counteract the effect of "hardness" ions on other ingredients
* oxidants (oxidizers) for bleaching and destruction of dirt
* materials other than surfactants to keep dirt in suspension
* enzymes to digest proteins, fats, or carbohydrates in dirt or to modify fabric feel
* ingredients, surfactant or otherwise, modifying the foaming properties of the cleaning surfactants, to either stabilize or counteract foam plus ingredients having other properties to go along with detergency, such as optical brighteners, softeners, etc., and colors, perfumes, etc.

Not only the material to be cleaned, but also the apparatus to be used, and type of and tolerance for dirt, dictate vast differences in the compositions of detergents. For instance, the following are all examples of glass-cleaning agents; however, they demonstrate 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,
* any of various non-foaming compositions - for glasses in a dishwashing machine,
* an ammonia-containing solution - for cleaning windows with no rinsing,
* windshield washer fluid - for a vehicle in motion.

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 too 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".

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; it's hard to beat a 4-letter word for popularity, even at the cost of precision.

Answer 2

Detergents

According to the dictionary, a detergent is defined as a compound, or a combination of compounds, that is put to use for cleaning purposes. Basically detergents are created in a way that water is an essential requirement in the cleaning process. This type of soap is used to wash fabric and other material, and maybe in the powder or liquid form.

While detergents are available in various forms, there are certain components that are a part of its entire make-up. All of the following components maybe used together, or just a few of them are used at one go. However, what is important to note is that each of these are used as they play some important role in the cleaning process. The list is here:

*

Surfactants are added to remove grease from the cloth
*

Abrasives to rub off the dirt from the fabric
*

Ph substances are components that have a high ph factor to stabilize the other harder substances being used
*

Caustics are substances used to break up dirt particles
*

Softeners are added to deal with the harshness of other components being used
*

Oxidizers are essentially used for bleaching
*

Enzymes is a relatively new component that is being added to destroy any accumulation of proteins, fats or carbohydrates in the form of dirt on fabrics



Apart from the above mentioned components, detergent manufacturers optionally other substances that add value to the washing experience. These include: fabric softeners, foaming agents, fragrances, etc.

People in general connote detergents to be soaps u

Answer 3

The detergents for an ionic bond with the dirt. The number of detergent molecules is greater then the number of dirt molecules so the dirt is encompasses by the detergent so it can't react with any other substance. This allows the dirt to be wiped/hosed etc.
ex. d-dirt c-detergent
__ c
|
c-d-c so assuming the dirt can only form 4 bonds
| it is "full" and can't bond to anything else
___c

Answer 4

Cleaners work by dissolving "dirt". When you are trying to dissolve something, there are two types of "dirt" polar and non-polar. Polar materials, such as salts, have ionic bonds that cause the atoms to have a different charge at one end than the other. Water has covalent bonds but because it is bent, it tends to be more negative at the bend and more positive at the ends. Polar solvants such as water are good at dissolving polar materials.

Non-polar substances tend to not have such charge difference. The electrons are distributed more evenly in the material. Grease is an example of a non-polar substance. Non-polar solvants, such as oil, will dissolve non-polar substances.

There is a third type of solvant that has one end that is polar and one end that is non-polar. This type of substance is good at breaking up grease, but then is broken up by water. Soap is a good example of this type of substance.

This, of course, is overly simplified. Hope it helps you understand the mechanism a bit, though.

Answer 5

cleaners, detergents and soaps work because one end of their molecule looks like a fat and bonds to grease, and the other end is water soluble. So they make grease dissolve in water. Many commercial products also contain bleach to make stains invisible and a fluorescent chemical to make fabrics brighter.

Answer 6

In my best layman terms-
Most soaps have hydrophilic molecules. One side loves water the other side loves oil. That how bubbles are formed. As per the previous answer they also may contain surfactants to break the dirt loose from surfaces and oxidizers that explode and bleach the substance.

Answer 7

Unlike the soap and water used, modern detergents are technologically quite complex. This is in response to the demands of today's consumer, who expects both soil removal and fabric care.

Modern detergent technology delivers these attributes during laundering through two basic process categories, namely:

Physical removal of soil/stains from garments and chemical modification of soil/stains, either by hydrolysis or oxidation (bleaching), resulting in their solubilization
and/or decolorization .
Protection of fabrics through the use of polymers, protection of colours by color-lock technology or dye transfer inhibitor, elimination of dinginess and delivery of ease of ironing.

Detergents’ Buiding Blocks
Laundry detergents are composed of 3 main building blocks (surfactants, builders and buffers) and a variety of performance enhancers to remove soil and stains from garments and keep them suspended in the wash solution. On top of cleaning, moderns detergents deliver also color protection, softeness, ease of ironing, fiber protection, etc, etc...


Building Blocks and Performance Enhancers

Laundry detergents include a variety of ingredients to remove soil and stains from garments and keep them suspended in the wash solution. An overview of the primary ("Core") building blocks and their role in the overall wash process are presented below. The table shows the typical ingredients in a modern laundry detergent, grouped by function.

- Surfactants:
anionic surfactants
cationic surfactants
nonionic surfactants

- Oxidizing Agents
hydrogen peroxide
peracids
photo-oxidants

- Enzymes
lipases
amylases
cellulases
protease

- Softening Agents
soaps
zeolites
silicates
citrates

- Polymers
polycarboxylates
polyethylene glycols
cellulose derivatives

- Other Ingredients
buffers
perfumes
optical brighteners
suds suppressors
chelators

Detergents basically have two parts known as head and tail or also polar and non-polar or even known as the hydrophilic and the hydrophobic parts.
HYDROPHILIC- Water loving part
HYDROPHOBIC- Water hating part
When an detergent is applied on the surface of a diry cloth the hydrophobic part sticks to the dirt and the hydrophilic part sticks to the other part forming micells, due to this while washing the dirt is washed away.

For more information see:
http://www.scienceinthebox.com/en_UK/research/detergentsprinciple_en.html

Answer 8

Im no rocket scientist but I believe most of them work by chemically linking to the stuff we want off. Then when its trapped with the cleaner it makes it very easy to remove. I believe this is refered to as oxagenation (pardon the slaughtered spelling).

Hope I helped,
Silence

Answer 9

The principle idea of soap is to make things slippery, so that dirt no longer clings, and falls or slides off.

Detergents sometimes interact with crud that is stuck to things and cause it to dissolve in water, where it can be rinsed away.

Answer 10

like a shotgun