How are negative ions a cleansing agent? How do they work as a cleaning agent?

Question

I've read that negative ions are a natural cleansing agent. Can you explain how this works.

Answer 1

This is pseudoscience, ignore it.

If you really want to nitpick, stuff with a negative charge will attract various things with a positive charge, and thus can remove small quantities of stuff that's relatively light like dust or pollen, but overall, this is meaningless. I'm going to assume you're referring to various air filterers, since this is where this negative ion crap usually comes up. Negative ion cleansing is probably one of the biggest scams being pulled off today with products that just plain don't work. In theory these impart a negative charge to various particles which then affix themselves to positively charged surfaces which you wipe off. In reality this doesn't work so hot for a variety of reasons I won't go into. You're way better off with a HEPA filter which is vastly more effective and doesn't rely on mumbo jumbo to sell their products. Probably, the negative ion stuff works to some extent, but I don't believe for a second it's in the same ballpark as a good filter. Particularily, be wary of being fooled by the ozone smell they give off as being fresh air (ozone is dangerous to anyone, particularly people with respiratory problems).

The previous answers seem to be focusing on things from a cleaning detergent perspective. These don't really have anything to do with "negative ions" per se, although in a grander scheme they do involve charge. Detergents work by trapping dirt and oils and whatnot inside micelles. A micelle is basically a ball of molecules with the hydrophobic end facing inward, which attracts oils and various organics, and the hydrophilic end facing outward towards the water you're washing it in. So the hydrophilic end, or the end that is attracted to oils and junk that can't be cleaned by water sucks up the dirt, and this naturally forms into a ball. Oils inside. Water outside. So dirty stuff can be dissolved by the water/detergent solution and gets trapped inside the detergent, which can then be washed away by water. Again, this doesn't really have anything to do with negative ions.

For the record, I have a BS in chemistry and have a fairly good understanding of the science involved (or lack thereof) in "negative ion cleansing".

Answer 2

I think you read it in an advert, where trying to confuse people with junk science is traditional. Even so, there is a grain of truth there. Acids have negative ions that are more reactive than their positive ions, and alkalis positive ions that are more reactive than their negative ions. Both disrupt the molecular structure of water when dissolved, and pull at other dissolved, and even insoluble, molecules; therefore some acids such as hydrochloric and alkalis such as ammonia and sodium hydroxide can be used as heavy-duty cleaners. In use, it would be the alkali that had the surplus of negative ions due to the effect on the water.

Answer 3

anything which is an oxidising agent i.e. that can give electrons is a cleansing agent.Therefore, all negative particles are cleansing agents.
In more deeply, the dirt are generally very complex organic compouds.These organic compouds react with the clothes for stability as they lack electrons.So if somehow we can supply electrons to them it will break their bonds with clothes and become independent molecles.

Answer 4

they act as micelles