Re: Advantages of Biological washing powders??

Hi Anna,

Many, even most modern laundry detergents use enzymes. Most laundry detergents with enzymes contain three or four different types of enzymes, each being included to deal with a specific type of stain. The four major types of enzymes that are included in laundry detergents are: lipases (these break down fats and oils), proteases (which break down proteins and polypeptides), amylases (these break down starches), and cellulases (which break down cellulose). You can look up these four classes of enzymes if you want to learn more about their chemistry and how they act on their substrates. You can start your search on the MadSci website.

There are a few advantages of using enzymes in detergents. For one, they are catalysts, so a small amount can go a long way. Second, enzymes are “natural” in that they are present in every organism, which is better than synthetic toxic chemicals from a safety and environmental standpoint. Third, they are just plain effective – a laundry enzyme scientist from Proctor & Gamble once told me that in their detergents, most of the cleaning power comes from the enzymes. He also told me that detergents are designed to make clothes last no more than 50 wash cycles. In surveys, this was a typical number of washes before consumers discard an item of clothing. The reason this is a consideration is that the cellulases will attack cotton fibers and over time, weaken them. This is probably the main disadvantage of enzymes in detergents. You may have noticed that jeans washed many times become weaker and more easily ripped. So if you have a favorite item of cotton or natural-fiber clothing, you can make it last longer by washing it less often.

Laundry detergents can be skin irritants, so it is a good idea to make sure your clothes are well-rinsed. Both the enzymes and the other ingredients can be skin irritants, and the extent of this will vary person-by-person. The worst type of exposure would be inhalation of powdered detergent.

Here are some nice links on the subject:

http: //www.scienceinthebox.com/en_UK/safety/whatareenzymes_en.html (by Proctor & Gamble)

http://www.housekeepingc hannel.com/a_220-Laundry_Detergent__How_Enzymes_are_Changing_Your_Wash

-Alex Tobias