Browse Client Types

Browse past lab clients by general industry sectors

Trial Number 5

Client Number 447

Project Number 1

Trial Purpose:

To evaluate the effectiveness of laundry pods in removing soils from cotton, purple nylon and green polypropylene.

Date Run:

07/01/2019

Experiment Procedure:

Nine 4”x 5” swatches per cleaner, three of each fabric type, were contaminated with motor oil, ink, dirt, and mustard and air dried for 24 hours. Fabrics were washed at 88 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 minutes using both Better Life Laundry Pods and Seventh Generation Laundry Pods. Fabrics were placed in a five-minute spin cycle and a nine-minute rinse cycle before drying for 24 hours. A colorimeter was used to take initial, contaminated, and clean measurement values.

SRI = 100 – ((Lc-Lw)2 + (ac-aw)2 + (bc-bw)2)1/2

 Where:

L=reflectance

A= redness/greenness

B= yellow/blueness

C= unstained fabric, washed in the treatment conditions

W= stained fabric, washed in the treatment conditions

Trial Results:

Change in L values denotes the change in concentration of stain while a and b values denote the spectrum on blue and green shades in the sample. Thus, these values denote the amount of stain that the detergent was capable of removing.

The SRI for all materials when the test was performed with supplied detergent is calculated as:

Table 1: Results from Cleaner 1 and 2

Cleaner Fabric Soil SRI Average % Removal
1 White Cotton Oil 85.81 62.5975
Ink 39.47
Dirt 49.23
Mustard 75.88
Purple Nylon Oil 85.99 79.0125
Ink 71.16
Dirt 80.71
Mustard 78.19
Green Polypropylene Oil 52.15 45.6225
Ink 30.41
Dirt 49.2
Mustard 50.73
2 White Cotton Oil 86.18 77.7475
Ink 44.08
Dirt 88.08
Mustard 92.65
Purple Nylon Oil 95.75 87.0775
Ink 64.55
Dirt 91.62
Mustard 96.39
Green Polypropylene Oil 85.07 71.955
Ink 28.88
Dirt 78.71
Mustard 95.16

Table 2: Color test for Cleaner 1

  Initial Clean
  L a b L a b
White Cotton 91.18 -0.71 3.50 78.90 -0.12 10.52
91.77 -0.83 3.51 40.62 0.02 2.09
91.83 -19.86 3.39 69.64 0.23 4.41
91.54 -0.66 3.67 85.38 -1.88 13.37
Purple Nylon 38.91 21.20 -28.16 33.19 18.95 -24.98
37.20 23.11 -29.83 25.69 1.64 -2.31
37.82 23.06 -29.56 34.20 17.42 -23.03
37.35 22.15 -28.69 35.60 17.54 -23.45
Green Polypropylene 62.35 -57.52 41.73 52.26 -45.92 33.88
62.09 -58.30 42.57 25.87 -8.46 6.50
62.48 -59.52 43.89 52.14 -45.38 38.00
62.79 -58.57 42.87 58.33 -52.57 39.05

 Table 3: Color test for Cleaner 2

  Initial Clean
  L a b L a b
White Cotton 91.38 -0.38 3.18 80.32 0.14 11.43
91.64 -0.36 3.15 35.75 0.05 1.63
91.91 -0.27 3.17 80.03 0.18 3.96
90.77 -0.92 4.77 86.74 -1.30 10.39
Purple Nylon 38.08 22.56 -29.26 34.35 21.89 -27.99
39.71 21.93 -28.92 26.88 1.89 -2.64
39.73 22.07 -29.02 36.36 17.27 -23.04
39.74 21.84 -28.90 37.58 20.38 -26.46
Green Polypropylene 62.11 -56.16 42.12 52.65 -46.93 35.20
61.49 -57.99 42.72 24.93 -8.83 6.65
61.90 -57.40 42.06 50.93 -42.10 32.14
62.38 -57.30 41.58 59.23 -54.27 39.50

 Table 4: Average percent change in fabric color

  % Change
Better Life Pods L a b
White Cotton 25.0258 26.0342 -113.7290
Purple Nylon 14.9729 37.1994 35.9760
Green Polypropylene 24.5391 34.9128 31.4608
7th Generation Pods L a b
White Cotton 22.6138 93.4457 -88.3796
Purple Nylon 14.0042 30.6863 31.0643
Green Polypropylene 24.3630 33.2864 32.3622

Success Rating:

Results successful using TACT (time, agitation, concentration, and temperature, as well as rinsing and drying) and/or other cleaning chemistries examined.

Conclusion:

Better Life Laundry Pods were not as effective as the comparative product. 

Save Report as a PDF