WHITEWASH

Comparing the
effectiveness of
synthetic vs. plant
derived detergents
 chart and found out that Seventh Generation©
ABSTRACT was the best detergent to remove stains overall
as only in one category was it surpassed. Then
To test the washing ability of various out of the categories, Seventh Generation©
detergents I decided to put them through a was the best nature based, and Tide© the best
stain and wash test. I selected several leading synthetic.
brand detergents known for their stain
(see results for details)
removing ability from the two categories of
synthetic based and plant-derived. My
hypothesis directed me into thinking that the
plant-derived detergents would outperform the
synthetic detergents, mainly because of the
hype they have received through the media and
various commercial campaigns. I then applied
various stains that people may get on their
clothing in their everyday lives, such as
ketchup, mustard, olive oil. I let the stains set
for about twenty-four hours to simulate the
approximate time it takes for stained clothing
to go from the hamper to the washing
machine.

Since I did not want to waste the water needed

to run a load of laundry with only one cotton
swatch, I decided to do what many Americans
still do, hand wash them. I filled a washbasin
with approximately ten gallons of hot water
(which is usually used when washing white
cotton), let them soak for precisely seven
minutes, and then hand agitated them for
exactly four. Once the “washing” was finished,
I rinsed the sample with cold water and hung it
on a drying rack.

Afterwards I repeated the washing cycle for

each sample and its detergent. Once all
samples were dry, I imposed a subjective scale
and measured the results of each detergent on
each stain on a scale of one to ten, one being
poor with the stain still very visible and ten
being superior with it being completely gone.
Once I had the results, I plotted my data on a
INFORMATION
For me, this experiment served two purposes.
First it fueled my interest in biochemistry, as I
was curious how different surfactants removed
organic and inorganic stains from clothing. For
example, I was very surprised when I learned
that a coconut derivative can be used to take
out ketchup on my shirt. Also, my mother was
thrilled to be able to know what detergent is
the best to remove stains.

This experiment also posed a challenge as to

how I would set up the experiment and actually
carry it out; and I adore challenges. While
watching a Tide© commercial, I found out how
I would work it. I designed a multi-stain test
and I would compare the action between all of
the detergents I chose to accurately cover the
possibilities of a consumer. While researching, I
learned that many companies are happy to
oblige a few (and in some cases more than a
few) samples of their cleaners for me to test. I
furthermore learned a plethora of information
including how plants are used to manufacture
surfactants, the main stain remover in
detergents. I also discovered that in some
detergents there are many unnecessary
chemicals such as whiteners that actually dye
the stain instead of removing it and fragrance.

HYPOTHESIS
If plant-based surfactants work better at
dissolving stains than the standard synthetic
surfactants and one puts both through a wash
test, then the plant-derived detergents will be
more successful at treating and removing a
variety of stains.
 first synthetic detergent was created in 1916 in
RESEARCH Germany. After the war, soaps were available
again and detergents went behind the curtain.
When World War Two came to involve the
History
United States, soaps were once again in
Before the turn of the twentieth century,
scarcity. Military funding went into finding a
detergents were nonexistent and soaps were
cleaner that works in cold seawater in addition
widely used to clean people and their clothes.
to ease the need for animal fats and oils.
The beginning of the use of soaps is somewhat
Detergents came to mind as a way to create a
unknown and the first records of use pinpoint it
cleaner from readily available synthetic raw
before the Common Era. In ancient Babylon,
materials and the benefit that they do not
vases were found containing a boiled mixture
create any insoluble substances, such as soap
of animal fat and soda ash, a primitive soap.1
scum was a bonus.
This mixture was sometimes used when
cleaning all the way into medieval times. The first widespread American detergent came
from Procter & Gamble (P&G), known then as
The name “soap” is said from ancient Romans
Dreft© to treat and wash lightly soiled stains.
to come from Mount Sapo, where it was
After much research and marketing, P&G
common to sacrifice animals. When it rained,
introduced Tide© that had stronger surfactants
the animal fats washed down the hill picking up
and “builders” which consisted of enzymes and
the natural ash deposits, and pouring into the
other chemicals to help the surfactants remove
Tiber River where clothes were washed. It was
the stain.1,3 Many other companies followed
a “miracle” that clothes washed there were
suit and the race was on for commercial
easier to clean than clothes washed in another
companies to out-do each other in order to
river.1
produce a more efficient cleaner.
The production of soaps followed a steady
By 1953, detergents were more popular to the
progression with a few stops, namely in the
American public than soaps1, and the sales of
Middle Ages, until it resembled what it is today.
each proved this true. Advancing up to today,
Another important step in the advancement of
detergents have almost completely removed
soap technology was the invention of the
the use of soap bars from the washing of soiled
ammonia process by the Belgian chemist,
clothes and linens. Even the bars of “soap”
Ernest Solvay in the mid-1800s (the French
used in personal cleaning are now just
chemist Nicholas Leblanc2 is also accredited to
detergents mixed with a small amount of soap
this process). The ammonia process used
for substance.
common table salt, NaCl, and turned it into
soda ash. By the 1850s the production of soap The Chemical Basis
was one of the fastest growing industries in
All detergents work necessarily in the same
America and became for the first time, not a
way. Water in general is a very good solvent,
luxury, but a necessity.
but it regrettably has a very high surface
When World War One rolled onto the world’s tension and would not care to bond with other
stage, soaps and fats became scarce and the compounds. Because of this, surface active
agents, or surfactants, are added to reduce the
surface tension and dissolve the stains.3 The
main surfactants, either plant-derived, or
synthetic, consist of a very long hydrocarbon
chain with a hydrophilic head and a
hydrophobic tail, much like the bi-lipid
membrane in a cell. The head bonds to a water
molecule and the tail to a molecule of the
staining substance, such as grease, dirt, or oil.
The bonded compound of a surfactant to a
water molecule and an isolated particle of the
stain are called micelles. While the wash is
agitated, either from hand washing, the
agitator of a top loading washing machine, or
the spinning cycle of a front loader, the
surfactants are finding their way into the
crevices of the fabric, bonding with the stain,
and are being lifted out.
In most detergents sold today, surfactants are
not alone. They are usually combined other
“builders” such as an abrasive to scour the stain
and help in the agitation phase of washing.
Also, one may find enzymes to assist the
surfactants in their dissolving of proteins, fats,
oils and other organic material. In addition to
the chemicals added to help in the actual
washing, many companies add optical
brighteners to make the clothing appear to be
clean or to cover up a very stubborn stain. Yet
another aesthetic builder would be those that
add to the clothing to make it feel softer, or to
make the clothing stain repellent or
hypoallergenic.4
In Today’s Market
There is a controversy that has been waged for
a few decades as to whether synthetic
detergents, such as Tide©, All©, or Cheer©, or
plant-derived detergents, such as Charlie’s
Soaps©, ECOS©, and Seventh Generation©,
are better. The controversy is fought in many
different areas. One of which is the fact that
some additives, or builders, may harm the
person wearing the clothing. Some people
have received allergic reactions or irritating
rashes from certain detergents and must use a
basic one instead. This sparks the question if
some people are severely affected, is there
something dangerous that many people would
get a reaction to? On these grounds, some
detergents, such as Charlie’s Soap© have
removed their synthetic chemicals from their
products4, while others, such as ECOS©, have
substituted them with natural ingredients like
coconut and horsetail plant7.
Another argument revolves around the earth-
friendliness of a product. Many synthetic
detergents, which are petroleum based, get
washed down the drain after a cycle and end up
in a stream or other water basin, thus harming
the environment. On a large scale this can be
rather disastrous. Because plant-derived
detergents come from nature, they are
completely safe and the only harm they can do
is due to the fact that they are bonded with
stain residue that is not necessarily organic.
A third argument that can be a factor which
may sway a consumer, is that plant derived
detergents need vast resources from which
companies create surfactants. Because of the
large need for resources, environmentally
friendly surfactants are on average more
expensive than their synthetic counterparts,
which may turn some shoppers off.
But, when it all comes down to itself, it depends
on which works better both efficiently and
effectively. Various tests have been done to
research this, most notably from Consumer
Reports. The top ratings for HE (high
efficiency) laundry detergents are held by
synthetic detergents (Tide©, Cheer©, Tide©)
but in fourth place, Seventh Generation© holds
as the best of the synthetic detergents.6
Another test, done by an ABC subsidiary local
news channel produced similar results. In
addition to these outside tests, each individual
corporation produces their own set of tests to
create new materials and stay competitive.

An Overview
When deciding the right detergent, the
consumer makes the ultimate choice. Whether
or not to buy plant based or synthetic, while
being careful as to verify the claims made
because they are not federally regulated. They
must also decide whether to get a detergent
that has more capabilities, or a less expensive
one due to cost issues. They must decide over
whether or not they would prefer a
concentrated liquid or powder based on the
washing machine or method they are going to
use. Albeit there are many choices to be made, _______________________________________
such as the color or scent of it, the effectiveness 1
Detergents&Soaps.com
is usually not that much of a reckless variable as
http://www.detergentsandsoaps.com/detergents-
it usually is consistent with the brand. The best
history.html
advice to the shopper is to select the detergent
2
that will fit their needs the best. History of Soap

http://science.jrank.org/pages/6209/Soap-history-soap.html

3
Chemistry Explained by Jrank

http://www.chemistryexplained.com/Ru-Sp/Soap.html

4
Taylor Sutherland (Charlie’s Soaps©)
5
New Zealand Kiwi Chemistry

http://www.chemistry.co.nz/deterg.htm
6
Consumer Reports©

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/appliances/laundry-
and-cleaning/laundry-detergents/laundry-detergent-
ratings/ratings-overview.htm

7
ECOS© Laundry Detergent

http://www.ecos.com/ecosliquid.html#spec
MATERIALS METHOD
 6 white cotton cloth samples of the 1. Cut 6 sheets of cotton fabric (if needed).
same weave (at least 100 in² each) 2. Lay out newspaper over surface.
 1 white control sample 3. Lay each swatch of cotton onto
 Blueberries newspaper.
4. Label each cotton sample with the
 Olive oil
detergent that will be tested upon it.
 Maple syrup
5. Apply each staining material (Ketchup,
 Milk chocolate mustard, etc.) by either pouring or
 Snow cone flavoring compressing onto fabric.
 Ketchup 6. With a rag, wipe off excess staining
 Stadium mustard material.
 Scissors (if needed) 7. Label each stain with a number, record
 Fabric marker the stain/number combinations
 Newspaper (to cover tabletop) 8. Repeat steps five and six for each cotton
 Rags (to wipe off excess material) sample.
 Source of water 9. Let all samples set in for 24 hours
10. Fill the wash basin with roughly 8 gallons
 Wash basin
of hot water.
 Paper
11. While filling, add detergent to the water.
 Pencil 12. Let the sample soak in the tub for eight
 6 different brands of detergent (e.g. minutes.
All, Tide, Charlie’s Soaps, ECOS, etc.) 13. With a coarse laundry scrub brush, swipe
 Drying rack each stain 60 times, 15 times in each
direction (up, down, left, and right).
14. Hand agitate for one minute.
15. Drain hot, soapy water and rinse sample
in cold water thoroughly.
16. Hang sample on drying rack.
17. Repeat steps 10-15 for each sample.
18. Once all are dry, on a scale of one to ten,
rate each detergent's capabilities of
removing each stain and plot on a table.
RESULTS
EXPLAINED
All of the detergents tested showed excellence
in their removing of the red shaved ice flavoring
stains. When tested against stadium mustard,
Seventh Generation© performed the best with
a rating of 7.5/10 with Tide© in second and a tie
between All© and the liquid Charlie’s Soap©
for third. ECOS© performed the worst by
leaving a noticeable stain behind with a rating
of 2.5. Furthermore, when tested against
ketchup, all performed very well with the liquid
Charlie’s Soap© and Seventh Generation©
both holding tens. This time, All© came in last
with a rating of 7/10. As of the first three stains,
the plant-derived detergents held their own.
With the test of olive oil removing, the only
brand not to score a ten was ECOS© with a 9.5.
When it came to the blueberry test, all
detergents were rather ineffective. The top
performer of the six was the powdered form of
Charlie’s Soap© with a score of 3.5/10. Once
again, ECOS© was the worst with a dismal
score of 1.
The detergents then came onto a comeback
with the maple syrup test. Tide©, both
Charlie’s Soaps©, and Seventh Generation© all
came out with a ten while ECOS© for yet
another test came in last with a 7.5/10. Finally
the test on the removal of chocolate stains was
the test with the most scattered results.
Seventh Generation© scored with a perfect
ten, Tide© came in second, and powdered
Charlie’s Soap© came in third. It was no
surprise when ECOS© took the prize of last
place with a 2.5.
SYNTHETIC vs.
PLANT-DERIVED
Looking at the results, it seems that the plant
based detergents performed comparably to the
synthetic, if not surpassing at some points. For
example, Seventh Generation© was a solid
performer in all of the tests and never dropped
below second place in any of the tests. The
synthetic detergents are good choices if one
would like a detergent what is cost effective
and treats a variety of stains considerably well.
If a person loves and eats a lot of chocolate,
they may be well in choosing the powdered
Charlie’s Soap©, which was another solid
performer.
Overall, the plant based detergents worked as
well as the synthetic, except for ECOS©.
ECOS© seems to be an example the dangers of
buying “plant based” as there are no federal
regulations to monitor claims. ECOS© was
constantly the bottom performer and only did
well in the cases where every other detergent
tested received a ten out of ten score.
The results this experiment uncovered are
comparable to the results found by Consumer
Reports, except for the fact that All© Small and
Mighty did not perform up to the standard set
except for Seventh Generation© which in fact
surpassed expectations. This leads me to
believe that this experiment used a different
form of All©, and these suspicions were
confirmed. CR used basic All©, while All© 2x
concentrated was selected to perform in this
test.
CONCLUSION
This experiment both fortified and weakened
my hypothesis. Although the best performer at
removing stains worked with a plant-derived
surfactant, the poorest performer also was
plant-derived. All-the-while Tide ©, a synthetic
detergent, took a strong second place with the
sturdy, plant based Charlie’s Soaps© holding
the next two spots. This information leads the
belief that plant-derived detergents can and do
work better than their synthetic counterparts,
but because their claims are not regulated they
can claim to have a specific stronghold when in
fact they do not. If one was to repeat this test,
an improvement would be to use a wider
variety of detergents from both sides to gain a
better general understanding of the strengths
and weaknesses of both synthetic and plant
based detergents. Another beneficial change
would be to increase the number of stains on
the samples, such as adding motor oil, wine, or
even blood to further test the capabilities of
each detergent.