ABSTRACT
Evaluating detergency for the purposes of improving the design of washing machines considers, in addition of soil removal efficacy, other factors, such as water consumption and energy input. Textiles or fabric samples used for detergency evaluation are soiled with natural soils deposited in actual use of the textile or with artificial soils applied in a laboratory. When evaluating detergency with artificial soils, the physical state and chemical composition of the artificial soil must be the same as those of natural soils. This chapter deals with soils that do not dissolve in water and must be separated from fibers by detersive action. Soils can be divided into three categories, depending on their physical state at the wash temperature: liquid soils, solid soils, and mixtures of liquid and solid soils. The chapter devotes entirely to soiling and detergency of textiles and fibrous materials.
