ABSTRACT
An important step in the continuing development of detergents was the substitution of builders, such as sodium carbonate and sodium silicate, by the complexing agent sodium diphosphate. The importance of the differences and the general influence of the counterions is dealt with in detail. According to the law of mass action, the counterions of water-soluble complexing agents also influence the equilibrium. The opposite counterion and temperature effects of zeolites and of water-soluble complexing agents indicate that the properties of mixtures of such substances complement each other in the washing process. Development work and testing of sodium aluminosilicates have shown since that water-insoluble materials may be used successfully as detergent builders, Sodium aluminosilicate is produced in large quantities for use in detergents as a white, water-insoluble powder. The different properties of builders must be considered in optimization tests conducted to develop zeolite-containing detergents.
