ABSTRACT
Scientific investigation of soil release from textile structures has greatly proliferated, mainly because of the continually increasing use of man-made fibers, the introduction of ease-of-care and soil-release fabric coatings and the availability of a broad spectrum of detergent formulations. The word “soiling” in connection with textile surfaces most frequently denotes the unwanted accumulation of oily and/or particulate materials on the surfaces or interior of fibrous structures. The extent of soil removal during textile cleaning is affected by the substrate, the soil, the cleaning method, and interactions among all three. To apply the scientific method to the understanding of soil release from textile surfaces, each of the above variables should be altered separately and soil removal analytically determined. The fundamental problem of soil removal from textiles most frequently involves separating oily and particulate matter from a complex fibrous structure and carrying it away in a fluid medium with minimum re-attachment to the fiber surfaces.
