April 02 2008
/
Detergents
Whites are whiter, colors are brighter with Celluclean®
Novozymes has launched a unique cellulase that makes whites whiter, colored clothes brighter, and helps striped clothes look like new. Celluclean offers matchless beta-glucan stain removal and anti-graying properties, ensuring clothes are not just white, but also completely clean.
 |
Even a small amount of oats can cause fabric graying – Celluclean® is the most ideal enzyme solution for breaking down beta-glucan stains on fabric.
|
With increasing traffic and air pollution producing more particulate soils, clothes today are dirtier than ever before. And while clothes are getting dirtier, consumers around the world want cleaning perfection with every wash. To meet this consumer need, whiteness claims have seen a large increase and are ranked as one of the top three laundry detergent claims.
“Celluclean helps detergent manufacturers give their consumers what they want – perfect whiteness, thorough cleaning, and impressive brightness,” says Sandra Friis-Jensen, Global Launch Manager at Novozymes.
|
 |
|
Celluclean® helps striped clothes keep their contrast, so they look like new for a longer time.
|
Better whitening, superior cleanness
Bleaching agents like TAED, perborate, and others have been used to make clothes look whiter, but bleaching agents fail to prevent soil deposition and even mask particulate soil from various soilings, such as traffic dirt and clay.
“Celluclean takes whiteness a step further than bleaching agents – it doesn’t just cover up or mask soil depositions, it actually removes them. Celluclean, in fact, gives a higher degree of whiteness than regular bleach-containing detergents,” says Tommy Lykke Husum, Customer Solutions Manager at Novozymes.
Bleach-containing detergents are also not helpful in situations where existing soil in the laundry redeposits during the wash on perfectly clean clothes, making them dirty and gray.
Soil redeposition can be the result of bristly cellulose microfibrils, trapping soil particles during wash. These microfibrils are caused by wash and wear of the cotton fabric. Celluclean cleaves off such microfibrils without damaging the textile, thus releasing trapped dirt particles. This prevents redeposition of particulate soil and prevents the graying of fabrics.
“The great thing is that Celluclean acts only on the damaged microfibrils and not on the intact, crystalline cellulose fibers – so there is no loss of tensile strength,” says Tommy Lykke Husum.
|
|
Washed without Celluclean®. |
|
|
 |
|
|
Washed with Celluclean®. |
|
|
 |
|
|
Even small drops of oats or beta-glucans on clothes attract and bind soil both before and during wash. If the beta-glucan stain is not removed, some of the stain will be released into the wash water. If the detergent cannot keep this stain material in suspension, beta-glucans will redeposit as a film on the entire fabric surface. Celluclean® removes this film, leaving clothes white and clean.
|
|
Don’t change your stripes
Soil deposition also causes clothes with patterns or stripes to look worn after a few washes. As soil continues to deposit on the striped or patterned clothes, the colors start to look dull and acquire a grayed tone.
Without Celluclean, after a few washes the striped clothes tend to lose their stripes – and it is hard to see where the colored stripe ends and the white stripe begins.
“The same unique anti-graying abilities of Celluclean that makes whites whiter, also keep stripes crisp,” says Helle Mayor, Global Communication Manager at Novozymes.
In addition, Celluclean helps end the battle of whether striped clothes go with the whites or the colored clothes – because end users can now just wash everything in the same cycle.
Go ahead, spill your oats
Besides whitening and brightening concerns, consumers also have to deal with hard-to-remove beta-glucan stains caused by oats. These stains do not show up on the fabric but are powerful dirt magnets that make clothes dirty and gray.
Oats are present in a large variety of food products consumed on a daily basis, ranging from breakfast cereals and cookies to baby formulas and health food. Oat stains or beta-glucan stains are therefore nearly impossible to avoid.
Even a small, almost invisible beta-glucan stain can cause fabric graying because the stain will attract and bind soil both before and during wash.
“When laundry with oat stains is washed, some of the stain material is released into the wash water. If the detergent cannot degrade or keep this stain material suspended, it will redeposit on clean clothes,” says Sandra Friis-Jensen. “So in fact you risk making your clothes dirty as you wash them if you have beta-glucan stains present. But since Celluclean degrades beta-glucans, these stains will not redeposit when washed with a detergent containing Celluclean. Our new cellulase actually cleans clothes to a higher degree.”
Supporting brand claims
The unique properties of Celluclean help detergent manufacturers build strong brand claims to differentiate their detergent from the others in the market.
“Detergent manufacturers can now give their customers a product that whitens not by masking soil depositions but by removing them, brightens by preventing redeposition, and ensures deep cleaning by degrading beta-glucan stains,” says Helle Mayor. “Celluclean is taking whiteness and brightness to a wider playing field – by offering a higher degree of whitening maintenance and anti-graying effect than any other cellulase in the market.”