Efficiency of Laundry Polymers Containing Liquid Detergents for Hard Surface Cleaning

Abstract

Three water soluble laundry polymers were employed for the first time in liquid detergent formulations for hard surface cleaning. The polymers included in the formulations were the sodium salt of maleic acid/olefin copolymer (P1, anionic), polyethyleneimine (P2, cationic), and polyethylene glycol-g-vinyl acetate (P3, nonionic). Commercially available surfactants (C-10 Guerbet alcohol alkoxylate (FAEO), caprylyl/decyl glucoside (APG), and the sodium salt of ethoxylated alkyl ether sulfate (SLES) were chosen to formulate bathroom, kitchen, and all-purpose cleaners, which provide the desired broad of pH range for hard surface applications. Their hard surface cleaning efficiencies were also compared with an amphoteric polymer (amino modified polycarboxylate, P4) as amphoteric polymers are the most suitable structures for hard surface cleaning. The standard test method and the cleaning device, the so-called cleaning robot, were used to investigate the primary cleaning performances and synergies of the chosen polymers in a hard surface cleaners system. Secondary cleaning performance tests, which indicate the effects of the hard surface cleaners on surface modification, were also performed. The results revealed that the formulations containing P3 and P4 gave the better cleaning performance for primary cleaning tests whereas only P4-containing formulations showed the significant results for secondary cleaning tests.