Soap

Overview Biorf chemist defines soil as "to make dirty or unclean on the surface; to foul; to dirty; to defile; as, to soil a garment with dust." For our purposes, we will view soil as foreign matter that happens to be in the wrong place. For example, cooking oil or juices is food, but if it's ground into carpeting, it is considered as soil. What makes a cleaner work? How much chemistry is involved in removing grease from a stove top or grit from a concrete floor? The answer to these and other questions lies within words like surfactant, solvent, chelating agent and builder. Understanding the basic elements of a cleaner's effectiveness against different types of soil is essential to the "Chemistry of Cleaning Agent" (COCA)Soil TypesThere are 3 major types of soil which can be broken down into three broad categories: inorganic, organic, and combination. Inorganic soils include rust, scale, hard water deposits and minerals such as sand, silt and clay. Oftentimes acids are used to remove inorganic deposits such as rust and scale. Minerals are often cleaned with general purpose cleaners.Organic soils encompass a broad range and include food soils such as fat, grease, protein, and carbohydrate, living matter such as mold, yeast and bacteria and petroleum soils such as motor oil, axle grease and cutting oils. Most of the time organic soils are best removed using alkaline cleaners or solvents.Combination soils often present the toughest challenge for a cleaner since the soil contains both organic and inorganic components. Proper identification is critical. Most combination soils are removed with a very concentrated, highly built cleaner that also contains solvent.SurfactantsThe word surfactant is short for "Surface Active Agent.". It plays a very important role in any cleaning agent. In general, they are chemicals that, when dissolved in water or another solvent, orient themselves at the interface (boundary) between the liquid and a solid (the dirt are removing), and modify the properties of the interface.How does a surfactant work? All have a common molecular similarity. One end of the molecule has a long non-polar chain that is attracted to oil, grease, and dirt (the hydrophobic). Another part of the molecule is attracted to water (the hydrophilic). The surfactant lines up at the interface as diagrammed below. The hydrophobic end of the molecule gets away from the water and the hydrophilic end stays next to the water. When dirt or grease is present (hydrophobic in nature) the surfactants surround it until it is dislodged from the boundary. Notice in diagram 4 that the dirt molecules are actually suspended in solution.It should be noted that a surfactant can be either soap or a synthetic detergent. Soaps have been used for centuries because they are made from natural materials such as animal fat and lye. Bio-surfactant (Biofactant) is a natural surfactant that been used in our BIORF products. Synthetics have only become available over the last 40 years. Soaps are still commonly used in personal hygiene products because of their mildness. Synthetic detergents are the surfactants of choice for almost all other cleaning agents.Chelating Agents Soil removal is a sphofisticated process that is much more involved than just adding soap or surfactant to water. Water hardness is one of the major concerns we have in dealing with cleaning compounds. Water is made "hard" by the presence of calcium, magnesium, iron and manganese metal ions. These metal ions interfere with the cleaning ability of detergents. The metal ions act like dirt and "use up" the surfactants, making them unavailable to act on the surface we want to clean.A chelating agent combines itself with these disruptive metal ions in the water. The metal ions are surrounded by the claw-like chelating agent which, alters the electronic charge of the metal ions from positive to negative (see diagram below.) This makes it impossible for the metal ions to be precipitated with the surfactants. Thus, chelated metal ions remain tied up in solution in a harmless state where they will not use up the surfactants.Biorf chelating agents (BCA) is used in our products to make the water become soft and on the other hand enhance the effectiveness of Bio-factant.BuildersBuilders are added to a cleaning compound to upgrade and protect the cleaning efficiency of the surfactant(s). Builders have a number of functions including softening, buffering, and emulsifying.Builders soften the water by deactivating hardness minerals (metal ions like calcium and magnesium. They do this through one of two ways:Sequestration - holding metal ions in solution.Precipitation - removing the metal ions from the solution as insoluble materials.Builders, in addition to softening, provide a desirable level of alkalinity (increase pH), which aids in cleaning. They also act as buffers to maintain proper alkalinity in wash water.Finally, builders help emulsify oily and greasy soil by breaking it up into tiny globules. Many builders will actually peptize or suspend loosened dirt and keep it from settling back on the cleaned surface like Bio-builder. SolventsWater can be considered an active ingredient that actually adds to the detergency of cleaners. It performs several very important functions in liquid cleaners. Most importantly, it adds to the "detergency" of a cleaner. Water acts as a solvent that breaks up soil particles after the surfactants reduce the surface tension and allow the water to penetrate soil (water is commonly referred to as the universal solvent).Water also aids in the suspension and anti re-deposition of soils. Once the soil has been dissolved and emulsified away from the surface, we want to prevent it from being re-deposited. Water keeps the soil suspended away from the clean surface so that it can be carried away easily during the rinsing process. It is clear that without this water, our cleaning formulas would be much less effective.In addition to water, other chemical solvents are often added to cleaners to boost performance. Bio-solvent is to liquefy grease and oils or dissolve solid soil into very small particles so surfactants can more readily perform their function.PreservativesA preservative is nothing more than a substance that protects soaps and detergents against the natural effects of aging such as decay, discoloration, oxidation and bacterial degradation. Synthetic detergents are preserved differently from soaps as we will see. In soaps, preservatives are used to forestall the natural tendency to develop rancidity and oxidize upon aging. In detergents, preservatives are used to prevent bacteria from spoiling the solution. Bio-preserve is very common for this application. Detergents would not be preserved if they weren't biodegradable. Bacteria found in air, waste treatment systems and in soil decompose the surfactants and other ingredients found in our cleaners once they enter into the environment.