Which ingredient works ?

[Erina]

Washing my clothes with just dish soap, over a dedicated clothes washing formula, I found that my vests would maintain a stale odour. However, switching back the odour was banished.

Comparing the ingredient list which one(s) made the difference ?

ECOVER (dish soap)

• Anionic Surfactants (5-15%)
• Non-Ionic Surfactants
• Water
• Lactic Acid
• Sodium Chloride
• Alcohol Denat
• Citric Acid
• Sodium Citrate

SURF (clothes washing powder)

• Anionic Surfacants (5~15%)
• Perfume
• Polycarboxylates
• Soap
• Phosphonates
• Oxygen-based bleaching agents
• Optical brighteners
• Enzymes
• Zeolites
• Coumarin
• Hexyl Cinnamal
• Limonene
• Linalool
• Eugenol

Edited December 13, 2022 by Erina

[exchemist]

27 minutes ago, Erina said:

Washing my clothes with just dish soap, over a dedicated clothes washing formula, I found that my vests would maintain a stale odour. However, switching back the odour was banished.

Comparing the ingredient list which one(s) made the difference ?

ECOVER (dish soap)

• Anionic Surfactants (5-15%)
• Non-Ionic Surfactants
• Water
• Lactic Acid
• Sodium Chloride
• Alcohol Denat
• Citric Acid
• Sodium Citrate

SURF (clothes washing powder)

• Anionic Surfacants (5~15%)
• Perfume
• Polycarboxylates
• Soap
• Phosphonates
• Oxygen-based bleaching agents
• Optical brighteners
• Enzymes
• Zeolites
• Coumarin
• Hexyl Cinnamal
• Limonene
• Linalool
• Eugenol

By dish soap I presume you mean washing up detergent. I suspect the issue may be to do with what types of anionic surfactant are used in each. There are many different ones.

Bear in mind washing up detergent (dish soap) is designed for lifting and emulsifying the oils and fats found on used dishes, while laundry detergent is designed to do some of that that but also to remove a wide range of organic materials produced by the body, many of which are not oil or fat-based, may contain proteins, etc.  Hence the bleaching agents, enzymes, polycarboxylates, etc.  Laundry detergent has a more complex job, requiring a more complicated formulation. So I think the reason will be to do with some of these other components. I'm not expert on detergent chemistry, though. 

[Erina]

Yes, to wash dishes.

I thought that it was basically all the same thing and so I could cut down on my costs.

It does a fairly decent job, but not on vests for some reason ?

 

I thought that as the concentration was the same that could be discounted. Surf do not detail which ones they use, but there is a page describing what each chemical does: https://smartlabel.henkel-northamerica.com/00072613456765/p/page-1

I assume that they don't have to list them.

Edited December 14, 2022 by Erina