Effects of laundry soap with and without phosphates

by Bridget
(Fort Wayne, IN USA)

The leader of the pack?

The leader of the pack?

The Dirty Secret to Getting Clean: Bubble Trouble - Find out how your washing machine bubbles can actually suffocate a whole lake. Here's why getting a grape juice stain out of your favorite shirt might be starting a war.

Give us the dirt, Bridget: My science project was seeing the effects of phosphates in laundry soaps. I used standard laundry equipment Speed Queen and the boxes of soap purchased in a laundry for individual washes.

I used one box per load with only cloth in each run of the washer. I dried as normal. I tested various laundry soaps on various cotton wash cloths. I used all the same brand of white cotton cloths and the same stain of grape juice (2 tablespoons) poured on each cloth and let set over night.

I tested the results of a washing with the soap comparing which did a better job of removing the stain.

I did these 30 years ago during the last "green" revolution and it is now appearing again as a news maker. Phosphate has been shown not great for the lakes but it also is wonderful for removing stains. The best laundry soaps out there do contain any form of phosphates.

My results showed TIDE was the worst performance WITHOUT phosphates. The best performer was WISK with phosphates. I did this with 5 different soaps at the time using 5 with and 5 without phosphates. I presumed back then that a company would arrive at a solution to the stains. There are very few current substitutions to phosphates that do not endanger lakes streams and fish.

Barry's Response - It's strange that there has been so little effective, official research into this area. Thanks for you input, Bridget.

Search this site for more information now.

Phosphates and the Aquatic Rebellion: The Dirty Truth

Let's get into the suds. Phosphates are plants' superfood. They soften water and help soap grab dirt in your washer. Once they hit the lake, they act like a massive dose of vitamins for algae.
  1. Algal blooms An algae party happens when there's too much phosphate in a pond. They grow so fast they cover the surface in green.
    • It's called Eutrophication.
    • When algae die, they sink and rot. All the oxygen in the water gets consumed by bacteria eating dead algae.
    • As a result, the fish literally suffocate because they can't breathe underwater.
  2. Is your washing machine a weather station? It might seem like your laundry has nothing to do with the sky, but everything is connected! As an air quality consultant, I watch chemicals move around.
    • Cold water works better with high-phosphate soaps. We'd burn more electricity if we switched to phosphate-free soaps that require boiling water.
    • Increased electricity often means more power plants burning fuel, which changes our air quality. When you tilt one part (the soap), the whole picture (the environment) changes!
  3. Freedom to Choose: A Heartfelt Counter-Narrative According to many green movements, the only way to save the planet is to ban everything. Let's take a look at another side. What if we ban phosphates, but the replacement chemicals are even worse?

    Skeptics say we should focus on better water treatment plants - the filters of our civilization - rather than telling people to wear stained clothes. It's a good idea to care for the least of these, which includes fish in the stream, but also hardworking parents who can't afford to replace ruined clothes every week.
  4. Making washing better What's the point of sticking with old solutions? It's time for a New Wave of thinking. Imagine designing a soap molecule that cleans perfectly but self-destructs more when it hits a lake. Solar power can make ozone-infused water that cleans clothes without soap!

Here's why your science project matters:

Bridget, your experiment from 30 years ago is a masterpiece of citizen science. You didn't just listen to a commercial; you grabbed 30 washcloths and proved Tide struggled without its phosphate muscles.

There's still a lot to figure out about laundry soap with and without phosphates. The mainstream view of phosphates is that they're bad, but your data shows they're really good. Today, we use things like Zeolites and Citrates. As you noticed, they don't always win the war against grape juice.

Let's keep encouraging the youth to push these boundaries. Don't just accept that green means better. Show it! Check your backyard with an outdoor thermometer. Check out the suds in your local stream after a rainstorm.

Rather than list rules, the purpose of science is to find the truth. You can experiment, you can ask questions, and you can invent something better, whether you're worried about Air Quality, the Aquatic Environment, or just getting your favorite shirt clean.

So What do YOU think?

Is it better to ban chemicals that work well if they hurt the environment, or spend our money on better technology? What bothers you more, a stained shirt or a green pond? Comment below and let's stir it up!

Comments for Effects of laundry soap with and without phosphates

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starstarstarstar 		ill effects of detergent
by: Anonymous

It was a very interesting and impressive article. I liked it very much. I would like to thank you for providing such nice information. I would like to read and know about more articles in related articles if available.

From Barry - We're fueling our research engine with your enthusiasm. I appreciate your thirst for knowledge. Examining the Effects of laundry soap with and without phosphates, we realize we're studying our planet's Circulatory System.

Everything you put in your machine ends up in our rivers. Meteorology tracks how water evaporates and returns as rain. When our lakes get saturated with chemicals, those toxins can even affect the air near the shore. See how we protect these cycles by checking out our articles on Environmental Consulting.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		interesting
by: Anonymous

And to think Tide is the biggest seller with the most products out there. Thanks for the information.

From Barry - Yeah, right? It's shocking to see a giant like Tide fall in a head-to-head. It doesn't mean a company's chemistry will conquer every stain just because they dominate the shelves.

Here's what matters. Follow the Leader of the Pack and we'll miss the data right in front of us. In the weather world, the most famous forecast isn't always right. Trust the Citizen Scientist who grabs a washcloth and tests the truth.
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starstarstarstarstar 		soap
by: Anonymous

Soch a interesting article. I like it very much. it is very impressive. Thanks for giving such a nice article.

From Barry - I'm glad this impressed you. It should always feel like a Mind-Blowing realization. Let's change the way you look at soap boxes. By understanding the effects of laundry soap with and without phosphates, you'll stop being a consumer and start being a steward. It's the spark that ignites every great invention, so keep it alive!
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starstarstarstarstar 		laundry soap
by: Anonymous

Laundry detergent typically consists of ionic and anionic surfactants which act as the detergent to remove the dirt from the clothes, perfume, phosphors which make clothes appear whiter (it is these that show up under ultraviolet light), and for powders anticaking agents to prevent the powder becoming one large lump in the presence of moisture. For liquid detergents, the bulk of the product is water; for concentrated liquids, somewhat less water, but still the product is mostly water. Biological laundry detergents contain enzymes which act as catalysts to eat the dirt off of the laundry; these function best at the kinds of body temperatures found in warm-blooded creatures (30 °C (86 °F) to 50 °C (122 °F)) and will perform no better, and sometimes worse, at higher temperatures. Detergents may have other additives such as bleaches and fabric softeners and these are usually advertised clearly on the packets as selling points.

From Barry - You nailed it with that technical breakdown. And seem to know how surfactants and enzymes work. Let's add Air Quality to your list.

You mentioned perfumes? There are a lot of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in them. Your dryer vents that fresh scent into the neighborhood, changing the local air chemistry. Those enzymes that eat dirt are awesome, but consider this: if we use biological soaps that require warm water, we consume more energy than phosphates.

There's a balance to be struck between fish health and the power plant's carbon footprint. It's kinda like a kaleidoscope...I appreciate you bringing up Raw Logic of chemistry.

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