While so many regular day-to-day activities have been prevented or significantly curtailed by the global spread of the coronavirus pandemic, that cannot be said for household laundry, the mainstay of the surfactants industry and one of the main themes running through this issue. Various sources report that laundry in the domestic setting has increased worldwide in both frequency and perceived importance because of COVID-19, boosting demand for laundry products. A recent report from Transparency Market Research, published before the pandemic took hold, forecasts a compound annual growth rate of c 4% for the global detergents market from 2019 to 2027 (p 5) but, in the short term at least, the current crisis is likely to raise demand growth appreciably above the predicted base rates.
One item catching my eye is the news that California-based firm ECOS has launched a compact, ‘liquidless’ version of its existing, environment-friendly, liquid laundry detergent (p 5); one 200 g box of ECOSNext delivers 57 loads and weighs 82% less the larger-sized, 50-load liquid product, the company reports. ECOSNext comes in the form of a ‘paper-thin square of powerful detergent’, a pre-measured dose for one machine-load of laundry that can also be cut into smaller pieces for travel and small loads. It is suitable for both high efficiency and standard machines while the pH-neutral formulation is also mild enough for hand washing, ECOS says. Obtaining adequate dissolution is always a challenge when formulating solid, compact detergents but ECOSNext ‘dissolves completely in all water temperatures’, the company claims in a press release. From the full ingredients list (available on ECOS's website), the product contains 5 surfactants - all plant-derived in keeping with the company's ‘green’ credentials - a protease blend, 3 builders and other ingredients, all supported on a substrate of readily soluble PVA. The blend of surfactants is noteworthy, combining SLS with an APG, amine oxide, betaine and saponin and thus offering effective cleaning regardless of electrolyte level (ie water hardness). It certainly appears to justify the company's claim that ECOSNext is its ‘most powerful stain-fighting formula to date’, though presumably it is less effective against heavy soils. The product was launched in the USA on Amazon.com in February.
Laundry detergent sheets as such are not new, having first appeared on the market around 10 years ago, but they haven’t taken off in the same way as other single-dose formats. Dial launched a 3-in-1 detergent/softener/antistatic sheet in its Purex range in 2009 [‘Focus on Surfactants’, Mar 2010] but it has since been discontinued, with the Henkel company concentrating on liquitabs for its single-dose offering. There are a few other detergent sheet products on the North American market aimed at household laundry, and a couple are available more widely, mostly targeting travel use. However, cutting water use and reducing the use of plastics in packaging are currently key trends in the laundry and broader household cleaning sectors. Procter & Gamble has been developing solid or swatch-like single-dose formats across several product lines, including laundry detergent, and has recently begun limited marketing of trial kits under the EC30 brand. Unilever also said it would consider dissolvable sheets of fabric detergent as part of its initiative to ‘rethink plastics’ [ibid, Feb 2019]. So, will ECOSNext ‘catch the wave’ as detergent sheets become the next big thing in household laundry or are they destined to remain a niche format?
In other developments, Clariant has launched TexCare SRN 260 Life (bio polyethyleneglycol propyleneglycol oligo ester), a bio-based, nonionic soil release polymer with a renewable carbon index (RCI) of 80% (p 5). It is therefore ‘more sustainable than any other soil release polymer’ used in liquid laundry detergents, the company claims. Targeting the commercial laundry segment, Ecolab has developed PolyVantage, a reduced-alkali detergent based on patent-pending surfactant technology, which reportedly provides effective removal of stains and soils from polyester blends at lower temperatures (p 5).
On the investment front, Indian Oil Corp has announced a revamp of the linear alkylbenzene unit at its Gujarat refinery as part of a wider expansion project at the site (p 2), while compatriot Tata Chemicals is planning a major increase in soda ash production capacity (p 4), both of which would feed into the manufacture of laundry detergents. Finally, Nouryon and Ineos Nitriles have broken ground on the construction of new production lines at the latter's Cologne site in Germany (p 3). The plants will manufacture raw materials for Nouryon's readily biodegradable chelates used in detergents and other home and personal care applications.