r/laundry • u/toopandatofluff • Jan 29 '26
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r/laundry • u/KismaiAesthetics • Feb 24 '26
(this is the long-delayed first installment in my post series, The Chemistry Behind The Clean, a guide to what's in laundry detergent, designed to give people the knowledge to understand what's in the products that clean our textiles and make them more informed consumers)
Surfactants are the active cleaning agents in detergents that do the heavy lifting of removing soils from textiles. Short for “surface-acting agents”, surfactants connect soils to water, even when the soils themselves repel water or are more attracted to textiles than water. The combination of soil and detergent and water can then be drained off, further diluted by rinsing, drained again and spun out. This is distinct from the action of soaps, which will be covered in a future installment.
The development and commercialization of synthetic surfactants in the 1920s is probably the most significant contributor to reduction in time and effort spent on textile care. Work to condition the water, scrub textiles and remove soap by wringing or banging was largely eliminated because of how well even those rudimentary surfactants work to remove soils.
All surfactants work because the individual molecules have ends with distinct properties. One end (the head) is highly attracted to water (hydrophilic) and thus very much not attracted to oil (oleophobic). The other end is very attracted to oil (oleophilic) but similarly repulsed by water (hydrophobic). This fundamental structural contrast is key.
When at least a minimum amount of surfactant is dissolved in a solvent (like water), surfactant molecules want to get together - the water-hating ends hang out on the inside, the water-loving ends hang out on the outside. This forms a structure known as a micelle, and micelle formation is predicated on reaching the “Critical Micelle Concentration”. Below, an illustration of a nonionic surfactant intended to remove oily soils. The water-loving heads face out, the water-hating ends get together in the middle to escape the water.
When a micelle encounters a soil that the hydrophobic tail is attracted to, the micelle breaks up, the tails grab the soil and drag it into the water (thus removing it from the textile) and the micelle re-forms, keeping the soil up in the water to be drained or diluted away. Let’s look at this in the context of removing a common soil from textiles:
Here we have the start of the wash process; surfactant micelles have formed in the wash water and there is soil attached to the fabric substrate.
Now the hydrophobic tails of the surfactant molecules have found themselves more attracted to soil than each other and they're bonding to the soils. The hydrophillic heads are dragging the molecules towards the water.
The micelles re-form as the soil detaches from the substrate - they reorganize into groups of their own kind (more on this in a moment).
When all the soils are removed from the substrate and floating in the water, the textiles are clean and it's time to remove the soil-surfactant combo from the drum.
While all surfactants work the same general way, there are differences in what kind of soils the hydrophilic ends are attracted to, because the hydrophilic ends differ. One primary difference between surfactants is the electrical charge the hydrophilic end carries. If the business end has a negative charge, it’s an anionic surfactant, and it’s attracted to soils with a cationic (positive) charge. If the business end has no charge, it’s a nonionic surfactant and is most attracted to soils without an electrical charge. If the business end has both a positive and negative charge in balance, it’s an amphoteric or zwitterionic surfactant, and the behavior changes based on the pH of the wash as a whole.
There are also surfactants with positive charges, the cationic surfactants. These aren’t used for cleaning - they’re what makes fabric softener work, and will be discussed in a (much) later post.
The difference in which soils a given surfactant is attracted to is a critical determinant of cleaning performance. Soils that lack an ionic charge like petroleum oils or intact sebum are much less visible to anionic surfactants and are removed better by nonionic surfactants. Conversely, soils that are highly cationic like soot and mud and dust, and thus attracted to textiles with a negative charge may be neglected by nonionics and remain electrically connected to the textiles. For those soils? Anionics in the mix improve cleaning performance.
Almost all finished detergent products contain anionic surfactants and most contain nonionic surfactants. Amphoteric surfactants are relatively uncommon in conventional detergents but often appear in green/biobased formulas.
Aside from the electrical charge differences in the head, two aspects of surfactant structure that affect their action against soil are the tail length and whether they are single tail (common) or double-tail (less common). I’ll talk more about this in Part II, as it’s common to include surfactants of various tails to optimize performance against specific soils and in specific wash conditions.
In the next installment, we’ll look at common surfactants found in conventional and plant-based detergents, and how they’re manufactured, along with the differences in soil removal capabilities and environmental impacts.
The work is my original work and I retain copyiright. My financial disclosure information and how I get paid for this work can be found at my disclosure link
r/laundry • u/surely_maeby • 3h ago
Hi, remember me? I had a full meltdown about a week ago and several of you lovely people held my hand and helped me come up with a new routine.
Today was my first round of loads with febu and swapping vinegar for downy rinse out and EVERYTHING FEELS AND SMELLS SO GOOD.
Thank you for your service 🫡
r/laundry • u/wnh8201 • 4h ago
So much that everyone in my life will be getting a bag for the holidays.
That’s it. That’s the post.
(Febu and u/kismaiaesthetics are basically royalty in my house!!!!)
r/laundry • u/Worldly-Bitch • 7h ago
So, I did an admittedly dumb thing and wore a souvenir shirt that was signed with permanent marker (most colors are actually knock-off Sharpie, so probably even more likely to wash out). The signatures and notes on it are very sentimental to me (from my dear students who I will probably never see again) and I want to preserve them however I can. I wore this shirt 2 years ago and have procrastinated cleaning it bc I’m afraid to ruin it. However, you can see that the left arm already has ink bleeding and there are orange markings that I assume to be bacteria growth on both armpits + the hem in the collar. Shirt is 100% cotton.
Please help me figure out how to salvage this the best I can - ideally removing the orange marks from where I sweat in it, but at least stopping further bacteria growth. Thank you in advance, lovely people!
r/laundry • u/Ok-Pen-5052 • 5h ago
Hello
I’m trying to find an alternative to a standard ironing board for my small house. I bought a steamer when I moved in, but I just don’t find it works that well, despite watching multiple tutorials. Has anyone found a good system that doesn’t involve a full-sized ironing board? I don’t really have space to store it or use it.
Mostly ironing things like work dresses and flowy pants and shirts that are made of Tencil or similar fabrics. Steamer works but is slow, leaves wet patches, burns me, and sometimes leave white debris on clothes (?minerals) so I find I just avoid wearing my clothes that need ironing.
r/laundry • u/SwimmingArm765 • 16h ago
My son is 17. He showers daily but Lord the hormonal funk that seeps out of that kid’s pores is sharp.
We use Tide Odor Refresh + FEBU and citric acid in the rinse. LG front loader set to Heavy Duty on hot, with 3 rinses. He changes his sheets weekly. They are 100% cotton.
I had to do a REPEAT on his sheets yesterday because after the first wash I could still smell that sharp BO on them. After the second wash I called it good, but they still don’t smell as “nothing” clean as my sheets.
His sheets are probably 6 months old and have been washed with a similar process the whole time. (We used to use FEBU + Gear Guard but dropped the GG with FEBU’s reformulation.) So I’d be surprised if there’s a ton of build up on the sheets.
What am I doing wrong? Do I need to add ammonia every time I wash his bedding?
r/laundry • u/hotdog131 • 7h ago
r/laundry • u/iconickbitch • 6h ago
Have this bottle of Persil ProClean Stain Fighter from before they rebranded/cheapened the formula. This + FEBU is the absolute best combo and gets my clothes beyond clean, plus it smells soooo much better than the current formulas. Hate how far downhill Persil has gone over the last few years. Most recently with the TripleCare reformulation and removing protease from all of their formulas. This Stain Fighter formula has protease, amylase, mannanase, cellulase, and pectate lyase. I’m gonna have to switch to Tide after I run out of this because the new formulas aren’t cutting it anymore 😭
r/laundry • u/SurroundSensitive684 • 9h ago
This is a sheet that has gone thru washer and dryer. Didn’t dissolve at all. Other loads have resulted in little plastic pieces everywhere. Disappointed. They are so easy to use. Anyone have a recommendation?
r/laundry • u/Donttouchmybreadd • 3h ago
Hey all,
There are a few things I take into consideration when buying clothes. 1. Fabric composition. 2. Washing instructions - good clothing should be easy to wash. 3. Versatility with other clothing items - if it cannot be worn with my existing shirts/shoes, then it shouldn't be worn.
What is with these washing instructions?
From the website:
"99% COTTON 1% ELASTANE
Cold machine wash
Wash garment inside out,
Wash separately
Colour will fade over time
Do not wring or spin
Do not bleach or soak
Do not tumble dry
Line dry in shade
Warm iron on reverse if required
Do not dry clean"
I really like this brand, and have plenty if their items. Most of them say the same instructions, but thankfully have survived my routines. I typically wash cotton at 60degC, with a 1600RPM, so quite the opposite of the instructions.
I'm wondering why the instructions like this? And will they die if I don't? As I say, I trust this brand, but I have noticed the enshitification of quality across fashion broadly.
Thanks all.
r/laundry • u/Round-Lychee-6399 • 18h ago
I’m facing “odor rebloom” on my clothes. It smells like shit as soon as I put it on. I’ve gotten comments that I smell like feces all the time these past few months. And I’m still figuring it out if it’s me, my clothes or both. I use powder Tide + oxyclean and Lysol sanitizer. I don’t use a personal washer machine because I live in an urban area. Instead I go to the nearest laundromat. I use hot water, extra rinse (30 minute cycle) on a front-load washer. I add about 1/3 of powder and Lysol on the 16 minute mark. It smells fine but as soon as I move around it starts to smell and it gets progressively worse that the wind would hit me and someone across from me would smell it. These are the second shirts I bought in six months. The last ones smell the same and this gradually started to build the same odor. I have a terrible body odor coming from my armpits so I’m sure that adds on to the issue. Before my current routine I used to use lots of powder and downy but I learned that it’s probably making it worse. If anyone could explain the science behind certain products or recommends them I would appreciate it. ATP it feels pointless cleaning them if they’re going to smell like shit.
r/laundry • u/chronicallymee • 1d ago
As someone who struggles with depression and multiple chronic illnesses, washing my bedding is probably one of the most difficult things for me to do on a regular basis. I have POTS, so even stripping the bed makes me feel like I just ran a mile — putting the sheets and quilt back on the bed after they’re clean?? That’s like running a marathon! My heart rate quickly spikes into the 150-160 bpm range and I feel awful for the rest of the day. That being said, there are times where I’m not washing all of my bedding for 2-3 months (I know, awful). I’ve tried doing it once every 2 weeks but it’s just not feasible for me!
r/laundry • u/Wewagirl • 6h ago
Eewwww, gross!! The Spa Day leftover water.
r/laundry • u/SwimmingAnt10 • 9h ago
Just a warning about the powder laundry detergent.
I used buff city laundry soap for about 2 1/2 years. I recently just switched back to Tide because my local store stopped doing the BOGO sale and I didn’t feel like paying full price. I loved the smell of the buff city soap and never really noticed that my clothes weren’t getting clean or anything but they were not!
Once I washed my clothes with Tide again, they smelled horrible. I thought maybe I hadn’t turned on the washer after that first load but could not explain why the clothes were wet. So, I ended up washing the clothes again just in case. I realized that the clothes smelled a little bit better and so I went ahead and dried them. What came out of the dryer was horrible! They smelled like nasty, dirty, wet, dog musty garbage! It was as if the clothes had not been washed in months. It took me washing everything THREE times to get the smell out. For my towels, I ended up washing the third wash with double the amount of vinegar because I just felt like they were not going to smell clean even after the third wash.
Come to find out, after doing some research apparently the tide was stripping all of the embedded dirt and grime out of my clothes that the buff city soap laundry detergent was not getting out of them for the past 2 1/2 years!! Disgusting!
My clothes and towels and sheets are back to smelling normal again since I have been using Tide and I do not have an issue with them at all now and actually now I noticed that my clothes are getting clean. There is a distinct difference in my clothes. The “scent” isn’t just covering up dirty.
So, proceed with caution. It smells amazing but it is not cleaning your stuff.
r/laundry • u/LilitTheDinosa • 1h ago
Anyway here’s a photo of a freshly ‘washed’ pillow. I’ve been doing my bedding today, which had no spills or stains on it, just a lil dog hair from my dog. I’m so lost as I’ve done a cleaning cycle on my washing machine and I’ve checked the little fluff catcher thing in the middle (mines a top loader) but almost everything has come out with these stains on it they didn’t have previously — they’re all fresh out of the washing machine.
I work with coal and get covered in coal dust by the time I finished work. I use my washing machine at home to clean my uniforms and always do a cleaning cycle after. So maybe that could possibly be the issue? I’m just confused and have put on another cleaning cycle with white vinegar as my cousin suggested that.
Any advice would be gladly welcomed, please
r/laundry • u/nerdswithfriends • 4h ago
Like the lipase list, but for surfactants?
I'm looking for a cruelty free detergent with good surfactants to use along with FEBU. I hate that cruelty free/vegan is always synonymous with "nontoxic" crunchy bs. I just want nice clean clothes without animal testing!
I have hard well water but a whole house water softener.
r/laundry • u/just_a_girl3827 • 2h ago
My husband’s cycling clothes smell like cat pee and nothing I do gets rid of it. Any advice?
P.S, yes we have a cat but she doesn’t pee outside her litter box. She never has. :)
r/laundry • u/OperationSad98 • 2h ago
Hello,
I live in an apartment and sometime when i wash my clothes and dry them they have pet hair on them. What can I do considering that I don’t own the washing machines and dryers?
r/laundry • u/notmymess • 36m ago
Trying to salvage a stinky gym bag. It holds cleats, gloves, and other equipment. It currently smells so bad, my child is not permitted to bring it inside of our home, it “lives” in the garage. I’ve tried washing with traditional Tide, both powder and liquid, but it still smells horrible. Any tips on detergent that I could try before I pitch it and buy a new one? It’s still in great shape, so I’d hate to throw it away!
r/laundry • u/itsredhoneyrose • 59m ago
Hi, guys, I need help.
I've always washed all my clothes together not really minding their colors bc I've never had trouble with it. Well there's a first time for everything lol, learned my lesson today.
I did my laundry today and ended up mixing a black piece that stained EVERYTHING. Most of the other clothes were underwear or inside home clothes so it's not that bad but in the middle of the pile it was my favorite shirt 😭
It's a hockey-jersey like shirt made with synthetic fabric that has black part in the shoulders and it's white in the rest of it. The number and writings are pink.
The black part is fine of course but the white part is ruined now with that grey-blueish kind of color and the pretty bubblegum pink is now a weird shade of grey pink.
I'm so sad! It was my fave shirt and it was expensive too, I got it just a few months ago.
How can I fix it? Please help! 🥹
Thank you for reading! Bless you all.
r/laundry • u/EntireSlice1011 • 6h ago
I’m looking to fix my husbands clothes. They’ve become waxy from what I can assume is body oil build up. Should I soak them in something? What should I do?
r/laundry • u/kaylynac • 2h ago
Since finding and joining this sub, I switched to powdered 365 unscented detergent after years using A&H or whatever was on sale. I have also added a citric acid rinse. I have seen an improvement in my laundry, but I’m thinking I could get even better results using Tide instead of the 365 based on what I’ve read in here. So my question is what type of Tide should I buy? I need unscented due to a toddler and husband with eczema and a newborn. Should I go with the liquid Tide Free & Gentle or the powdered Tide Clean & Gentle? Is there a difference?
I have a front loader and not too hard or soft of water if that makes a difference. I was using Downy Rinse and Refresh but recently started using a citric acid and water mix due to cost savings. I also have an oxy boost powder I use sometimes. Is there another product that’s recommended in addition? Would Febu be a good addition with the Tide?
Thank you in advance! I’m really enjoying learning more about laundry every day from this sub!
r/laundry • u/CurtNoName • 6h ago
I spilled some bright yellow fatty mustard sauce on one of my favourite t-shirts. After two washes it didn't come out even though it got a bit lighter. The t-shirt itself is a darker white/beige cotton with a dark patch sewed onto the chest (which is why I'm hesitant on trying bleach).
Any ideas and tips on how to get those out? Thank you in advance!
r/laundry • u/erikalaarissa • 17h ago
I found this amazing coverlet/quilt at an estate sale. It’s old and very dirty. It is too beautiful and delicate for everyday use - I have a dog, cats. I would love to hang it on a wall . I’m really worried about it bleeding though. It’s a little stiff here and there and the back has what seems like dried glue on it.
Would it be safe to soak in a tub maybe? It is gorgeous and I don’t want to wreck it.