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Wool Wash: Technical Performance and Consumer Habits

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Published/Copyright: August 27, 2016
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Tenside Surfactants Detergents
From the journal Tenside Surfactants Detergents Volume 53 Issue 5

Abstract

This paper discusses consumers’ wool washing habits and the possibilities for improving the laundering process with the aim of reducing the total environmental impacts of clothing consumption. Wool has great potential when compared to other fibres, such as cotton, especially when the energy per day of use is compared to energy per washing cycle. Wool products can be used longer between washing cycles due to the natural soil repellence, some washing can be replaced by airing, and the wool wash programs have lower washing temperatures and shorter washing cycles. Two surveys supplemented with in-depth interviews were conducted to study consumers’ clothing maintenance habits in Norway and Sweden. Results confirm that consumers use woollen products longer between washes than similar products made from cotton. However, there is still a potential to reduce the energy consumption from wool wash further both through technical washing program development and through changes in consumer behaviour.

Kurzfassung

Dieser Beitrag behandelt die Verbrauchergewohnheiten bei der Wollwäsche und Möglichkeiten zur Verbesserung des Waschverfahrens mit dem Ziel, die gesamte Umweltbelastung aufgrund des Verbrauchs an Kleidung zu reduzieren. Wolle hat im Vergleich zu anderen Fasern wie etwa Baumwolle große Möglichkeiten, insbesondere wenn der Energieverbrauch pro Tag mit dem pro Waschzyklus vergleichen wird. Wollprodukte können zwischen den Waschzyklen aufgrund der natürlichen Schmutzabweisung länger getragen werden, einige Wäschen können sogar durch Lüften ersetzt werden. Wollwaschprogramme haben niedrigere Waschtemperaturen und kürzere Waschzyklen. Zwei Studien, ergänzt durch ausführliche Interviews, wurden mit dem Ziel durchgeführt, das Verbraucherverhalten bei der Aufbereitung von Kleidung in Norwegen und Schweden zu untersuchen. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen, dass die Verbraucher wollene Kleidung länger zwischen den Wäschen gebrauchen als vergleichbare Produkte aus Baumwolle. Jedoch gibt es immer noch Möglichkeiten, den Energieverbrauch bei der Wollwäsche durch eine technische Entwicklung des Waschprogramms und Änderungen des Verbraucherverhaltens weiter zu reduzieren.

Key words: Wool; laundry habits; washing temperature; washing frequency; sustainability
Stichwörter: Wolle; Waschgewohnheiten; Waschtemperatur; Waschhäufigkeit; Nachhaltigkeit
*Correspondence address, Dr. Kirsi Laitala, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Consumption Research Norway (SIFO), P.O. Box 4, St. Olavs plass, NO-0130 Oslo, Norway, Tel.: +4767235632, Fax: +4722043504, E-Mail:

Kirsi Laitala M.Sc. (tech) and PhD, is a senior researcher at the department for Technology and Environment at SIFO, where she has been working with textiles and clothing research and testing since 2001. She gained her MSc degree in textile, clothing and fiber engineering from Tampere University of Technology in 2001, and completed a PhD at the Department of Product Design at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 2014. Laitala has researched and published on areas related to clothing quality, maintenance, safety, environmental issues, design, as well as fit and size issues, including reports for industry as well as scientific journal articles. Her current research interest lies within sustainable clothing consumption. A list of her scientific publications can be found at http://scholar.google.no/citations?hl=no&user=mF3UEdsAAAAJ.

Ingun Grimstad Klepp Prof. wrote her MA and PhD on leisure time and outdoor life at the University of Oslo. She is a research professor at Consumption Research Norway (SIFO) in Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences with research on sustainable textile, clothing, laundry, and leisure consumption. She has written numerous articles and books of these themes. She currently works with wool, both with consumption and questions regarding the value chain. The relationship between textiles, social and physical characteristics and how these are woven together is at the core of her interest. In autumn 2013 she published a book about wool in Norwegian. For more information, please see homepage: http://www.sifo.no/page/Staff//10443/48249-10600.html

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Received: 2016-04-04
Revised: 2016-07-13
Published Online: 2016-08-27
Published in Print: 2016-09-15

© 2016, Carl Hanser Publisher, Munich

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Contents/Inhalt
  2. Contents
  3. Review
  4. Water and Energy Consumption in Domestic Laundering Worldwide – A Review
  5. Laundry Washing: New Learning and Global Relevance
  6. Stock Model Based Bottom-up Accounting for Washing Machines: Worldwide Energy, Water and Greenhouse Gas Saving Potentials 2010–2030
  7. Washing Expectations in Domestic Laundering – Consumer Behavior in Mexico
  8. Differentiated Evaluation of Washing Performance in Washing Machines of Test Stain Strips as a Function of Temperature, Washing Duration and Load Size
  9. Textile Quality Depletion due to Household Machine Wash – Ways to Measure and Impacts of Wash Duration and Temperature on Textiles
  10. New Evaluation Method of Cleaning Performance for Washing Machines
  11. Wool Wash
  12. Wool Wash: Technical Performance and Consumer Habits
  13. Dishwashing
  14. Potentials and Impacts of Low Temperature Electric Household Dishwashing
  15. Effects of Relevant Detergent Components on the Cleaning Performance in Low Temperature Electric Household Dishwashing
  16. Novel Measuring Methods
  17. Revealing Detergent Efficiency and Mechanism by Real-Time Measurement Using a Novel and Tailored QCM-D methodology
  18. Hygiene
  19. Microbicidal Action of Heat, Detergents and Active Oxygen Bleach as Components of Laundry Hygiene
  20. Detergents
  21. Understanding Interactions of Surfactants and Enzymes: Impact of Individual Surfactants on Stability and Wash Performance of Protease Enzyme in Detergents
https://doi.org/10.3139/113.110457
Keywords for this article
Wool; laundry habits; washing temperature; washing frequency; sustainability

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Contents/Inhalt
  2. Contents
  3. Review
  4. Water and Energy Consumption in Domestic Laundering Worldwide – A Review
  5. Laundry Washing: New Learning and Global Relevance
  6. Stock Model Based Bottom-up Accounting for Washing Machines: Worldwide Energy, Water and Greenhouse Gas Saving Potentials 2010–2030
  7. Washing Expectations in Domestic Laundering – Consumer Behavior in Mexico
  8. Differentiated Evaluation of Washing Performance in Washing Machines of Test Stain Strips as a Function of Temperature, Washing Duration and Load Size
  9. Textile Quality Depletion due to Household Machine Wash – Ways to Measure and Impacts of Wash Duration and Temperature on Textiles
  10. New Evaluation Method of Cleaning Performance for Washing Machines
  11. Wool Wash
  12. Wool Wash: Technical Performance and Consumer Habits
  13. Dishwashing
  14. Potentials and Impacts of Low Temperature Electric Household Dishwashing
  15. Effects of Relevant Detergent Components on the Cleaning Performance in Low Temperature Electric Household Dishwashing
  16. Novel Measuring Methods
  17. Revealing Detergent Efficiency and Mechanism by Real-Time Measurement Using a Novel and Tailored QCM-D methodology
  18. Hygiene
  19. Microbicidal Action of Heat, Detergents and Active Oxygen Bleach as Components of Laundry Hygiene
  20. Detergents
  21. Understanding Interactions of Surfactants and Enzymes: Impact of Individual Surfactants on Stability and Wash Performance of Protease Enzyme in Detergents
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