Textile Quality Depletion due to Household Machine Wash – Ways to Measure and Impacts of Wash Duration and Temperature on Textiles

Frederik Scheid; Edith Lambert; Writi Maitra; Marina Niestrath; Daniel Fäh; Christian Portmann; Susanne Gorny; Rainer Stamminger

doi:10.3139/113.110462

Article

Textile Quality Depletion due to Household Machine Wash – Ways to Measure and Impacts of Wash Duration and Temperature on Textiles

Frederik Scheid , Edith Lambert , Writi Maitra , Marina Niestrath , Daniel Fäh , Christian Portmann , Susanne Gorny and Rainer Stamminger

Published/Copyright: August 27, 2016

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From the journal Tenside Surfactants Detergents Volume 53 Issue 5

Abstract

Washing machines should not only deliver good removal of stains, but also take care of the garments. Mechanical action produced by the washing machine has a twofold impact: It supports the removal of stains, but it also influences the structure of the textiles negatively and is, therefore, critical to textile care. Most washing machines are currently assessed by consumer organisations and political regulations, such as energy labelling, just for their washing properties. However, a long programme may provide a good washing performance, but might also damage the textiles more than a shorter programme. Test specimens assessing the mechanical impact are well known and published, for example, IEC PAS 62473:2007, however, they are rarely used. Reasons may be poor knowledge about their effectiveness in assessing the mechanical action and their reaction to different washing conditions, for example, load size, temperature and duration of the washing programme. It was the task of this study to verify this relationship and confirm that the thread removal fabric, as specified in IEC PAS 62473:2007, adds additional information to the assessment of a washing process. As a result of a wide variation of washing parameters, it could be shown that this test fabric is almost independent of the washing temperature, but shows a clear correlation with the load size and the length of the washing process. The thread removal specimens add valuable additional information concerning a relevant parameter of the washing process.

Kurzfassung

Die Schonung der gewaschenen Wäsche ist ein wichtiges Merkmal zur Beurteilung eines Waschprozesses. Durch die Bewegung der Wäsche in der Waschtrommel wird nicht nur die zur Reinigung notwendige mechanische Bewegung erzeugt, sondern auch eine Beeinflussung der Struktur der Gewebe und damit eine mögliche Wäscheschädigung. Diese wird bei den üblichen Untersuchungen der Verbraucherschutzorganisationen, als auch bei der Bewertung von Waschmaschinen nach der Energieverbrauchskennzeichnung außer acht gelassen. Energieeffiziente lange Waschprogramme könnten durchaus eine relevant stärkere Schädigung der Wäsche erzeugen als Kurzprogramme. Möglichkeiten zur Untersuchung der Wäscheschädigung sind spätestens seit Veröffentlichung der IEC PAS 62473:2007 international bekannt, werden aber nur selten eingesetzt. Der Grund dafür könnte in mangelnder Erfahrung im Einsatz dieser Spezifikation oder auch in der Sensitivität der darin spezifizierten Testmaterialien auf die verschiedenen Waschparameter wie Zeit, Temperatur, Beladung, etc. liegen. Es war daher Aufgabe, dieses Informationsdefizit zu beheben und zu überprüfen, ob der Einsatz der in IEC PAS 62473:2007 definierten Testgewebe eine zusätzliche wichtige Information zur Bewertung eines Waschprogrammes liefert. Als Ergebnis konnte gezeigt werden, dass das eingesetzte Testmaterial praktisch unabhängig von der Waschtemperatur eine gute Differenzierung von Ergebnissen hinsichtlich Waschdauer und Wäschebeladungsmenge erlaubt und dass die damit erhobenen Informationen weitgehend unabhängig sind von Ergebnissen der Schmutzentfernung.

Key words: Textile damage; IEC PAS 62473:2007; washing parameters; test fabric; household machine wash

Stichwörter: Textilschädigung; IEC PAS 62473:2007; Waschparameter; Testgewebe; Haushaltswaschmaschinenwäsche

*Correspondence address, Prof. Dr. Rainer Stamminger, University of Bonn, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Household and Appliance Technology Section, Nussallee 5, 53115 Bonn, Germany, Tel.: 0049-228-735955, Fax: 0049-228-732596, E-Mail: haushaltstechnik@uni-bonn.de

Frederik Scheid has studied nutrition and food science at the University Bonn, Germany and has made his bachelor degree thesis on the subject of this paper.

Edith Lambert, University of Bonn, has a diploma in nutrition and household science. She works as research assistant at the university of Bonn in the household and Appliance Technology Section in different research areas with focus on laundry washing and the applicability of NIRS in household technology.

Writi Maitra, Research Assistant, Household and Appliance Technology Section, University of Bonn. She completed Masters in Food Business and Consumer Studies at University of Kassel, Germany. Since 2013, she has worked in research study on consumer behavior of dishwashing practices in different international economies in collaboration with one of the leading European FMCG companies.

Marina Niestrath, University of Bonn, has an apprenticeship as a technical assistant for laboratory. Since 2004 she works as technical assistant at the University of Bonn in the Household and Appliance Technology Section. She is experienced in testing behaviour of household appliances in different research areas, mainly in testing washing machines.

Daniel Fäh, Swissatest Testmaterialien AG, holds a master degree in textile engineering (1984) and a master degree in chemical engineering (1990). He is founder and CEO of Swissatest Testmaterialien AG, a “spin-off” of EMPA (Eidgenössische Material und Prüfanstalt, Swizzerland). He has published several articles in the field of “biofilms” and “hygiene”. He is member of international standardisation bodies as: IS0, CEN, IEC, AHAM, VDA.

Christian Portmann, Swissatest Testmaterialien AG, holds a master degree in textile engineering (1987). After several years in the textile business in different functions. He works since 2011 at Swissatest Testmaterialien AG and is responsible for quality and technical questions. He is a member of ISO and VDA.

Susanne Gorny finished her doctorate at the Household and Appliance Technology Section at the University of Bonn in 2014. In her doctoral thesis, she modelled the cleaning performance and energy consumption of an electric household dishwashing system and describes the potentials and impacts of low-temperature electric household dishwashing. Currently, Susanne Gorny is working as manager of the quality testing laboratory for electric household appliances and personal care products at TÜV Rheinland LGA Products GmbH.

Rainer Stamminger, University of Bonn.After 17 years of practical experience in the development of washing machines and dishwasher with AEG Hausgeräte, Germany Rainer Stamminger was promoted in 2002 as professor for appliance and process engineering at University of Bonn. Main areas of research at University are consumer behaviour of homework with and without using appliances, new products or features, smart appliances, robots for household application and questions of sustainability of housekeeping.

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Received: 2016-04-09

Revised: 2016-05-30

Published Online: 2016-08-27

Published in Print: 2016-09-15

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Keywords for this article

Textile damage; IEC PAS 62473:2007; washing parameters; test fabric; household machine wash