Detergency mechanisms and cellulosic surfaces: A review

The release of soils and impurities from cellulosic surfaces plays a critical role in such processes as the laundering of clothes and the deinking of wastepaper pulps. This article reviews publications that provide evidence about factors that affect such release and the mechanisms by which such factors operate. In general, cellulosic substrates provide advantages for the release of contaminants due to their hydrophilic nature and due to their permeability, allowing the transport of surfactants to contact interfaces with dirt. However, the same permeability of cellulosic material also provides opportunities for contaminants to work themselves into internal crevices and pores, from which they are difficult to remove. The article also reviews aspects of theory related to detergency and how those theories relate to the laundering, deinking, and purifying of substrates based on cellulose and related plant materials. Cellulose and some of its derivatives also can play a role in detergent formulation, especially as builders or as finishes placed on textile surfaces, which sometimes aid in the release of dirt.