Formulating Anti-microbial Laundry Detergent

Coronaviruses are small infectious agents, commonly known as viruses, that replicate inside the living cells of their hosts. Some examples of Coronaviruses include SARS virus, MERS virus and novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV – Wuhan coronavirus). Viruses can infect all types of life forms including humans, animals, plants and microorganisms etc.

There are two main groups of viruses, enveloped and non-enveloped viruses, based on their structure. Coronaviruses are a type of enveloped viruses. This means that Coronaviruses have a lipid envelope in their structure. The lipid envelope is relatively sensitive to desiccation, heat and detergents. Hence Coronaviruses are more easily inactivated by biocidal active substances than their non-enveloped cousins.

Effective Biocidal Active Substances

Below is a list of common biocidal active substances effective against lipophilic (enveloped) viruses. Their odour characteristics and recommended pH ranges are also included for formulation purposes:

A typical laundry detergent formulation includes:

Cleaning Surfactant

Usually an anionic surfactant to remove soil from fabrics. Common examples include Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate (SLES), linear alkyl benzene sulfonate, and alpha olefin sulfonate.

Chelating Agent:

To eliminate calcium and magnesium ions in hard water, which interfere with the surfactant’s cleaning efficiency. This is particularly important in regions like Asia, where hard water is prevalent.

Anti-microbial Laundry Detergent Formulation

One method of incorporating anti-microbial properties in laundry detergent is simply to add the biocidal active substances into the formulation. A basic laundry detergent formulation can be as follows:

SLES 10%, dodecyl dipropylene triamine (Triameen Y12D) 1%, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate (Evermild GLDA).

SLES serves as the cleaning surfactant while Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate is the chelating agent.

Dodecyl dipropylene triamine is selected over the other biocidal active substances for the laundry detergent formulation for the following reasons.

• Dodecyl dipropylene triamine is a surfactant and can be easily incorporated into a surfactant-based laundry detergent formulation.
• Dodecyl dipropylene triamine is non-ionic and compatible with the anionic SLES in the formulation.

Quaternary ammonium compound, which is another surfactant active, is not chosen because it is cationic and not compatible with SLES. There are also studies that show dodecyl dipropylene triamine performing better than quaternary ammonium compound.

Important of Anti-microbial Laundry Detergents

Anti-microbial laundry detergents play a crucial role in enhancing hygiene, especially against enveloped viruses like Coronaviruses. The formulation discussed above provides an effective, stable, and efficient solution by combining a robust cleaning surfactant, a suitable chelating agent, and a high-performing biocidal active substance. By understanding the properties and interactions of these components, formulators can create effective products tailored to specific needs.