STUDIES ON TEXTILE DETERGENCY AT LOW-TEMPERATURE

Detergent efficiency of nonionic surfactant solutions with and without electrolyte as a function of temperature has been determined. In thes e experiments hexadecane was chosen as a model oily soil and polyester /cotton fabrics as solid substrate. It was found that the evolution of detergent efficiency with temperature in systems containing electroly te followed the same trends as those of systems without electrolyte: A s the temperature increases detergent efficiency also increases and an optimum is reached, then a pronounced decrease is observed. However t here is a shift in the temperature at which the optimum is obtained to ward lower temperatures as electrolyte concentration increases. This s hift has been attributed to the effect of salting-out electrolytes on the HLB-temperature of ternary water/nonionic surfactant/oil systems.