LAUNDRY AGENTS

1. GURUNANAK INSTITUTE OF HOTEL
MANAGEMENT
NAME – ARITRYA DAS
University ROLL.No – 191112019119
University registration no – 1112019119
EMAIL.ID- baddsha244@gmail.com
Mobile.no -9832913381
Course- b.sc in h&ha(sec-a)
team code- 22
Subject – housekeeping for skillex and
seminar odd semester january 2021
Semester-5th/odd or 3rd sem (pre-it)spring 2021

2. LAUNDRY AGENTS-
WHAT IS LAUNDRY AGENTS?
Laundry agents or aids are the materials used to improve laundering results (bleaches, optical whiteners) or to
accomplish specific functions or effects( soaks, stain removers ,softeners and stiffeners).
The important laundry agents or aids are
Water, laundry soap, detergents, stiffeners, bleaches, alkaline agents, acid agents, organic solvents and
absorbents.
Water –
Water is the most important material for the laundry process. It just be available in large quantities in the
laundry.
Hard water should not be used because the compounds in hard water react with soap or detergent.Which form
a thick paste that re-deposits on the fabric and made the fabric look dull and dirty.
Only soft water should be used for the laundering processs;if hard water has to be used, it must be chemically
treated to free it from compounds before using.
SOAP:
▪ 1. soaps are the sodium salts of fatty acids and are made by reacting natural oils with sodium hydroxide or
another caustic alkali.
▪ 2. while selecting laundry soaps, the following criteria must be kept in mind:
a) The soap should be clear, pale colour as dark coloured soaps may contain impurities that aren’t easily
available.
b) The soap should be firm when pressed. If it feels soft , it may contain excessive amount of water and will
be wasteful in use.
c) A good laundry soap dries to form a firm, unspeckled surface.
DETERGENTS-
Soap free detergents have properties similar to soap- such as foaming , wetting, and cleaning but they are
soluble salts out of the calcium, magnesium and other metal salts that makes hard and render ordinary
soap insoluble.

3. ALKALI-
Alkali gives better results if used with soap and detergent.
Alkali is added before adding soap or detergent as just helps in converting
hard water into soft water. For cotton fabric, strong alkali should be used
while for wool, silk or similar fabric mild alkali should be used.
Commom alkalis used are
a)Washing soda(sodium carbonate, Na2CO3.10H2O)
b) Borox (sodium tetraborate, Na2B4O7.10H2O)
c)Ammonium hydroxide(NH4OH)
ACID AGENTS-
These are useful for neutralizing alkalis and for stain removal.
Mild acids used to neutralize any residual alkalinity in fabrics after washing
and rinsing are called ‘sours’.
1.Oxalic acid
2.Salt of lemon
3.Acetic acid
4.Oleic acid

4. STIFFENERS AND SOFTENERS
SOFTENERS
▪ Fabric softeners are added with sours in the final wash cycle.
▪ Softeners coat the fibers and make them softer and fluffier.
▪ Softeners are available in various concentrations -5% ,10%,15%or more.
STIFFENERS
▪ A certain amount of crispness in fabrics gives them a fresh look.The crisp appearance is obtained by using
stiffeners.
▪ Stiffening is carried out for the following purposes:
a) To impact crispness to the fabric to give a neat appearance.
b) To help keep clothes clean for a longer time by holding down the surface fibres that catch dust and dirt.
c) To facilitate stain and soil removal since, after stiffening, stains, and dirt remain on the surface and do not
penetrate into the fabric.
BLEACHES-
These are chemicals capable of whitening fabrics and removing stains by destroying pigmented matter.They also
disinfect and deodorize.Their action of combating yellowing and discolouring is due to a chemical reaction.
Various types of bleach are:
1. Oxidizing bleaches
2. Sodium hypochlorite
3. Hydrogen peroxide
4. Potassium permanganate

5. ORGANIC SOLVANTS-
Solvents are applied to the most delicate fabrics either to remove stains or
to dry-clean them.They do not injure the fabrics or the colour of fabrics.
They are used as spot cleaning agents.
Some of them are:
a) Methylated spirit
b) Paraffin
c)Turpentine
d) Acetone
ABSORBENTS-
These are substances suitable for removing grease spots from all fabrics
and for the general; cleaning of light coloured fabrics that are evenly
soiled. Examples are common salt, bran, fuller’s earth, powdered
magnesia and french chalk.
DRY CLEANING-
Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a
chemical solvent other than water.
Despite its name, dry cleaning is not a “dry” process; clothes are soaked
in a liquid solvent.Tetrachloroethylene which the industry calls “perc”, is
the most widely used solvent.

6. Thank
you