Washing of cotton fabric in presence of bentonites

Abstract

The subject of this work is the influence of sodium bentonite along with the surfactants in ecological detergent, in view of its qualities of absorbency and fabric softening. Bentonite is a clay composed of different minerals, containing hydrated aluminium silicates and belonging to the montmorillonite family (smectite clays with a layered structure). The surfactants used were an anionic surfactant, namely sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS), and the non-ionic surfactants, namely alkyl polyglucoside (APG), separately and in mixtures of the anionic and non-ionic surfactants in different proportions, in order to determine their influence on detergency, with a constant concentration of bentonite in the formulations in two different particle sizes. The softness of the washed cotton fabric was evaluated to ascertain the effectiveness of the bentonite as a softener, by means of a subjective touch test. Likewise, the possible loss of whiteness by the fabric due to absorption of the bentonite was evaluated