FEATURE LAUNDRY product may include. Such statements include: ‘may cause cancer’ or ‘may damage fertility or the unborn child’. Instructions for best environmental use: Dosage recommendations shall follow the requirements in the Detergents Regulation 648/2004/EEC and must appear clear and readable on the product packaging. Information on the packaging is to highlight appropriate washing advice and must include instructions to ‘Wash at the lowest possible temperature’ and ‘Always wash with full load’. The label should also say that ‘Using this Eco-labelled product according to the dosage instructions will contribute to the reduction of water pollution, waste production and energy consumption’. Tested and guaranteed wash performance: An EU Eco-labelled product will have been compared in its washing performance with a reference detergent, according to the EU eco-detergents performance test ‘Award of the EU Eco-label to laundry detergents: performance test of household detergents’. Wash performance testing: A wash performance test ensures that a detergent will clean textiles in an efficient manner when used at the correct dosages as recommended by the manufacturer. Testing against EU Eco-label requirements, however, also assesses other important characteristics of washing performance, such as fibre damage and build-up of encrustations on fabrics, which can decrease the flexibility of fibres and possibly shorten the fabric life. This is done by carrying out multiple wash cycles but without any intermediate wear periods. The basic principle of a wash performance test is to compare the test detergent with a standard reference detergent of known satisfactory performance properties. The test is carried out using 25 cycles for heavy duty and ‘colour-safe’ detergents and 15 cycles for light duty detergents. Special white clean, soiled and stained swatches are used as controls or monitors for determining cleaning performance. Whiteness and colour change are calculated from colour measurements taken on standard white cotton cloths, which are also used in the tests for monitoring of fabric damage and fabric encrustation. Soil and stain removal are determined by measuring the intensity of the colour of the monitors before and after washing and calculating difference values which are compared to those for the reference detergent. Dye transfer for ‘colour safe’ detergents is determined using a standard cotton or polyamide nylon fabric as a dye acceptor, and a dyed fabric with poor water fastness as a dye donator. Samples of the two fabrics are washed together at the appropriate temperature in a washwheel type apparatus containing a wash liquor prepared from the test detergent. A control test with no dye donator fabric is also carried out. Colour differences between the standard fabrics from the two tests are determined using a spectrophotometer. Criteria, summarised in the following table, are specified for the minimum standards of washing performance which have to be fulfilled by the different detergent products under test in order to meet the requirements for the EU Eco-label. A product meets the requirements if it shows better or equal results in all criteria than a calculated value which has been derived from the results obtained for the reference product. The testing procedure is scheduled to be simplified while still ensuring that products meet stringent criteria. 18 OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2016 CLEANING HYGIENE TODAY A wash performance test ensures that a detergent will clean textiles in an effi cient manner when used at the correct dosages as recommended by the manufacturer.” EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR THE WASH TESTING Test criterion Type of detergent Heavy duty Colour safe Light duty Soil removal yes yes yes Stain removal yes yes yes Colour change yes no no Whiteness yes yes yes Fabric damage yes yes no Fabric encrustation yes yes yes Dye transfer no yes no
Cleaning Hygiene Today October-November 2016
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