This study aims to estimate the effects of mechanical action for detergency and damage of fabrics in washing process with and without protease. For this purpose, we prepared naturally stained cotton shirting and cotton jersey with a sort of soil containing much of epidermal stratum corneum debris. And we also confirmed the adhering state and the amount of the stains.
The observation with the scanning electron microscope has shown that much of stains adhered on the fiber surface or between the fibers in the case of shirting, and in the thread-core of jersey. After washing, the fibrils (0.20.8μm) appeared on the surface of fiber, corresponding to increased mechanical action, for instance, over 105 c.p.m. of Terg-O-Tometer. After five to ten times repeats of washing cycles, the fibers were furthermore damaged. The soil removal efficiency of cotton shirting was lower than cotton jersey. In the case of shirting, however, pre-soak with bacillus alkaline protease was very effective, so that the efficiency of washing by the heavy duty detergent was remarkably higher than without the pre-soaking. Generally, when the stained fabrics were washed, after pre-soaked with the protease, the higher detergency with the less damage of cotton fabrics was found, even if at low temperature (10°C or 25°C) and on the reduced mechanical action.
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