The Effect of Different Detergents on the  Removal of Stains
Researched by Carrie N. 2002-03	PURPOSE  HYPOTHESIS  EXPERIMENT DESIGN  MATERIALS  PROCEDURES  RESULTS  CONCLUSION  RESEARCH REPORT  BIBLIOGRAPHY  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to determine which brand of detergent takes stains out of cotton fabric most effectively.

I became interested in this idea when I kept staining my clothes and my mom was trying to find the most effective detergent to take out the stains.

The information gained from this experiment will help homemakers, professional cleaners, and places like hospitals to make good purchasing decisions.

HYPOTHESIS

My hypothesis was that Tide detergent would take out the stain most effectively.

I based my hypothesis on the experience of Patty Nevue, a homemaker for 19 years, who believes that Tide works most effectively.

EXPERIMENT DESIGN

The constants in this study were:

• Type of stain (ketchup, mustard, coffee, Hershey chocolate, and grape juice mixed together)
• Amount of time each cotton square was in the stain
• Brand of white cotton fabric
• Size of white cotton fabric (5cm X 5cm)
• Amount of detergent used
• Amount of time stain was left on fabric
• Amount of time in washer
• Amount of time in dryer
• Amount of time left in colorimeter
• Temperature of the water in washing machine
• Wash cycle
• Washing Machine
• Drying Machine

The manipulated variable was the type of detergent used.

The responding variable was how much of the stain was removed.

To measure the responding variable I used a colorimeter to measure the whiteness of the stained cotton cloth.

MATERIALS
 

QUANTITY	ITEM DESCRIPTION
1	Container of Liquid Tide Detergent
1	Container of Liquid All Detergent
1	Container of Liquid Western Family Detergent
1	Container of Liquid Cheer Detergent
1	Container of Liquid Gain Detergent
50	5cm X 5cm of White Cotton Fabric
100 ML	Ketchup
100 ML	Coffee
100 ML	Grape Juice
100 ML	Hershey Chocolate
100 ML	Mustard
1	Pair of Scissors
1	Colorimeter
25	Paper Plates
1	Washing Machine
1	Drying Machine
1	Permanent Black Pen
1	Pair of Gloves
1	Graduated Cylinder
1	Large Bowl
5	Zip-Lock Baggies
1	Ruler

 
 

PROCEDURES

1. Prepare paper plates
a. Put the plates into 5 different groups with 5 plates in each group.
            b. Label a group with a permanent pen by putting a 1 all on the first group,
                 a 2 on the second group, and so on.
2. Prepare cotton fabric by cutting 50 5-cm X 5-cm squares.
3. Prepare zip-lock Baggies by labeling the fist with a one, second with a two, and so on.
4. Prepare stain by mixing 100 ml each of ketchup, mustard, coffee, grape juice, and Hershey chocolate syrup for 5 minutes.
5. Put all 50 cotton squares in the big bowl of stain and stir for 5 more minutes, make sure they’re all separated.
6. Put on the gloves and take out the first ten cotton squares and place them on a group of paper plates, two per plate.
7. Repeat step #6 on the remaining 40 cotton squares.
8. Wait 24 hours until doing the next step.
9. Wash the cotton squares
 A. Put 10 cotton squares into the washing machine.
 B. Take the first detergent and pour 4 oz into the washing machine.
C. Make sure the washing machine is set to cold water, small load, 
and permanent press wash cycle.
10. When the wash cycle is done take out the first group of cotton squares and put them in the dryer (make sure it is on the same cycle).
11. When the first group is done in the dryer take them out and put them in their assigned zip-lock baggie.
12. Repeat steps #9-11 for the other 4 groups, using a different detergent for each.
13. After the washing and drying is done bring all the groups to the colorimeter.
14. Record data.

RESULTS

The original purpose of this experiment was to find out which brand of detergent got out stains most effectively.

The results of the experiment were that the Tide liquid detergent (1) got out the stain the most effectively.

View my table and graph below.

CONCLUSION

My hypothesis was that Tide liquid detergent would take the stain out most effectively.

The results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted. Unfortunately the difference between groups was extremely small, so this does not appear to be very meaningful.

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if different water temperatures and different stains would affect the results of this experiment. 

If I were to conduct this project again I would have more trials and use each stain separately during the experiment.
 
 
 
 

Research Report Introduction Cleanliness is an important factor to human health. People need to have clothes without stains to feel clean. Many people stain their clothes and don’t know the best way to take out their stains. It would be a good idea to find out what type of detergent is the most effective on stains.    Stain A stain is a soiled surface or discolored area that might be on clothes. It may be caused be oil, grease, dirt, food, or dye. Ketchup-is usually red and is mostly made out of tomatoes. Mustard-is usually yellow and mostly made out of powdered mustard seeds. Coffee- is usually blackish or brownish and is made out of ground coffee beans and water. Grape Juice- is usually purple and is made out of grapes. Hershey chocolate syrup- is usually brown and made out of melted chocolate and other sugars. Detergent and Soap Detergents are put on materials the help remove dirt and other matter that is unwanted. The ingredients in detergent are usually called surfactants, and they are made up of pretty big molecules. When detergents were first made they weren’t soluble or biodegradable. As time went on the manufactures made detergents more soluble and biodegradable. Liquid detergents can dissolve very easily. Solvents are found in detergents. A Solvent is the one that does the dissolving and solute is the one that dissolves. Water is most commonly used as the solvent.  Soaps and detergents can be made in the form of bars, flakes, grains, liquids, and tablets, but liquid detergent is usually used in washing machines. Detergent that is factory made has a different chemical makeup than soap. A detergent molecule will have one end cling to the dirt or stain while the other end will cling to the water. Washing Machines and Washing Clothes The washing machine can quickly wash clothes. Most all-modern washing machines are automatic. Automatic washing machines are powered by an electric motor. The most common washing machine is called the agitator washing machine.  About 100 years ago they didn't use washing machines, instead the people used washboards. Usually the washboards were made out of tin and glass. They also had to use two washtubs, one would have warm soapy water and the other would have clean water. The tub with the soap in it would be used to wash the clothes and the clean water tub would be used to rinse the clothes. The soap they used would usually be made from melted pig's fat mixed with lye. Most rich families would buy perfume to add with the soap so their clothes also smelled good. Textile and Materials Textile was traditionally meant to be a woven fabric, now most all fabrics are considered a textile. Textile mills can produce huge rolls of all sorts of fabrics, like cotton, wool, nylon, and many others. Cotton Cotton is the plant fiber that is most commonly used. Cotton fiber is used for many different items, like clothing, bed sheets, carpeting, textiles, tablecloths, and many others. This fabric is mostly used for clothing because it is soft, strong, and it absorbs moisture into the center. In textile mills they take the fiber and turn it into yarn, from there they turn the yarn into a fabric. Cotton will make skin feel cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. The first step to make materials from cotton is called ginning, in this process it will separate the fibers from the seed. Also while ginning they will dry and clean the fiber, and then it puts the cotton fibers into bales. The machine that separates the fibers from seed is called a gin. Ginning will happen at compressed warehouses. Then the farmers will get their cotton classed. The people that class the cotton use a device that is called a High Volume Instrument. After the cotton is classed it can be sold. The cotton plant The cotton plant is usually an annual plant. There are four main types of cotton; they are Upland, Pima, Tree, and Levant cotton. These four main types fall into two groups, New World cotton and Old World cotton. New World cotton includes Upland and Pima cotton. Both Upland and Pima cotton were grown first by Indians in Central and South America thousands of years ago. Tree and Levant cotton both fall into the Old World cotton group. Old world cotton is mostly used in communities where it is grown. The other parts of the cotton plant that are left over after the fiber is taken are also used to make other objects. China, United States, India, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan are the countries where cotton is grown the most. The cotton plant will have a seedpod with about twenty to forty seeds in it, the fibers and lint will grow off of each seed.  Hunter Reflectance Spectrophotometer (Colorimeter) The colorimeter is a machine that measures the light intensity and color. Tree Top uses this machine to examine their juices, to make sure they are the right color, not burnt, so they are ready to be sold to stores. The colorimeter has color percentages which are the L, a, b, and are on a scale of 0-100. The L stands for the lightness of the color, the higher the percentage the brighter your material is. The "a" stands for the redness or greenness of the color, if the percentage is a negative number it is more green rather than red. The "b" stands for the yellow or blueness of the color, if the percentage is a negative number it is more blue rather than yellow.     Summary Cleanliness is one of the most important factors to human health. For people to feel that they are relatively clean they need detergent to take out the stains on dirty clothes. Ordinary people need to know what type of detergent will get out strong stains and leave there clothes clean to maintain a good healthy life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY * Beaulieu, Robert J. "Textile" World Book Encyclopedia CD, 2002 * Carter, Joseph. Benjema, Paul. Heck, Russell. Lucero, Phillip. Solvents and Solutes Massachusetts Ginn and Company, 1971, 357-358 * "Detergents," Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, 2001 * Feinstein, Myron E. "Detergent and Soap," World Book Encyclopedia, 2002 * Heimler, Charles and Price, Jack Focus on Physical Science Columbus, Ohio Merril Publishing Company, 1971, 357-358 * McGowan, Alan "Eutrophication," World Book Encyclopedia, 1999. * Mortensen, Andreas "Materials," World Book Encyclopedia, 2002 * Powell, Evan "Washing Machine," World Book Encyclopedia, 1998 and 1999 *  "Removing Stains" http://www.tipking.com/Tips/publish/tip * Smith, Wayne  "Cotton," World Book Encyclopedia, 1998. * "Solvent and stain Removers" http://babyparenting.about.com/library/weekly/aa020402a.htm * "Washing Clothes" http://qhs.qps.org/oldltyme/washing/wahsing-clothes.htm

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 I would like to thank the following people for making my science project possible:

• Mr. Newkirk, for editing my journal and report and for helping with my data table and graph.
• Mrs. Helms, for answering any of the questions I had and for editing my papers.
• My mom, for helping me gather my materials, for making sure I didn’t mess up during my experiment, for helping wash and dry my cotton squares, and also for picking me up from late class.
• My dad, for picking me up from late classes and taking me to the colorimeter at Tree Top. 
• Mrs. Graf for teaching and assisting me in using the colorimeter. 

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