Anyone who has washed or worn white clothes knows that white shirts stop looking white after a few washes and start to turn a shade of gray. Same is the case with striped clothes as they tend to lose their contrast after a few washes and the white and colored stripes start to look dull.

Dirt particles in the wash

Wash and wear damages cotton fabrics, resulting in microscopic frayed fibers on the surface. The problem starts in the washing machine during a wash cycle – dirt particles released from the clothes circulate in the wash water. These dirt particles are attracted by the frayed cotton fibers, making clothes dirty and gray.

 

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“Celluclean is a new technology for the detergent industry. By removing only the microscopic damaged fibers on the surface of the fabric, the enzyme prevents dirt and other soilings from attaching to the clothes during wash,” says Anders Lund, Marketing Director for detergent at Novozymes. “With Celluclean, clothes are cleaner and do not get that dull gray look. And because Celluclean only removes the tiny damaged fibers on the surface, it does not affect the fabric’s strength and durability.”

Whiter than bleach

Traditionally, detergent manufacturers have used bleach to keep white clothes white, but there are a number of drawbacks associated with bleach. Bleach does not clean clothes; it merely masks the dirt particles and, furthermore, bleach cannot mask certain soils from air pollution, traffic smoke, and several other sources. In addition, bleach is not suitable for striped clothes because bleach will act on both the white and the colored stripes, making the colored stripe dull.

“Detergent manufacturers can now give their customers a solution that does not just mask dirt but actually removes it. Detergents containing Celluclean wash cleaner than detergents with just bleach; and the best part is that you don’t have to decide if the striped clothes go in the white or the colored laundry pile – with Celluclean your white stripes stay white and colored stripes stay colored,” says Anders Lund.

The end of oat stains

Celluclean keeps whites white and colors bright – and also breaks down beta-glucans, a sticky carbohydrate found in oats and barley. Since oats are present in a wide range of food and personal care products, including breakfast cereal, baby food, snacks, yogurts, energy bars, soaps, face masks, and cosmetics – oat stains are nearly impossible to avoid and constitute a common laundry problem.

When beta-glucan stained clothes are washed, the beta-glucan spreads as a thin layer over the otherwise clean surface of clothes. This thin layer of beta-glucan acts like an adhesive, attaching dirt in the wash water to the fabric surface, and thus making clothes dirty and gray.

“Beta-glucan stains are difficult to deal with because regular detergents don’t break these stains down. When clothes with oat stains are washed, some of the stain material is released into the wash. If the detergent cannot break this stain material down, it will deposit on other clothes and will make them dirty as well. Without Celluclean, you could end up making your clothes dirty while you wash them,” says Anders Lund. “With Celluclean, the beta-glucan stains are broken down and cannot participate in this type of soil deposition.”