Hygiene in Domestic Laundering – Consumer Behavior in Germany

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess consumers' behavior in home hygiene with particular attention paid to hygiene in laundering. In this way, the applications of washing temperatures and detergents on textiles are evaluated. The data were obtained by using a questionnaire distributed at the “Action Day Sustainable Washing” arranged annually. The results of this sample provide a relevant insight into consumers' behavior: The consumer can generally estimate the level of infection risk coming from the different textiles. However, the majority of high risk textiles, such as cleaning cloths, are washed with detergents that do not contain any bleaching system. In view of the washing temperatures applied, the results indicate differences between the generations. This study clearly demonstrates the need for enhanced consumer communication regarding hygiene effectiveness in laundering.

Influence of Hydrogen Peroxide on Disinfection and Soil Removal during Low-Temperature Household Laundry

“…LCA studies of clothing, detergents and washing machines show that the use phase is generally the most energy consuming phase in the life cycle of clothing, ahead of the production and transport phases [ 4 ]. Consumer washing habits vary [ 5 , 6 ], but in the last 20 years the preferred washing temperatures worldwide have been between 30 °C and 60 °C [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. However, these washing methods cannot guarantee the sufficient cleanliness of the laundry and especially the sufficient disinfection of the laundry [ 9 ].…”

Review of the Year 2016

“…Four of the top 17 papers of 2016 were part of this special issue. The papers addressed the development of a real-time measurement using a novel and tailored QCM-D methodology for screening of detergent formulations [3], the water and energy consumption in domestic laundry [6], the interactions of protease and surfactants [9] and the effect of relevant detergent components on the cleaning performance in low temperature electric household dishwashing [13].Much attention was also devoted to performance and consumption of washing machines in Europe [8], the microbial communities in household washing machines [2] and dishwashers [7], the hygiene in commercial dishwashers [14] and in domestic laundry [10], the consumer satisfaction with the performance of detergents [4] and the use of hop cone extracts in toilet cleaners [5].Other topics attracting great interest in 2016 were those papers which reported on novel surfactants for formulations of cosmetics [1], the interactions of Gemini ester quats with biological membranes [12], an environmentally friendly inhibitor for scale in cooling water systems [11], and a terpolymer inhibitor for CaCO 3 and BaSO 4 in oil fields [17].Another topic receiving special attention was the behavior of surfactant mixtures such as carbamate surfactants with anionic surfactants [15] and of anionic Gemini surfactants with amphoteric surfactants [16]. …”

“…Much attention was also devoted to performance and consumption of washing machines in Europe [8], the microbial communities in household washing machines [2] and dishwashers [7], the hygiene in commercial dishwashers [14] and in domestic laundry [10], the consumer satisfaction with the performance of detergents [4] and the use of hop cone extracts in toilet cleaners [5].…”