Appendix B

Experiment 1

Final Experiment

Repeats

Concentration (Expt. 2- Set-ups A to E with control):

pH (Expt. 3- Set-ups A to E with control):

Temperature (Expt. 1- Set-ups A to D with control):

Improvements on Experiment

1) Measure exact and specific values (e.g. Concentration of detergent - __ml of detergent in __ml of water in %)
2) Repeat experiment for multiple readings! (For more accurate results)
3) Plot 4 line graph - pH, temperature, concentration of detergent, final experiment.
4) Analysis- Compare percentage decrease in saturation
5) Raw data in appendix (include photographs) and final graph(s) in report.
6) Final Experiment- Optimum pH, Optimum Temperature, Optimum Concentration, Optimum for all factors
7) Water bath to maintain temperature for temperature experiment if possible - If not, state this as part of the limitations.
8) Discussion- Do people just soak their clothe. Extension- mechanical removal.

Final Experiment

Set-ups:

A- Low pH, Low concentration of detergent, Low Temperature

B- Low pH, Low concentration of detergent, High Temperature

C- Low pH, Recommended concentration of detergent, Low Temperature

D- Low pH, Recommended concentration of detergent, high Temperature

E- Low pH, High concentration of detergent, Low Temperature

F- Low pH, High concentration of detergent, High Temperature

G- Neutral pH, Low concentration of detergent, Low Temperature

H- Neutral pH, Low concentration of detergent, High Temperature

I- Neutral pH, Recommended concentration of detergent, Low Temperature

J- Neutral pH, Recommended concentration of detergent, High Temperature

K- Neutral pH, High concentration of detergent, Low Temperature

L- Neutral pH, High concentration of detergent, High Temperature

M- High pH, Low concentration of detergent, Low Temperature

N- High pH, Low concentration of detergent, High Temperature

O- High pH, Recommended concentration of detergent, Low Temperature

P- High pH, Recommended concentration of detergent, High Temperature

Q- High pH, High concentration of detergent, Low Temperature

R- High pH, High concentration of detergent, High Temperature

Control

For Low pH, 40ml of lemon juice was added along with 100ml of tapwater (either hot or cold, depending on set-up)

For Neutral pH, 140ml of tapwater was added (either hot or cold, depending on set-up)

For High pH, 3 teaspoon of baking soda was added along with 140ml of tapwater (either hot or cold, depending on set-up) and stirred to be dissolved.

For Low concentration of detergent, add 1/10 teaspoon of detergent.

For Recommended concentration of detergent, add 1/2 teaspoon of detergent.

For High concentration of detergent, add 3 teaspoons of detergent.

For High Temperature, pour around 40 ml of hot water into 100ml of tapwater (+ lemon juice if needed).

For Low Temperature, pour around 120ml of melted ice cubes and 20ml of tapwater (+ lemon juice if needed)

Steps:

1) Cut out 19 5cm x 5cm fabric pieces.

2) Mix ketchup and soya sauce in the ratio of 2: 1.

3) Place a drop of the mixture onto each of the fabric pieces.

4) Leave fabric pieces aside for 3 hours to create a stain.

5) Get ready all the set-ups. (Refer to list of set-ups above)

6) Place a piece of stained fabric onto each of the set-ups.

7) Leave set-ups overnight.

Results:

 A

B

 C

 D

 E

 F

 G

 H

 I

 J

 K

 L

 M

 N

 O

 P

 Q

 R

Concluding Experiment

Okay, so I'll have these set-ups for my concluding experiment:

Variables:
1) pH- Low pH, Neutral pH, High pH
2) Concentration- Low Concentration, Recommended Concentration, High Concentration
3) Temperature- Low Temperature, High Temperature (Warm)

Set-ups:
1) Low, Low, Low
2) Low, Low, High
3) Low, Recommended, Low
4) Low, Recommended, High
5) Low, High, Low
6) Low, High, High
7) Neutral, Low, Low
8) Neutral, Low, High
9) Neutral, Recommended, Low
10) Neutral, Recommended, High
11) Neutral, High, Low
12) Neutral, High, High
13) High, Low, Low
14) High, Low, High
15) High, Recommended, Low
16) High, Recommended, High
17) High, High, Low
18) High, High, High
19) Control- Just leave aside

19 SET-UPS. THIS IS MADNESS.

Or maybe: Best Set-up VS Worst Set-up (?) I'm not sure how this is conducted though.

Background Knowledge from Literature Reviews

 1)   http://www.scribd.com/doc/11337847/Laundry-Detergents-and-Stain-Removal

Enzymes- Break molecule into smaller sections that may be more easily dissolved. Such enzymes suited to laundering usually work best in warm water. So laundry detergent packaging containing instructions to use warm water may be an indication that the laundry detergent contains enzymes.

Temperature- Besides facilitating the the function of enzymes, temperature has other effects on how well laundry detergents (or other solvents) work. By increasing the temperature, the particles in the stain and the solvent are given more energy, causing them to vibrate faster. This assists the solvents in dislocating the stain particles and also make it more difficult for the particles to reattach. But too much heat may sometimes cause the stain to be set into the fibres of the fabric, which makes the stain particles harder to remove. However, cold water may not allow the chemical ingredients in the stain removal solution to do their job properly.

2)   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703808904575025021214910714.html

Generations of consumers have washed clothes with the idea that more soap means cleaner laundry. But the sudsy habits are creating messy problems form dingy clothing to worn machines. Making matters worse, the latest generation of detergents are concentrated and so require users to use less product-per-washload than ever before.

3)   http://www.scribd.com/doc/11523933/Enzymes-in-Detergents

Enzymes used in detergents are protein catalysts that consist of long chains of amino acids. They are similar to protein catalysts present in all living cells where they control metabolic processes, convert food nutrients to simple molecules, convert these molecules to energy and to new cell material. As catalysts, enzymes speed up specific chemical reactions, in mild conditions of temperature and pH, without being altered or consumed in the process.

Enzymes function optimally in detergents at temperatures of 20 – 60 degree celsius and within a pH range of 7.5 – 10.5. 

End Results

Experiment 1- Temperature of detergent medium at start

A warm medium, with temperature of around 50 degree celsius is the most ideal temperature for effective stain removal.

Experiment 2- Concentration of detergent in medium
Using the recommended concentration or slightly above the recommended concentration of detergent would be the ideal detergent concentration for effective stain removal. But the saturation of stain left for the recommended concentration and slightly above the recommended concentration do not differ much, at only 1.8%. When too little/too much detergent is used, stains will be less effectively removed.

Experiment 3- pH of medium
A neutral pH is most ideal for the effective removal of stains.

Experiment 1 (Temperature of detergent medium at start)

I've decided to change the independent variable of this experiment to "Temperature of detergent medium AT START" as I realised that it isn't possible to maintain the temperature of the set-ups for a period of approximately >12 hours.

Conducted on 23th - 24th June 2011
Start Time: 5pm (23-06-2011)
End Time: 9.35am (24-06-2011)

Steps:
1) Cut out 5 pieces of fabric (5cm x 5cm) from a piece of fabric.
2) Mix two teaspoons of ketchup with 1 teaspoon of soya sauce.
3) Place a drop of mixture onto each of the fabric piece.
4) Leave the fabric pieces aside for 3 hours to create a stain.
5) Boil around 250ml of water.
6) Leave around 6 ice-cubes aside to melt.
7) Pour 140ml of hot water into a container. Label this set-up, A. (80 degree celsius- Use lab thermometer to check the temperature)
8) Pour around 40ml of hot water and 100ml of tapwater into a container. Label this set-up, B. (50 degree celsius- Use lab thermometer to check the temperature)
9) Pour 140ml of tapwater into a container. Label this set-up, C. (25 degree celsius)
10) Pour around 120ml of melted ice-cubes and 20ml of tapwater into a container. Label this set-up, D. (5 degree celsius- Use lab thermometer to check the temperature)
11) Place 1/2 teaspoon of detergent into all 4 set-ups.
12) Stir each set-ups 5 times.
13) Place one piece of stained fabric into each of the set-ups. Leave the remaining fabric piece aside. This will act as the control of the experiment.

14) Leave the set-ups overnight.
15) Remove the 4 fabric pieces from the set-ups and observe the stains left on the fabric pieces. Use the control as a basis for comparison.

Results:

(With control as basis for comparison)

To measure the 'colour intensity' of the stain left, I've decided to use Photoshop's Colour Sample Tool to measure the saturation of each stain.

Experiment 2 (Concentration of detergent in medium)

Conducted on 15th - 16th June 2011
Start Time: 5.15pm (15-06-2011)
End Time: 9.45am (16-06-2011)

Steps:
Similar to the steps carried out during the trial experiment, except some changes were made to the set-ups:
Set-up A: 140ml of water + 1/10 teaspoon of detergent
Set-up B: 140ml of water + 1/2 teaspoon of detergent
Set-up C: 140ml of water + 1 1/2 teaspoon of detergent
Set-up D: 140ml of water + 3 teaspoons of detergent
Set-up E: 140ml of water + 4 teaspoons of detergent

Results: (with control as basis for comparison)

 Set-up A- (Medium with 140ml of water and 1/10 teaspoon of detergent)
Most visible stain as compared to all the other fabric pieces. Detergent concentration in medium probably too low for effective stain removal to take place.

 Set-up B- (Medium with 140ml of water and 1/2 teaspoon of detergent)
Most of the stain has been removed. Very little stain can be seen.

 Set-up C- (Medium with 140ml of water and 1 1/2 teaspoon of detergent)
Most of the stain has been removed. Very little stain can be seen.

 Set-up D- (Medium with 140ml of water and 3 teaspoons of detergent)
Stain left is more visible than the ones left on the fabric pieces in Set-up B and C, although the amount of detergent used is 2x the amount of detergent in C and 6x of that in B.

Set-up E- (Medium with 140ml of water and 4 teaspoons of detergent)
Second most visible stain. Not much of the stain has been removed, although the medium in this set-up contains the highest concentration of detergent. There seems to be a drop in effectiveness of the detergent in stain removal.




When the concentration of detergent in a medium is lower than the recommended concentration, stains may not be removed effectively. When the concentration of detergent in a medium is higher than the recommended concentration, the effectiveness of the detergent in removing the stains remain the same (i.e. even when a higher concentration as compared to the recommended concentration is used, stains will not be more effectively removed), till it reaches a limit, the effectiveness of stain removal drops. Therefore, the recommended concentration of detergent should be used in order to allow the most effective removal of stains.

Chart showing Experiment 3's data

To measure the effectiveness of detergent in removing stains, I've decided to use Adobe Photoshop to measure the 'brightness'of stain left on the fabric pieces. Using the 'Colour Sample Tool', I plotted 4 random points on each stain and then found the average brightness of the stian, with the use of the HSB colour scale.

HSB stands for Hue, Saturation, Brightness. In this case, I only took the brightness to consideration, which is measured in percent from black (0) to white (100).

Using Excel, I plotted this rough chart using the data I got using Photoshop:

still looks a little weird, but it's only a rough graph.