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. 

Trial Experiment (Experiment 1- Concentration of detergent in medium)

Conducted on 14 - 15th June 2011.
Start time: 4.20pm (14-06-2011)
End time: 8.50am (15-06-2011)

Steps:
1) Cut out 6 fabric pieces (5cm x 5cm) from a piece of fabric.
2) Mix two teaspoons of ketchup with one teaspoon of soya sauce.
3) Place a drop of mixture on each of the fabric piece.
4) Leave the fabric pieces aside for 3 hours to create a stain.
5) Pour 140ml of tapwater into 5 containers. Label the containers- A,B,C,D and E respectively.
6) Add approximately 1/10 teaspoon of detergent into Set-up A.

7) Add 1/3 teaspoon of detergent into Set-up B.

8) Add 1/2 teaspoon of detergent into Set-up C.

9) Add 1 teaspoon of detergent into Set-up D.

10) Add 1 1/2 teaspoon of detergent into Set-up E.

11) Stir the mediums in all set-ups 5 times.
12) 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.

13) Leave the set-ups overnight.

14) Remove the 5 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)

 Set-up A- (Medium with 1/10 teaspoon of detergent in 140ml of water)
Most visible stain left as compared to the other fabric pieces in other set-ups. Amount of detergent is most probably too little for effective stain removal to take place.

 Set-up B- (Medium with 1/3 teaspoon of detergent in 140ml of water)
Stain left is considerably lighter than the fabric piece in Set-up A, but more visible than the other fabric pieces in Set-up C, D and E. Second most visible stain left.

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

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

Set-up E- (Medium with 1 1/2 teaspoon of detergent in 140ml of water)
Although the amount of detergent used in this set-up is 3x that of the amount of detergent used in Set-up C, the amount of stain removed should be around the same as the stain on this piece of fabric is as visible as the piece of fabric in Set-up C. But still, the medium in Set-up E has also effectively removed most of the stain. Very little stain can be seen.


Hmmmm. :/ It seems like when the amount of detergent used exceeds a certain amount (in this case, 1/2 teaspoon of detergent in 140ml of water), the effectiveness of the detergent in removing stains would no longer increase as the amount of stain removed in the fabric pieces in Set-up C, D and E is around the same although Set-up D has 2x the amount of detergent than in Set-up C, and Set-up E has 3x the amount of detergent than in Set- up C. But when the amount of detergent used is less than a certain amount (in this case, 1/2 teaspoon of detergent in 140ml of water), effectiveness in stain removal decreases, most probably because not enough detergent is used.

My hypothesis is then kinda correct, but I should repeat the experiment again to prove that my hypothesis is correct.

Limitations: 
1) I could not find the recommended concentration of detergent needed for removing stains off a 5cm x 5cm piece of fabric as SPINmatic detergent only shows the amount of detergent needed for 2-4kg/ 4-6kg/ 6-8kg of dry wash capacity in methods of soaking, hand-wash and using the washing machine. In this case, 1/2 cup of detergent (equivalent to about 5 tablespoons) is needed for 2-4kg dry wash capacity. Eh, what about a piece of fabric 5cm x 5cm? Okay, fine. No one in the right mind would actually go and wash a 5cm x 5cm piece of fabric and actually measure the amount of detergent used. So, I used very, very little amount of detergent in Set-up A (1/10 teaspoon of detergent, which is definitely less than the recommended concentration) and 1 1/2 teaspoon of detergent in Set-up E, which definitely exceeds the recommended concentration. So I'll have Set-up C- which is around the recommended concentration, Set-up B- slightly lower than recommended concentration, Set-up D- slightly higher than recommended concentration, Set-up A- DEFINITELY LOWER than recommended concentration and Set-up E- DEFINITELY HIGHER than recommended concentration.

Changes:
1) I'm planning to increase the concentration of detergent in the last few set-ups, to about 1 1/2 to 3 teaspoons. (?) Maybe as the concentration exceeds the recommended concentration by a certain limit, the effectiveness of detergent in removing stains might drop. So I should try, since I already know that when the detergent concentration exceeds the recommended concentration, the effectiveness in stain removal remains the same.

Actual Experiment! (Experiment 3- pH of medium)

Conducted on 13th - 14th June 2011.
Start time: 5pm (13-06-2011)
End time: 9.30am (14-06-2011)

Steps:
1) Cut out 6 fabric pieces (5cm x 5cm) from a piece of fabric.
2) Mix 2 teaspoons of ketchup with 1 teaspoon of soya sauce.
3) Place a drop of mixture on each of the fabric pieces.
4) Leave the fabric pieces aside for 2 hours to create a stain.
5) Pour 40ml of freshly-squeezed lemon juice and 100ml of tapwater into a container. Label the set-up- A.
6) Pour 10ml of freshly-squeezed lemon juice and 130ml of tapwater into a container. Label the set-up- B.
7) Pour 140ml of tapwater into a container. Label the set-up- C.
8) Pour 140ml of tapwater into a container and add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. Label the set-up D.
9) Stir the mixture of tapwater and baking soda in Set-up D to ensure that the baking soda is fully-dissolved.
10) Pour 140ml of tapwater into a container and add 3 teaspoons of baking soda. Label the set-up E.
11) Stir the mixture of tapwater and baking soda in Set-up E to ensure that the baking soda is fully-dissolved.
12) Add 1/2 teaspoon of detergent into each of the set-ups. Stir all mediums in the 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 5 fabric pieces from the set-ups and observe the stains left on the fabric pieces. Use the control as a basis for comparison.

Results:

End results (with control as basis for comparison)

 Set-up A- (Medium with pH = 2)
Very little stain has been removed. Although the stain seems a little lighter than the control set-up, almost no stain has been removed.

 Set-up B- (Medium with pH = 4)
Very little stain has been removed. Although the stain seems a little lighter than the control set-up, almost no stain has been removed.

 Set-up C- (Medium with pH = 7)
Least visible stain as compared to all the fabric pieces in other set-ups.

 Set-up D- (Medium with pH = 9)
Stain left is considerably lighter. Second least visible stain.

Set-up E- (Medium with pH = 12)
Very little stain has been removed.








Based on the results, detergent works best in removing stains in neutral - mildly alkaline pH. My hypothesis is then proven correct. (:

Trial Experiment (Experiment 3- pH of medium)

Conducted on 10th June 2011.

Hypothesis: Detergent works best in a medium of pH between 7.0 to 8.5. (Neutral to slightly alkaline)

Steps:
1) Cut out fabric pieces (5cm x 5cm) from a piece of fabric.
2) Mix 2 teaspoons of ketchup with 1 teaspoon of soya sauce (Stain!)
3) Place a drop of the mixture on each of the fabric pieces.
4) Leave the fabric pieces aside for 2 hours to create a stain.
5) Pour 40ml of freshly-squeezed lemon juice and 40ml of tapwater into a container. Label the set-up-A.
6) Pour 10ml of freshly-squeezed lemon juice and 70ml of tapwater into a container. Label the set-up- B.
7) Pour 80ml of tapwater into a container and label the set-up- C.
8) Pour 40ml of tapwater into a container and add two teaspoons of baking soda. Label the set-up- D.
9) Pour 40ml of tapwater into a container and add four teaspoons of baking soda. Label the set-up- E.
10) Add 1/2 teaspoon of detergent into each of the 5 containers.
11) Place one piece of stained fabric into each of the set-ups.
12) Leave the set-ups overnight.
13) Remove the 5 fabric pieces from the set-ups and observe the stains left on the fabric piece.

Results:

 Set-up A- (Medium with lowest pH)
Very little stain has been removed.

 Set-up B- (Medium with second lowest pH)
Similar to the fabric piece in set-up A. Very little stain has been removed.

 Set-up C- (Medium with neutral pH)
Least visible stain as compared to all the other fabric pieces in other set-ups.

 Set-up D- (Medium with second highest pH)
Very little stain has been removed.

Set-up E- (Medium with highest pH)
Very little stain has been removed.







So basically, Set-up C shows the medium which allows 'the most effective stain removal' as the fabric piece in Set-up C shows the least visible stain among all the other set-ups.

IMPROVEMENTS THAT CAN BE MADE:
- Baking soda in Set-up E was not fully-dissolved! (Should stir a few more times and ensure that the baking soda fully-dissolves)
- Set-ups were not of equal volume. E.g. Set-up A: 80ml, D: 40ml with 2 teaspoons of baking soda. (Should make all set-ups of equal volume as the total volume of the mediums should be one of the controlled variables)
- Have a control! (ARGH FORGOT. To provide a basis for comparison!)

Set-ups

Materials/Apparatuses needed 
- Lab thermometer
- SPINmatic detergent
- Mustard, Ketchup, Coffee and Egg (For making of stain)
- 18 pieces of fabric (5cm x 5cm)
- 12 small plastic containers/ bowls
- Teaspoon
- Tap water
- Colorimeter
- Lemon juice (To decrease pH of medium)
- Baking soda (To increase pH of medium)

Experiment 1: (Concentration of detergent in medium)
Set-up 1- Recommended Concentration
Set-up 2- 1/3 less than recommended concentration
Set-up 3- 2/3 less than recommended concentration
Set-up 4- 1/3 more than recommended concentration
Set-up 5- 2/3 more than recommended concentration
Set-up 6- Control: No water and no detergent

All set-ups (except for control) will contain 100ml of water and will be at room temperature (at around 25 degree celsius) 1/2 teaspoon of stain containing mustard, ketchup, egg and coffee will be applied on each piece of fabric of 5cm x 5cm of each set-up. All 6 set-ups will sit in the mediums of different concentrations of SPINmatic detergent overnight before the fabric pieces are taken out. A colour scale will be used to measure the colour intensity of stain left.

Experiment 2: (Temperature of medium)
Set-up 1- 10 degree celsius
Set-up 2- 25 degree celsius
Set-up 3- 40 degree celsius
Set-up 4- 55 degree celsius
Set-up 5- 70 degree celsius
Set-up 6- No water and no detergent

All set-ups will contain 100ml of water and 1/2 teaspoon of SPINmatic detergent. 1/2 teaspoon of stain containing mustard, ketchup, egg and coffee will be applied on each piece of fabric of 5cm x 5cm of each set-up. All 6 set-ups will sit in the mediums of different concentrations of SPINmatic detergent overnight before the fabric pieces are taken out. A colour scale will be used to measure the colour intensity of stain left.

Experiment 3: (pH of medium)
Set-up 1: pH 2
Set-up 2: pH 4
Set-up 3: pH 7 (Neutral- pH of water)
Set-up 4: pH 9
Set-up 5: pH 12
Set-up 6: No water and no detergent

All set-ups will contain 100ml of water. Lemon juice or baking soda will be used to increase or decrease the pH of the medium. 1/2 teaspoon of SPINmatic detergent will be added into each of the set-ups. 1/2 teaspoon of stain containing mustard, ketchup, egg and coffee will be added onto all 6 pieces of fabric of 5cm x 5cm. All 6 set-ups will sit in the different pH mediums overnight before the fabric pieces are taken out. A colour scale will be used to measure the colour intensity left.

Variables

Independent variable
Experiment 1: Concentration of detergent in medium
Experiment 2: Temperature of medium
Experiment 3: pH of medium

Dependent variable
Amount of stain removed from fabric

Controlled variables
Experiment 1:
- Type of detergent used (SPINmatic!)
- Amount of water used in medium (100ml)
- Amount of stain applied on fabric (1/2 teaspoon)
- Type of stain used (Mixture of mustard, ketchup, coffee and egg)
- Temperature of the medium (Room temperature: 26 degree celcius)
- Time given for fabric to sit in detergent medium (Overnight)
- Size of fabric used (5cm x 5cm)
- Type of fabric used
- pH of medium (Neutral- pH of water)

Experiment 2:
- Type of detergent used (SPINmatic)
- Amount of water used in medium (100ml)
- Amount of detergent used in medium (1/2 teaspoon?)
- Amount of stain applied on fabric (1/2 teaspoon)
- Type of stain used (Mixture of mustard, ketchup, coffee and egg)
- Type of fabric used
- Size of fabric used (5cm x 5cm)
- Time given for fabric to sit in detergent medium (Overnight)
- pH of medium (Neutral- pH of water)

Experiment 3:
- Type of detergent used (SPINmatic)
- Amount of water used in medium (100ml)
- Temperature of medium (Room Temperature- About 26 degree celsius)
- Amount of detergent used in medium (1/2 teaspoon)
- Amount of stain applied on fabric (1/2 teaspoon)
- Type of stain used (Mixture of mustard, ketchup, coffee and egg)
- Type of fabric used
- Size of fabric used (5cm x 5cm)
- Time given for fabric to sit in detergent medium (Overnight)