Sustainable Detergent Process Book

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECT SUSTAINABLE LAUNDRY DETERGENT 6003PDE - DESIGN PROJECT III - ANNA LOWE

CONTENTS

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

IMPACTS ON ENVIRONMENT

MAKING A CHANGE

A brief history of doing laundry

Fast forward to today

DIY trendsetters

Reasons for change

Impacts of this trend

Big effort, little reward

PRODUCT MEANING & VALUES

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURE

Target Market

Form Exploration

Functional Design

Product Goals

Function Exploration

Design for Manufacture

Moodboard

Design Constraints

Design for Assembly

Iterative Process Design for Manufacture Design Realisation

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

A BRIEF HISTORY OF DOING LAUNDRY

SOAP DEVELOPMENT

RESOURCE SHORTAGE

DETERGENT TAKEOVER

1850

1916

1953

Laundry soap was orginally made from fats and oils that came from animal and plants sources. This was a result of discoveries made in soapmaking, that could achieve milder soaps for laundering with. (1)

During WWI there were shortages of these resources which pushed the development of detergents. This was also driven by a need for a soap which did not form scum when used in hard water.(1)

The rise of washing machines around this time pushed the development of detergents to tackle stains in new washing conditions.

These gentler washing conditions were not suitable for laundry soap.(1)

“MAKE SUSTAINABLE LIVING COMMONPLACE” The power to make soap in factories reduced the cost of manufacturing soap. The Lever Brothers (now Unilever) brought out Sunlight Soap; the world’s first packaged and branded laundry soap.(2) They sold this in small, accessible quantities which helped to push soap from being a luxury item to a daily necessity which everybody could have access to.(1) This kind of accessibility helped to push the developments of laundry soaps and detergents.

Their ethos remains the same today across their many brands.

“Everybody should have access to a clean and healthy lifestyle, which is sustainable for us, and also, the planet.”

THE REASONS FOR CHANGE

Detergents have almost all but replaced laundry soap and are now available in a variety of formats. These are capable of working with different temperatures, machines and fabrics.

LIQUID DETERGENTS(3)

POWDER DETERGENTS(3)(4)

Packaging is made from plastic.

Packaging is made from cardboard.

Pre-diluted mixture works well at low temperatures.

Powdered mixture works sufficiently at low temperatures.

Filler added for easy dosing.

Filler added for easy dosing.

Able to pre-treat stains.

More opportunities for technological advancements.

UNIT-DOSE DETERGENTS (3) Packaging is made from plastic for liquid tablets.

Packaging is made from cardboard for powdered tablets.

Unit-dose requires higher temperatures to work efficiently and ensure no residue is left.

No filler is needed for liquid tablets.

Detergents mostly contain the same base ingredients, regardless of the format. The main three ingredients allow the product to clean garments and be used easily by the consumer.

SURFACTANTS These lower the surface tension of the water which allows the water to wet the surface of garments quicker.

They are also able to suspend dirt in water, away from garments, ready to be washed away. These can be engineered into different types to attack different stains.(1)

INGREDIENTS Sodium stearate and stearic acid are examples of environmentally friendly surfactants used in many brands.

These chemicals are derived from fats and oils through the process of saponification.(5)

BUILDERS These are added to reduce the hardness of water. They are designed to combine with the minerals in the water to form a soluble sustance which can be easily washed away.

This enhances the cleaning efficiency of the surfactants.(1)

INGREDIENTS Citric acid, gluconic acid and EDTA are examples of environmentally friendly builders which are used in many modern brands.(5)

FILLERS These are used to dilute the detergent for convenience, which makes them easier to dose the correct amount. These are also used to distribute the product better during the wash as the active ingredients are prepared and do not need to be broken down before they can start working.(5)

INGREDIENTS Water, sodium sulfate and maize starch are examples of environmentally friendly fillers which are commonly used in laundry liquids and powders.(5)

IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT

FAST FORWARD TO TODAY WASHING MACHINE OWNERSHIP

100%

In industrial countries, the majority of households own a private washing machine.

Whilst washing machine ownership in other countries is steadily rising.

66%

The market for washing machines is evidently rising, which means more people will be able to do more washing, and therefore, purchase more laundry detergent.

(86%) USA

China (61%) Turkey (63%) East Europe (66%)

(94%) West

Europe

(97%) Australia (99%) Japan

(100%) South

Korea

(6)

WASHING QUESTIONNAIRE A survey was conducted of UK residents who own a private washing machine to establish how much laundry detergent the average household uses. They were asked how many people were in their house and how many loads of washing they do per week.

2

2

Household composition

3

3 4

4

5

9

10

14

5

17

6 Loads per week

IMPACTS OF THIS TREND

From the questionnaire, it can be estimated that the average person in the UK does 9 loads of laundry per week. If they are using liquid detergent every time, the average recommended dose is 50ml per load.

50ml per load 450ml per week 1,800ml per month It is likely a person would buy a 2L bottle each month for this level of usage, leading to 12 bottles per year.

If 94% of families in the UK own a washing machine, that is 17.7 million families(7) who own a private washing machine. 12 bottles a year per family may not sound like many, however, across the country this adds up.

2.1 BILLION PLASTIC BOTTLES EVERY YEAR

IMPACTS OF THIS TREND Around 90% of all plastic packaging is made from virgin plastic due the quality needed for packaging. Not only is this using non-renewable resources every time, but these plastic bottles remain in the environment and pollute natural habitats.(8)

72%

Ends up in landfill or polluting our natural environment.

14%

Goes to incineration and pollutes the air.

14%

Collected for recycling.

(Only 10% of this is recycled into other products.)

MAKING A CHANGE

DIY TRENDSETTERS A trend on the rise is users choosing to make their own laundry soap at home as a way to avoid plastic packaging and the hundreds of unknown chemicals within store brands.

The ingredients for the majority of laundry soaps include the following powdered products: Washing soda Baking soda Borax Soap Stain remover (optional) Essential oils (optional) All of the essential ingredients come in cardboard packaging which can be easily recycled.

DIY laundry soaps also allows the users to experiment with different fragrances and personalise their laundry soap.

As with detergents, laundry soap can be made into a variety of formats. All of these contain the same base ingredients, it is only the method which varies. To create powder, the powders can simply be mixed in a bowl. Hot water can be added to this mixture to create liquid soap.

Or the powder mix can be dampened and pressed into a mould to form unit-dose soap bombs.(9)

DIY LIQUID SOAP

DIY POWDER SOAP

DIY UNIT-DOSE SOAP

BENEFITS(9) More accurate dosing than powder.

BENEFITS (9) Quickest of the three methods.

BENEFITS(9) Prepared for unit-dose in future.

Ingredients are mixed better.

Does not require mixing equipment.

End result is more appealing to show.

BIG EFFORT, LITTLE REWARD Sadly, despite the huge effort which is put into living more sustainably, laundry soap does not compare to the cleaning power of detergents. This is especially true when using in washing machines.

When laundry soap is mixed in hard water it creates a hard sustance called scum. This is an insoluble sustance which can build up over time as it is hard to remove and wash away.

When laundry is done by hand, scum is not an issue as the agitation from using a washing board is vigorous enough to remove it. However, washing machines are too gentle and cannot remove it. (1) Not only does this build up in the machine and cause problems, it also reduces the cleaning efficiency of the soap, causing a build up on clothing.

A comparison test run by Reviewed.com is one of many done to compare the cleaning power of DIY laundry soaps.

As shown in the diagram, none of the (10) soaps can compare to a leading brands.

Whilst garments will come out cleaner when using a DIY soap, dirt will build up on them slowly, over time.

This is due to the base ingredients.

Washing soda and Borax are types of water softeners and baking soda is a very mild disinfectant. While these help to clean garments, the only ingredient actually cleaning is the soap. As the ratio is so small, this is having little impact on cleaning all the garments in a full load. However, adding more soap will only increase the likihood of building up scum on garments and inside the washing machine.(11)

Results from a test conducted by Reviewed.com (10)

PRODUCT MEANING & VALUES

TARGET MARKET

ALEX

Wife and Mum Part-time worker

DIY SOAP MAKER Hates the amount of waste from everyday products and tries to make as much as possible at home, herself.

HIGH POINTS Enjoys the freedom of DIY soap as it allows her to mix different fragrances for herself and her husband, and leave her babies unscented and free of nasty chemicals.

LOW POINTS Takes a long time to make laundry soap and it has now become a big chore which is not enjoyable.

Started noticing that clothes aren’t as clean.

PRODUCT GOALS

From the secondary and primary research conducted, goals have been defined which the product aims to meet.

1

There will be no plastic packaging. The product should be packaged using a sustainable resource.

2

The product will help the detergent work efficiently at low temperatures and short cycles.

3

The product will encourage users, particularly the target market, to continue experimenting with fragrances and customising the product.

4

The product will seamlessly fit into people’s daily activities. It will be convenient and easy to use.

MOODBOARD

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

FORM EXPLORATION Sketch concepts have been developed based on the mood board and, also, the following criteria.

PRODUCT PROPOSAL The product will be used to pre-dilute a highly concentrated powder tablet. Therefore, it will need a water-tight container which can do this.

OVERALL DIMENSIONS The product will need to be small enough to be handled with one hand, particularly when filling at the tap.

PRODUCT FUNCTION There might be two parts or a section where the part can move. This should be obvious to the user what this function is and become intuitive and easy after one use.

PRODUCT FEEL The form will resemble a caring and delicate nature. The overall feel should inform consumers that the product is safe for their clothes and their machine, and, safe for environment. It should resemble the beauty of natural forms.

FUNCTION EXPLORATION TWIST CONCEPT The twist concept proved most popular among user testing as the function was simple and product remained as one part.

The ratio of colour between the parts was enjoyed by most users as they felt there was a good balance. However, the holes felt too small to fill with water from a tap, and three holes felt unnecessary.

RESULTS Twisting the cap to reveal a hole was liked amongst the group, and the size of the hole in the rotate concept felt the best. This will be taken forward to use when considering sizes, while the thoughts of the twist concept will push development of how the product functions.

ROTATE CONCEPT Similar to the twist concept, however, users interacted very differently. It was agreed that it was difficult to hold both side and rotate a middle section, especially, if it was filled with water.

The size of the hole felt closer to what it should be to be filled.

FLIP CAP CONCEPT The flip cap felt natural to users, as they experience flip caps with many everyday objects. However, the cap would need to stay open on it’s own otherwise it is difficult to fill with water from the tap.

DESIGN CONSTRAINTS

Cap

Plate

The hole must fit the tablet and be easy to fill with water.

An o-ring must fit in the gap between the plate and the cap in order to form a water tight seal.

The container must be able to be removed from a mould, therefore, it must be a seperate part to the plate.

Container

A soft material will reduce noise when used in the drum.

A surface will allow consumers to pre -treat garments.

The dose will not exceed 50ml as this is a standard dose size across most major brands.

50ml

145mm

55mm Depth = 60mm

Designed around what people already have. Many people using liquids dose into the drum, therefore the detergent compartment is not used.

Dimensions must fit at least two pods in a standard machine drawer. Water must still be allowed to pass through into the drawer as this helps mix the solution.

ITERATIVE PROCESS

The process began with functional sketch models which also helped to understand basic form and overall dimensions.

This model was used to determine those dimensions.

The function was developed using a basic form and following the design constraints of the project. The function and ratio between part sizes was informed by the user testing of sketch models.

The form was changed to experiment with overall curves and the effect of soft grooves across the body.

Ribs were added to the top to encourage users to interact and also contrast against the main body.

Different petal shapes were experimented with and the final design resembles a tulip and is symmetrical, balanced and simple.

Contrasting, pastel colours were chosen to reect the colours found in nature that are exciting and fun.

A hard plastic body was used to offset the soft material of the petals.

DESIGN REALISATION

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

The laundry detergent tablet will be highly concentrated. If used straight away, it would need high temperatures or a long cycle to fully dissolve without leaving residue.

Therefore, the tablet is designed to be thrown into the container first.

Adding water to the container helps to dissolve and dilute the tablet. This will help distribute the detergent when it used later.

At this point, the user could add essential oils to make a personal blend of frangrance.

As the detergent will be added in the drum, the drawer is empty.

The container will be stored in the drawer until it is ready to be used.

The vibrations of the washing machine when in use prevents the solution from seperating.

Environmental BeneďŹ ts Powder Tablet Allows the detergent to be packaged in cardboard, not plastic.

Container Removes the need for plastic measuring cups.

Dilutes the mixture for efficient washing at low temperatures.

Can be reused over and over.

STEP 4 When a load is ready, a container can be taken from the drawer and placed in the drum. This can then be easily replaced by filling other containers in preparation and storing them in the machine drawer.

User BeneďŹ ts Takes up less space on counter.

Customisable option for fragrances.

Dosing process is much easier.

Less packaging to throw away.

DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURE

FUNCTIONAL DESIGN

SEALED The bead on the cap follows the thread as it lowers around the body, until it bumps over the bead on the body and is locked. This brings the cap down, putting pressure of the o-ring to form a seal.

CLEARANCE Sufficient clearance is needed to ensure the parts do not interact here before the beads are in position.

Clearance will be required here for the same reason.

OPEN The bead on the cap follows the thread as it gets higher around the body, until it bumps over the bead on the body and is locked so it stays open.

This releases the pressure on the o-ring as it not needed while the container is open.

There must sufficient overlap of these dimensions to ensure the cap does not come off while in use.

INTERACTION

DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURE // BODY THREAD DEFINITION

BUMP OUT FEATURE

The thread will be in the line of draw of the moulding tool to ensure the tolerances of this feature are high. This will cause a split line, which is highlighted below.

The plate will sit on a ledge that is moulded as a bump out feature. This feature is less critical as it only needs sit the plate in place, but is fixed with glue.

OVER-MOUDLING The body will moulded in PE as this is durable material which produces highly toleranced parts.

This is vital for an over-mould to ensure accuracy.

The over-mould will be a TPE as this cushions the product when in the drum.

The over-moulding will hide the majority of the split line on the body for aesthetic purposes.

LINE OF DRAW FEATURES The location feature for the plate should be welldefined as this determines the quality of usage.

Therefore, this will be in the line of draw for the core part of the mould.

The hook feature for the cap wraps around the whole body, however, as the outside faces require two mould halves, this will be well defined. This is essential as the interacting feature on the cap will be a bump out feature, which is less defined. (12)

DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURE // CAP & PLATE

SPLIT LINE LOCATION The overall form requires the cap to taper inwards. This forces the mould halves to be further down the outer wall, however, this will go relatively unnoticed as the ribs will distract from it.

BUMP OUT FEATURES The hook features and the location bead will be bumped out of the mould, which shouldn’t distort the dimensions too much. However, the interacting parts on the main body will be of a much higher quality to ensure the interaction is good.

SIMPLE PART DESIGN

POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS

The plate is a simple design, requiring only a twopart mould.

Both of these parts will be made from the same PE material as the main body. This will also help to ensure the colour matching of all the parts.

A groove could be added to the plate design, around the hole, indicated below. This would make assembly and securing of the o-ring easier and faster.

DESIGN FOR ASSEMBLY

1

The main body container is the base component which the other parts will be assembled to.

2

The petal outer shell will be over-moulded on top of the main body, this will help to hide split lines.

3

The pre-assembled plate and o-ring will be glued to main body using the location feature, which ensures the hole’s correct position.

4

The cap is a press fit which can be done in any orientation. The hooks will lock the parts together, while the bead will engage with the thread to locate the parts ready for use.

PROJECT HYGIA

PRE-BUILT FRAGRANCES

LIME & LAVENDER

MANGO & BLOSSOM

GRAPEFRUIT & LILY

LAUNDRY DONE YOUR WAY

SO LONG

POD PACKAGING The Hygia pods are packaged in 100% recyclable cardboard boxes. They aim to use as little adhesive as possible to keep the card fresh for recycling.

PLASTIC PACKAGING HYGIA IS HERE

THE HYGIA POD The Hygia pods are used to dilute the highly concentrated tablets.

This means the solution is ready to go as soon as the wash starts, which means, it will work with low temperatures and fast cycles.

By putting the Hygia Pod in the drum, it gets washed every time, ready to be used over and over again.

THE HYGIA TAB The Hygia tablets are highly concentrated to save space during distrubtion.

The Hygia tablets can be bought as unscented to allow consumers to add their own blend of essential oils.

TAB PACKAGING The Hygia tablets are in powder format to remove the need for plastic packaging.

All the packaging for the tabs is recyclable cardboard.

REFERENCES 1

The Soap and Detergent Association (SDA),. “Soaps and Detergents”. 1994. https://http://www.cleaninginstitute.org/ assets/1/assetmanager/soapsanddetergentsbook.pdf [Web access: 28th April. 2017.]

2

BBC. “Unilever: A company History”. 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/651938.stm [Web access: 28th April.

2017.]

3

Dave Swanson. “Which detergent cleans clothes best” 2016. http://laundry.reviewed.com/features/liquid-powder-pacspods-which-detergent-cleans-clothes-best [Web access: 28th April. 2017.]

4

Persil. “Difference between detergents” 2017. https://www.persil.com/uk/laundry/laundry-tips/washing-tips/difference-bio-non-bio-detergent.html [Web access: 28th April. 2017.]

5

University of York. “Surfactants” http://www.essentialchemicalindustry.org/materials-and-applications/surfactants. html [Web access: 28th April. 2017.]

6

Pakula, C and Stamminger, R. Electricity and water consumption for laundry washing by washing machine worldwide 2010.

8

Office of National Statistics. Families and Households: 2015. 2015. “https://www.ons.gov.uk/ peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/families/bulletins/familiesandhouseholds/2015-11-05 [Web access: 28th April. 2017.]

Ellen MacArthur Foundation,. The New Plastics Economy. 2016. Print. Rethinking The Future Of Plastics. https://www. ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/EllenMacArthurFoundation_TheNewPlasticsEconomy_15-3-16.pdf [Web access: 28th April. 2017.]

9

Various reports from individual users. 2017. (Through interviews, blogs, youtube video accounts.)

10

Reviewed.com Staff. “Can DIY Laundry Detergents Compete with a Store Brand?”. 2013. http://laundry.reviewed.com/ features/can-diy-laundry-detergents-compete-with-store-brands. [Web access: 28th April. 2017.]

11

Emily Benfit. “Stop using DIY laundry detergent”. 2010. http://butterbeliever.com/homemade-laundry-detergent-soapdiy/ [Web access: 28th April. 2017.]

12

Industry Professional. “Undercut in Plastic Part Design”. 2010. https://knowledge.ulprospector.com/1569/pe-undercutin-plastic/ [Web access: 28th April. 2017.]

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