Wednesday, 5th November 2014 – “It’s a dirty old world we live in” – the Science of Cleaning, by Patsy Colvin. As an ex Head of Chemistry at a local school, Patsy brought her vast experience of chemistry to bear on the problem of cleaning. Why are some stains harder to remove than others? Why do we need so many different types of cleaning solution? Why can’t there be a universal cleaner?
Well, Patsy did a very good job of enlightening us: we heard about surfactants, solvents, chelators, saponifiers and builders and how these various components of the cleaning process work on different types of stain. We learnt about soils and stains, anions and cations, hydrophilic and hydrophobic solvents, and hopefully we left with a better understanding of how to read the labels on cleaning products!
Last Updated on September 9, 2021