Laundry

Abstract: A washing machine and a method for controlling the same are disclosed. The washing machine includes a rotating washing tub in which laundry is placed and a motor to rotate the washing tub. The method for controlling the same includes performing primary rotation of the motor, detecting a primary laundry amount on the basis of the primary rotation of the motor, supplying, if the detected laundry amount is equal to or greater than a predetermined laundry amount, a predetermined amount of water or water corresponding to a predetermined water level to the washing tub in such a manner that the laundry becomes wet, performing secondary rotation of the motor, and detecting a secondary laundry amount on the basis of the secondary rotation of the motor. Thus, the washing machine correctly detects the amount of laundry.

Abstract: Washing laundry is one of the most widespread housework in the world. Today, washing machines do this work in many private households, using water, electricity, chemical substances, and process time. Although energy efficiency is in the focus of many regulations which have already achieved significant improvements, the question remains, how relevant these processes are in terms of the absolute impact on resources and whether there are possibilities to improve even further by looking abroad. This survey, which is based on published data, compares the energy and water consumption for automatic laundry washing in an average private household with the total energy and water consumption of private households. Only little data are available on resource consumption for laundry washing and reliable figures based on in-use measurements are hard to obtain. But although some of the data in this report are poor, this is the first work that tries to elucidate the contribution of automatic laundry washing to the total electricity and water consumption of households in selected countries worldwide. The report estimates the resource consumption of roughly 590,000,000 washing machines in 38 countries with about 2.3 billion people, which is about one third of the world population. The results of this work show that laundry washing in private households is done with quite different amounts of electricity and water in different parts of the world both in absolute and relative comparison to the overall household consumption. But due to different consumer habits in dealing with the achieved washing performance in the different global regions, the best practice in washing laundry in a most sustainable way cannot be determined yet. Further research is needed to form a basis for a most sustainable development of resource consumption in private households.

Abstract: Nowadays laundry detergents are becoming increasingly popular as they can be metered automatically into the washing machine, impart softness, antistaticness, resiliency to fabrics, mild to eyes and skins and shows good dispersibility in water. Because it is consumed when it is used, the sale of laundry detergent is a rather large business. There are many different kinds or brands of laundry detergent sold, many of them claiming some special qualities as selling points. A Laundry detergent composition is a formulated mixture of raw materials that can be classified into different types based on their properties and function in the final product. The different classes of raw materials are surfactants, builders, bleaching agents, enzymes, and minors which remove dirt, stain, and soil from surfaces or textiles gave them pleasant feel and odour. The physico-chemical properties of surfactants make them suitable for laundry purposes. Laundry detergent has traditionally been a powdered or granular solid, but the use of liquid laundry detergents has gradually increased over the years, and these days use of liquid detergent equals or even exceeds use of solid detergent. This review paper describes the history, composition, types, mechanism, consumption, environmental effects and consumption of laundry detergents.

Abstract: Compositions, articles and methods are provided for supplying fabric care benefits to clothing or fabrics in an automated washing machine and by manual washing. The fabric care compositions preferably have less than about 5% detergent surfactants, more preferably less than 3%, even more preferably less than 1% and are most preferably free of detergent surfactants. Similarly, the fabric care compositions preferably have less than about 5% fabric softener actives, more preferably less than 3%, even more preferably less than 1% and are most preferably free of detergent surfactants. The laundry articles can take a variety of forms in a variety of physical states all of which will rapidly dispense a unitized amount of one or more selected fabric care agents to a wash and/or rinse bath solution during the laundering process under a variety of conditions. The invention also pertains to laundry kits that contain a variety of such articles and instructions concerning their use. Likewise, methods for preparing a customized laundry solution to obtain a specific fabric care benefit selected based on the user's personal preferences and/or the fabric care needs of the fabrics being laundered are also provided. Further, the present invention also concerns methods for assisting a consumer in identifying the unitized articles to be used in preparing a laundry solution that will impart desired fabric care benefits as well as merchandising displays for dispensing the articles, assembling customized laundry kits and instructing the consumer on the selection and use of laundry articles.