an investigation of domestic laundry in europe - habits ... - SIFO

72An investigation into the domestic laundry habits in Europeof cotton together with the soiled items and the sterile base load. In order toget a homogeneous sample during the tests, a method for sampling is developed.In order to validate the test method, the results of the laboratory tests arecompared to the results in a normal household wash. In this test the actual hygienesituation of domestic laundry after washing is determined. Sterile samplesare washed together with household laundry in a household washing machine.A good correlation between the contamination figures of both washes(laboratory wash and household wash) indicates a method that reflects therealistic household situation.4.2.2 Test planTwo washing programmes (15°C and 30°C) were run in a laboratory washingmachine (Electrolux Wascator FOM 71MP-Lab) according to IEC 60456 [9]conditions using the most common detergents in the four European countriesof interest. The only variables in this design are the type of detergent and thedosage. In this way the hygienic quality of washing at low temperatures underlaboratory conditions using various European detergents and dosages can bedetermined.The experimental design of the test using low temperatures is presented intable 4.1 and table 4.2.Table 4-1 Washing at 15°C under laboratory conditions with European detergentsGreece Norway Spain The NetherlandsCode GR-1 N-1 E-1 NL-1Detergent Skip Omo Color Ariël Alpine Ariël ColorType of detergenttraditionalpowdertabletstraditionalpowdercompact powderBleaching agents 16 yes no yes noDosage g 175 1 tab 120 70Load kg 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5Water hardness °dH 14 14 14 14Washing machine Wascator Wascator Wascator WascatorThe settings of the 15°C programme on the Wascator are listed in Appendix A.16 This refers only to the detergent. “Yes” indicates that the detergent contains a bleachingagent (e.g. an oxygen-based bleaching agent).