Domestic Laundry and Microfiber Shedding of Synthetic Textiles
137
the laundry process. Upon the laundering process, the selected fibers like cotton,
polyester, rayon, and polyester-cotton fabric showed an increased fiber shedding
with respect to the detergent usage. The results were noted statistically significant
for all the fabrics except for the rayon fabric [33].
While evaluating the microfiber shedding of fleece garments with and without
detergent, researchers used a detergent pod, as per the European regulation, and
followed standard conditions. The results showed no significant difference in
microfiber shedding between the laundry with and without detergent. Though the
results were in line with previous researchers [26, 30], the researchers mentioned
that the difference in shedding might be due to the type of laundry process used. The
usage of a commercial laundry machine over the lab-scale laundry machine might
be the most important reason for insignificant results [34]. A report by Kelly et al.
mentioned that the addition of detergent did not change the amount of microfiber
shedding. Interestingly, the researchers also used commercial liquid detergent in
their study. However, they did not report anything about the detergent type but they
reported that their deviated results from previous research [29, 30, 33] might be due
to the use of normal laundry. They claimed that the use of steel balls-related washing
method might be the reason for higher microfiber shedding in the mentioned research.
The use of steel balls might have increased the interaction between the textile structure and surfactant and elevated the microfiber shedding [35]. Recent research from
Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory reported that laundering
is one of the important sources of microfiber pollution. They have reported that the
addition of detergent in the laundry increases the microfiber shedding up to 86%
than the laundry with pure water. It is mainly associated with the mechanism of the
detergent, which interacts with fiber and yarn and loosens the structure for better
cleaning. This enhances the shedding of microfiber from the internal structure of the
textile. Further to add they have reported that polyamide fabrics shed more microfiber
out of all the 32 types they tested [36].
To summarize the effect, overall most of the research results showed that use of
the detergent significantly increased the microfiber shedding [25, 28, 32]. However,
the difference in the shedding is noted between various types of detergents namely,
non-bio detergents and powder detergent showed a higher microfiber shedding than
the liquid detergent or bio-based detergents [25, 29]. The studies which showed a
lesser or insignificant difference in microfiber shedding mostly used liquid detergents
in their analysis [27, 35, 37]. All research works confirm the role of surfactant in the
microfiber release both in the negative (more shedding) and positive aspects (less
microfiber shedding) [27, 30]. Similarly, the concentration of the detergent used in
the laundry did not show the effect on microfiber shedding [13]. It can be noted that
the different detergents behave in different ways based on the formulations used in the
detergents and few researchers also reported the impact of the washing methodology
followed [31, 34, 35].
137
the laundry process. Upon the laundering process, the selected fibers like cotton,
polyester, rayon, and polyester-cotton fabric showed an increased fiber shedding
with respect to the detergent usage. The results were noted statistically significant
for all the fabrics except for the rayon fabric [33].
While evaluating the microfiber shedding of fleece garments with and without
detergent, researchers used a detergent pod, as per the European regulation, and
followed standard conditions. The results showed no significant difference in
microfiber shedding between the laundry with and without detergent. Though the
results were in line with previous researchers [26, 30], the researchers mentioned
that the difference in shedding might be due to the type of laundry process used. The
usage of a commercial laundry machine over the lab-scale laundry machine might
be the most important reason for insignificant results [34]. A report by Kelly et al.
mentioned that the addition of detergent did not change the amount of microfiber
shedding. Interestingly, the researchers also used commercial liquid detergent in
their study. However, they did not report anything about the detergent type but they
reported that their deviated results from previous research [29, 30, 33] might be due
to the use of normal laundry. They claimed that the use of steel balls-related washing
method might be the reason for higher microfiber shedding in the mentioned research.
The use of steel balls might have increased the interaction between the textile structure and surfactant and elevated the microfiber shedding [35]. Recent research from
Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory reported that laundering
is one of the important sources of microfiber pollution. They have reported that the
addition of detergent in the laundry increases the microfiber shedding up to 86%
than the laundry with pure water. It is mainly associated with the mechanism of the
detergent, which interacts with fiber and yarn and loosens the structure for better
cleaning. This enhances the shedding of microfiber from the internal structure of the
textile. Further to add they have reported that polyamide fabrics shed more microfiber
out of all the 32 types they tested [36].
To summarize the effect, overall most of the research results showed that use of
the detergent significantly increased the microfiber shedding [25, 28, 32]. However,
the difference in the shedding is noted between various types of detergents namely,
non-bio detergents and powder detergent showed a higher microfiber shedding than
the liquid detergent or bio-based detergents [25, 29]. The studies which showed a
lesser or insignificant difference in microfiber shedding mostly used liquid detergents
in their analysis [27, 35, 37]. All research works confirm the role of surfactant in the
microfiber release both in the negative (more shedding) and positive aspects (less
microfiber shedding) [27, 30]. Similarly, the concentration of the detergent used in
the laundry did not show the effect on microfiber shedding [13]. It can be noted that
the different detergents behave in different ways based on the formulations used in the
detergents and few researchers also reported the impact of the washing methodology
followed [31, 34, 35].