150
R. Rathinamoorthy and S. Raja Balasaraswathi
Table 1 (continued)
S. no
Type of washing
machine
Impact of washing
machine
Quantity or
percentage of
microfiber
shedding/wash
References
13.
Front-loading
washing machine
Not discussed
0.0012 wt%. weight
loss in the garment
Bishop [27]
14.
Front-loading
machine
Not discussed
700,000 fibers per
6 kg
Napper and
Thompson [25]
15.
Top-loading and
front-loading
commercial,
heavy-duty washer
Top-loading shed
more than a
front-loading
machine
0.3% of garment
mass (up to 2 g)
Putchta [43]
16.
Commercial
front-load
Not discussed
>1900 fibers per
wash
Brown et al. [5]
2.6.1 Water Hardness
There are no detailed studies performed on the effect of water hardness on the
microfiber shedding. However, Francesca De Falco et al. evaluated the effect of hard
water and distilled water for the laundry process with detergent and other ingredients
along with a few other parameters like different detergents. The results of the study
showed that changes in water hardness or the addition of hard water in the laundry
increased the microfiber shedding compared to the distilled water cycle. Based on the
previous literature on cotton, the researcher hypothesized that the hard water might
have created higher abrasion on the fiber and damaged the fiber surface. This could
be the reason for higher microfiber shedding in the presence of hard water [29].
2.6.2 Water Quantity or Volume Used in Laundry
Like the water hardness, the recent research work pointed out the role of washing
water volume on the microfiber shedding. On analysis, the researcher used a tergotometer to simulate the front-load laundry machine and performed a small-scale
analysis. In their study, they performed washing with different water volume and
mechanical agitations namely 300 mL/200 rpm, 600 mL/200 rpm, 300 mL/100 rpm,
600 mL/100 rpm with 30 °C temperature and for 60 min with detergent. The results
showed a significant difference in microfiber shedding. Out of all the samples,
higher water volume with lower agitation of 100 rpm showed a maximum amount of
microfibers compared to other styles. The research reported that more than mechanical agitation, higher water volume causes more shedding. The researcher also evaluated the same with real-time wash cycles. In a front-load washing machine the
researcher used four different washes namely, I type—30 °C/cotton short/without
detergent, II type—30 °C/cotton short/detergent, III type—cold express/detergent,
R. Rathinamoorthy and S. Raja Balasaraswathi
Table 1 (continued)
S. no
Type of washing
machine
Impact of washing
machine
Quantity or
percentage of
microfiber
shedding/wash
References
13.
Front-loading
washing machine
Not discussed
0.0012 wt%. weight
loss in the garment
Bishop [27]
14.
Front-loading
machine
Not discussed
700,000 fibers per
6 kg
Napper and
Thompson [25]
15.
Top-loading and
front-loading
commercial,
heavy-duty washer
Top-loading shed
more than a
front-loading
machine
0.3% of garment
mass (up to 2 g)
Putchta [43]
16.
Commercial
front-load
Not discussed
>1900 fibers per
wash
Brown et al. [5]
2.6.1 Water Hardness
There are no detailed studies performed on the effect of water hardness on the
microfiber shedding. However, Francesca De Falco et al. evaluated the effect of hard
water and distilled water for the laundry process with detergent and other ingredients
along with a few other parameters like different detergents. The results of the study
showed that changes in water hardness or the addition of hard water in the laundry
increased the microfiber shedding compared to the distilled water cycle. Based on the
previous literature on cotton, the researcher hypothesized that the hard water might
have created higher abrasion on the fiber and damaged the fiber surface. This could
be the reason for higher microfiber shedding in the presence of hard water [29].
2.6.2 Water Quantity or Volume Used in Laundry
Like the water hardness, the recent research work pointed out the role of washing
water volume on the microfiber shedding. On analysis, the researcher used a tergotometer to simulate the front-load laundry machine and performed a small-scale
analysis. In their study, they performed washing with different water volume and
mechanical agitations namely 300 mL/200 rpm, 600 mL/200 rpm, 300 mL/100 rpm,
600 mL/100 rpm with 30 °C temperature and for 60 min with detergent. The results
showed a significant difference in microfiber shedding. Out of all the samples,
higher water volume with lower agitation of 100 rpm showed a maximum amount of
microfibers compared to other styles. The research reported that more than mechanical agitation, higher water volume causes more shedding. The researcher also evaluated the same with real-time wash cycles. In a front-load washing machine the
researcher used four different washes namely, I type—30 °C/cotton short/without
detergent, II type—30 °C/cotton short/detergent, III type—cold express/detergent,