Laundry detergent and dishwashing liquid are both cleaning products, but they should not automatically be designed in exactly the same way.
The reason is simple: the cleaning process is different.
Dishes Are Physically Scrubbed
When you wash a plate, pan or cooking vessel, you normally use a sponge, scrubber or your hand.
That physical scrubbing contributes to the cleaning action.
So the formulation is not doing every part of the work by itself.
Laundry Is Mostly Agitated
Clothes in a washing machine are handled differently.
The machine agitates the fabric.
It does not individually scrub every square centimetre of a shirt.
You may manually scrub a collar, cuff or visibly stained area, but most of the fabric depends on the detergent and movement of the machine.
That is why I consider laundry to require stronger cleansing support.
Where Does Bioenzyme Fit?
In both products, I use bioenzyme for its stain- and deposit-breaking role.
For dishes, this includes:
- grease;
- oils;
- food residue;
- protein-type deposits.
For clothes, bioenzyme was discussed for helping with stains, grease, oil and other difficult deposits.
Why Does Laundry Need Additional Support?
Laundry also has requirements that dishes do not have.
For example, I discussed ingredients that help:
- detergent disperse through wash water;
- manage hard water;
- maintain the appearance of lighter fabrics.
A plate does not need fabric brightening.
A shirt does not need a food-compatible fragrance.
Each product therefore needs to be thought about independently.
Fragrance Is Another Major Difference
Dishwashing fragrance should make sense around food.
I prefer directions such as lemon, orange or peppermint because they feel more compatible if a small amount of scent remains.
Strong floral or woody scents can feel strange when they remain on a plate.
Laundry has much more freedom.
Clothes can smell floral, fresh, citrusy, vanilla-like, woody or perfume-like.
One Bioenzyme, Different Product Design
The bioenzyme concept can support both products, but the rest of the formulation needs to respond to the real-life cleaning situation.
A fabric is not a plate.
How it gets dirty, how it gets cleaned and how the consumer expects the finished product to behave are all different.
