Changes

An important part concerning the total environmental impact of a textile product consist of how long the product can be used before it is worn-out, how the product is cared for and finally what is done with it when it is no longer usable for its original purpose. The consumer use phase of a garment or product can significantly contribute to its overall environmental influence. While consumer care and washing may seem out of the company’s control, using effective product design and marketing to educate consumers could play a significant role in affecting the influence that a garment or product could have on the environment.

Most textile products are washed several times during their [[lifecycle]]s. Today it is estimated that the average Swede uses about 200 kg washed clothes per year. This is more than ten times the total fiber consumption, or about 1.7 million tons. 40 000-50 000 tons of detergents is used for this. In addition to this, a few thousand tons of fabric softener and anti-static agent are used. The use of dry cleaning is estimated to about 0.7 kg per person and year. The decrease is due to increased costs and environmental problems, as well as to changes in materials and clothing habits. Laundry has always been an essential part of household chores. But also companies and institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes and hotels have a great need of laundry and these form a market for industrial laundries. Washing habits have changed over time, due to the progress of detergents and laundry equipment. The industrial production of soap began in the 1800s after the invention of the soda process. The first composite detergent was manufactured in 1907 in Germany under the name Persil. Besides soap and soda it also contained perborate as bleaching agent and silicate as a stabilizer, hence the name Persil. Soap was the surfactant in detergents until World War II. Then the development has been rapid. The first washing machines came in the middle of the 1800s and the first dry cleaning machine came about 1870. These devices were quite primitive, and the development did not take off until after World War II. Seeing to the large amount of detergent, energy and water that is used for laundry, you understand that they place great demands on our natural resources.

[[File:Zeoliter korr.JPG|thumb|400px|]] Common detergents today always contain [[surfactants]] of various types for easier cleaning. In order to soften the water, sequestrants in form of phosphates or [[zeolites]] and [[polycarboxylic acids]] are added. The sequestrants should also take care of the hardness formers (calcium and magnesium) of the soiled wash load. Phosphates are difficult to remove from wastewater and often ends up in rivers and lakes, where they cause algae blooms that negatively effect ecosystems and marine life. Has been banned in Europe for use in consumer detergents.[1] In addition, alkali is added, which consist mostly of soda and / or metasilicate. [[Metasilicate]] also works as a corrosion inhibitor, and a peroxide stabilizer. Because of the mercury structure, however, the substance is classified as hazardous, and with very high acute toxicity and thus belongs to the so-called phase-out substances in the prioritization guide. NPE (nonylphenol ethoxylate)has been banned in Europe as it is persistent in the aquatic environment, moderately bioaccumulative and extremely toxic to aquatic organisms.[2,3] Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)/sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) can cause irritation of the skin and eyes [4] and 1,4-dioxane is possibly carcinogen, bioaccumulative in the environment, contaminate groundwater and is non-biodegradable.[5] Other ingredients including linear alkyl sodium sulfonates (LAS), petroleum distillates (a.k.a. naphthas), phenols, optical brighteners, sodium hypochlorite (bleach), EDTA (ethylene-diamino-tetra-acetate) and artificial fragrances, have also been linked to various toxic effects on fish and animals, as well as allergic reactions in humans. Detergent for whites (powder detergent), should contain bleach. The bleach usually consist of sodium percarbonate or sodium perborate. Today there are also often additives who form peracetic acid in the wash solution from the peroxides ([[TAED]]).

If half of the Swedish households laundry is washed at 60 ° C with an energy consumption of 0.6 kWh / kg, and the other half is washed at 40 ° C with an energy consumption of 0.3 kWh / kg (approximate values from the Consumer Agency’s buying advice 1994), the total power consumption of the country would be 765 million kWh / year, which roughly represents 30 per cent of the electrical power from Oskarshamn 2 (Swedish nuclear plant, pared. note.). Note that these numbers are based on modern machines. The actual energy consumption is thus significantly higher. If the total laundry load size of 1.7 million tons is dried with an energy consumption of l kWh / kg, the total energy consumption of domestic washing would be about 2500 million kWh / year. The energy consumption for ironing and mangling is not included. The overall energy consumption of washing and drying would probably correspond well with the amount of energy produced at Oskarshamn 2 (modern washing and drying equipment). In the example, we expect the machines to be half filled but with highly efficient dewatering in the centrifuge. As stated earlier, we know very little about the average laundry load quantity in the washing machine. The same applies to water levels, which is important regarding energy consumption during heating. The dewatering efficiency of the washing machines is probably lower than the assumed, but on the other hand, it can be assumed that at least part of the laundry is dried without drying machines during the summer months, ie. it is dried outside.