Cleanliness: 9 Surprising Facts About Household Chemicals

The history of soap making began around 2800 BC. The first stone was not laid in Rome yet, Gautama Buddha did not found the most ancient of the existing religions – Buddhism, the Maya tribe did not exist, and our ancestors already mixed oils of biological origin with ash and sand, thus obtaining a prototype of laundry soap.

Over the long millennia of its existence, the chemical industry has experienced its ups and downs, overgrown with amazing stories and facts. We, employees of Prochistotu LLC, study the market day after day, new products and compositions of chemical products for home and body care, selecting the most effective and safe ones to supply them to the Russian market. But no less interesting is our collection of amazing facts that accumulate in the course of our work. After all, professionalism lies not only in the ability to masterfully understand the intricacies of one’s business, but also to love, respect and constantly make small discoveries.

1. The first trendsetters for household chemicals can be called the ancient Egyptians. Yes, they were not the first to come up with cosmetics, perfumes and detergents. But for the first time in history, they managed to reproduce the whole beauty industry, organizing production and economic relations like those that operate in the modern market. It was in Egypt that household chemicals were made using the division of labor into narrow specializations (one molds clay containers for perfume, the other makes this perfume, the third makes shadows, and the fourth makes wooden sticks for applying them).

2. Did you know that the creators of toothpaste are the inhabitants of the lower Nile? Back in 5000-3000 BC. they mixed pumice stones, wine vinegar, and even ashes from the burnt entrails of a bull. Luckily for us and the bulls, far more effective and safer ingredients are now being used to make toothpaste.

3. The peculiarity of Japanese and Korean household chemicals is that these countries have a very humid maritime climate, which contributes to the development of mold. That’s why all detergents made in Japan and Korea disinfect and prevent the development of fungi and bacteriath. Even poorly dried, indoor things do not have a musty smell. In addition, high water prices are forcing manufacturers to create formulations that are easy to wash off, safe and economical for the end user. That is why Japanese and Korean dishwashing detergents are also suitable for washing vegetables and fruits.

4. If you think you are safe as long as household chemicals do not come into contact with the skin or enter the body by swallowing, then we have bad news. Household chemicals are most dangerous when inhaled.… Even if you rinse your shirt well, small amounts of phosphates remain on it, the inhalation of which does not bode well for your body. Therefore, for your own safety, we recommend that you completely abandon phosphate-containing laundry detergents and detergents.

5. White does not mean new! Imagine that you took your favorite yellowed blouse and painted it white. Seems silly? But you do this nonsense with every wash. The thing is that many washing powders contain so-called optical brighteners. In cheap powders – synthetic salts, in high-quality and expensive – optical enzymatic brighteners (they are more environmentally friendly and safe). So, these very bleaches have the ability to absorb invisible natural ultraviolet rays (in the range of 300-400 nm) and convert them into visible rays with a longer wavelength (400-500 nm). It is due to this simple focus that materials begin to appear cleaner and whiter.

6. Before the invention of shampoo in the 8th century, people washed their hair with ash and regular soap. The starting point was the invention of Casey Herbert. He mixed herbal soap powder and simply started selling the mixture in bags outside his house. He named his invention Shaempoo (from Shaempo, which translated from Hindi means “massage”, “rub”). Gradually, the use of dry shampoo became very popular among Londoners. Herbert himself has developed 1903 different fragrances. But his trouble was legal illiteracy. He did not know that the invention needed to be patented. Soon, other pharmacists, hairdressers and perfumers began to make their own shampoos. And in XNUMX, an unknown woman brought such a packet to Berlin and told the pharmacist about the miracle drug. He quickly appreciated the potential of the invention and was able to create a whole brand. The pharmacist’s name was Hans Schwarzkopf.

7. Did you know that toothpaste can successfully care not only for the oral cavity. Star anise (or star anise) extract, which is part of a good expensive toothpaste, is an excellent anesthetic. If you anoint an insect bite with this toothpaste, the itching will immediately stop. In addition, star anise has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antiviral effects. Therefore, such a toothpaste, when applied to a small cut or blister from a corn, will decontaminate and quickly dry the wound.

8. Chlorine is one of the most effective remedies for removing green stains. Don’t believe me? Take any chlorine-containing detergent and apply to a piece of cloth stained with green paint. The stain will disappear instantly. This trick is used by sellers of some detergents, getting rid of the diamond green on the scarf in the blink of an eye in front of the amazed audience. In fact, this trick speaks of the chlorine-containing components in the composition of such powders. They, of course, cope with the removal of such difficult to remove stains, but they are not recommended for daily use (as they quickly wear out the fabric in your favorite things). In addition, components containing active chlorine are not the most beneficial substances for health.

9. Men clean less often, but more efficiently than women. Unbelievable, but it is a fact. Our research has shown that gender stereotypes are becoming a thing of the past, and the boundaries of employment have become more blurred. Women are increasingly giving preference to a career, and men are beginning to take on more household responsibilities. At the same time, men show much more interest in the compositions, and are also more demanding on the effectiveness of detergents. Our sales statistics show that women tend to be conservative in their choice, rarely experiment, prefer the brand. Men are the opposite. They are experimentalists and rationalists, with their interests in technology and science. We did an interesting research. They gave a questionnaire to fill out, where they asked to set from 1 to 10 points the priorities of the requirements for household chemicals. The results showed that men ranked efficiency and composition first and second, while women prioritized effectiveness, but only ranked composition in eighth place. At the second stage, we showed three brands: one well-known in Russia “children’s” washing powder, the other – an ordinary washing powder of a well-known trade mark (without marking “children’s”), the third sample – a Japanese concentrated washing powder. After that, we closed the markings on the packs and asked the respondents to guess the brand, having only the composition on hand. In this experiment, men guessed the Japanese remedy in 42% of cases, women barely made it to 27%. When the difference between “children’s” washing powder from the “adult”, the indicators were approximately equal. This is not surprising, though. After all, even we, professionals in our field, did not see any differences in the composition of the “children’s” and “adult” brands known in Russia.

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