Cleaning with a second skin – Sustainable Surface Cleaning Solutions

Synopsis

Sustainable, environmentally friendly and particularly resource-saving cleaning agents have gained attraction during the last years. The modern consumer no longer values performance and price alone, but is also interested in reducing environmental impacts, improved skin compatibility, reduced cleaning efforts and total reduction of consumption. Particularly innovative cleaners use an easy-to-clean effect in which functional collagen proteins form a hydrophilic protective layer on cleaned surfaces. This “second skin” protects the surface from new contamination and enables effective cleaning under mild pH conditions. In addition to a convincing cleaning result, significantly lower water consumption, easier cleaning and longer cleaning cycles are well-documented advantages. The functionality of the protective protein layer can be influenced by a suitable combination of surfactants, hydrotropes or simply by adjusting the pH of the formulation. The results show that a variety of cleaning improvements are possible with suitable designs of the protein protective films, for example: performance improvement, cleaning time reduction, biofilm removal. In addition, the effect of active substances can be prolonged or intensified by embedding them in a protein protective film, e.g. when disinfecting surfaces.