Mondo Knows Facts
Biological washing powder uses enzymes to digest stains
Proteases and lipases chop large stain molecules into rinsable fragments Biological detergents carry enzymes such as protease for protein stains, amylase for starch and lipase for fats. Each enzyme catalyses the breakdown of a big molecule into small, water-soluble pieces that rinse away. They work best between roughly 30 and 40 degrees Celsius, so a hot wash can be less effective on food stains. It sits in Mondo's everyday life collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
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Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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Tags: cleaning, laundry, enzymes
Biological washing powder uses enzymes to digest stains: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Proteases and lipases chop large stain molecules into rinsable fragments. The figure is taken from Royal Society of Chemistry, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a everyday life fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Everyday Life shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.