A surfactant is the most important part of any cleaning agent. The word surfactant is short for “Surface Active Agent.” In general, they are chemicals that, when dissolved in water or another solvent, orient themselves at the interface (boundary) between the liquid and a solid (the dirt we are removing), and modify the properties of the interface.表面活性劑是任何清潔劑中最重要的部分。表面活性劑一詞簡體為"表面活性劑"。一般來說，它們是化學(xué)物質(zhì)，當(dāng)溶解在水中或其他溶劑中時，在液體和固體（我們正在清除的污垢）之間的界面（邊界）定位自己，并修改接口的特性。
How does a surfactant work? All have a common molecular similarity. One end of the molecule has a long nonpolar chain that is attracted to oil, grease, and dirt (the hydrophobe). Another part of the molecule is attracted to water (the hydrophile). The surfactant lines up at the interface as diagrammed below. The hydrophobic end of the molecule gets away from the water and the hydrophilic end stays next to the water. 表面活性劑是如何工作的？所有都有共同的分子相似性。分子的一端有一個長長的非極性鏈，被油、油脂和污垢（水磷）所吸引。分子的另一部分被水（嗜水者）所吸引。表面活性劑在界面上排成一行，如下圖所示。分子的疏水端遠(yuǎn)離水，親水端留在水旁邊。When dirt or grease is present (hydrophobic in nature) the surfactants surround it until it is dislodged from the boundary. Notice in diagram 4 that the dirt molecules are actually suspended in solution.當(dāng)污垢或油脂存在（自然疏水）時，表面活性劑會環(huán)繞它，直到它脫離邊界。請注意圖 4 中污垢分子實際上懸浮在溶液中。
It should be noted that a surfactant can be either a soap or a synthetic detergent. Soaps have been used for centuries because they are made from natural materials such as animal fat and lye. Synthetics have only become widely available over the last 60 years. Soaps are still commonly used in personal hygiene products because of their mildness. 應(yīng)當(dāng)指出，表面活性劑可以是肥皂或合成洗滌劑。肥皂已經(jīng)使用了幾個世紀(jì)，因為它們是由天然材料，如動物脂肪和利。合成材料在過去60年中才被廣泛使用。肥皂仍然常用于個人衛(wèi)生產(chǎn)品，因為它們的溫和。Synthetic detergents are the surfactants of choice for almost all other cleaning agents.合成洗滌劑是幾乎所有其他清潔劑的首選表面活性劑。
Chelating Agents螯合劑
Soil removal is a complex process that is much more involved than just adding soap or surfactant to water. One of the major concerns we have in dealing with cleaning compounds is water hardness. Water is made “hard” by the presence of calcium, magnesium, iron and manganese metal ions. These metal ions interfere with the cleaning ability of detergents. The metal ions act like dirt and “use up” the surfactants, making them unavailable to act on the surface we want to clean.土壤去除是一個復(fù)雜的過程，它比僅僅在水中添加肥皂或表面活性劑要復(fù)雜得多。我們在處理清潔化合物時的主要問題之一是水硬度。水是由鈣、鎂、鐵和錳金屬離子的存在而"硬"的。這些金屬離子干擾洗滌劑的清潔能力。金屬離子像污垢一樣，"用盡"表面活性劑，使得它們無法在我們要清潔的表面上起作用。
A chelating agent (pronounced kee-lat-ing from the Greek word “claw”) combines itself with these disruptive metal ions in the water. The metal ions are surrounded by the claw-like chelating agent which alters the electronic charge of the metal ions from positive to negative (see diagram below.)一種溷合劑（希臘語單詞"爪"發(fā)音為kee-lat-ing）與水中的這些破壞性金屬離子結(jié)合在一起。金屬離子被爪狀的溷合劑包圍，這種切合劑將金屬離子的電子電荷從正向負(fù)改變（見下圖）。
This makes it impossible for the metal ions to be precipitated with the surfactants. Thus, chelated metal ions remain tied up in solution in a harmless state where they will not use up all of the surfactants. The surfactants are then able to do their job of actually removing soil and cleaning the surface.這使得金屬離子不可能與表面活性劑一起沉淀。因此，溷合的金屬離子仍然被綁在溶液中，處于無害狀態(tài)，不會用盡所有表面活性劑。然后，表面活性劑能夠做他們實際上清除土壤和清潔表面的工作。
Builders洗選強(qiáng)化劑 （a substance added to soaps or detergents to increase their cleansing action添加到肥皂或洗滌劑中的物質(zhì)，以增加其清潔作用）
Detergents, as we have learned so far, consist of surfactants and chelating agents. Remember, surfactants remove dirt from a soiled surface and chelating agents are used to surround unwanted metal ions found in cleaning solutions. The chelating process, though very effective, is not always necessary and adds to the cost of formulating detergents. Builders are often a good alternative.正如我們迄今所學(xué)到的，洗滌劑由表面活性劑和溷合劑組成。請記住，表面活性劑會清除污垢，并用溷合劑包圍清潔溶液中發(fā)現(xiàn)的不需要的金屬離子。溷合過程雖然非常有效，但并不總是必要的，而且增加了制訂洗滌劑的成本。建筑商通常是一個很好的選擇。
Builders are added to a cleaning compound to upgrade and protect the cleaning efficiency of the surfactant(s). Builders have a number of functions including softening, buffering, and emulsifying.洗選強(qiáng)化劑被添加到清潔復(fù)合中，以升級和保護(hù)表面活性劑的清潔效率。洗選強(qiáng)化劑具有軟化、緩沖和乳化等多種功能。
Builders soften water by deactivating hardness minerals (metal ions like calcium and magnesium). They do this one of two ways:洗選強(qiáng)化劑通過停用硬度礦物質(zhì)（如鈣和鎂等金屬離子）來軟化水。他們這樣做有兩種方式之一：
Sequestration – holding metal ions in solution.螯合-在溶液中保持金屬離子。
Precipitation – removing metal ions from solution as insoluble materials.沉淀從溶液中去除金屬離子作為不溶性材料。
Builders, in addition to softening, provide a desirable level of alkalinity (increased pH), which aids in cleaning. They also act as buffers to maintain proper alkalinity in wash water.洗選強(qiáng)化劑除了軟化外，還提供理想的堿度（增加 pH），有助于清潔。它們還充當(dāng)緩沖器，以保持洗滌水中適當(dāng)?shù)膲A性。
Finally, builders help emulsify oily and greasy soil by breaking it up into tiny globules. Many builders will actually peptize or suspend loosened dirt and keep it from settling back on the cleaned surface. Below are three of the most common builders used in today’s heavy-duty detergents. A short description of each follows.最后，洗選強(qiáng)化劑通過將其分解成微小的球狀物來幫助乳化油性土壤和油膩土壤。許多洗選強(qiáng)化劑實際上會對松動的污垢進(jìn)行增壓或懸浮，防止其重新沉淀在清潔的表面上。以下是當(dāng)今重型洗滌劑中使用的三種最常見的建筑商。每個描述的簡短描述如下。
Phosphates*usually sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP), have been used as builders extensively in heavy-duty industrial detergents. They combine with hardness minerals to form a soluble complex which is removed with the wash water. They also sequester dissolved iron and manganese which can interfere with detergency.磷酸鹽*通常三聚磷酸鈉（STPP），在重型工業(yè)洗滌劑中被廣泛用作洗選強(qiáng)化劑。它們與硬度礦物質(zhì)相結(jié)合，形成一個可溶性復(fù)合物，與洗滌水一起去除。它們還封存溶解的鐵和錳，這些鐵和錳會干擾威懾力。
* Due to the potential environmental effects of phosphates in detergents, all of Essential’s newer cleaners and detergents do not contain phosphates.由于磷酸鹽在洗滌劑中的潛在環(huán)境影響，所有 Essential 的較新的清潔劑和洗滌劑均不含磷酸鹽。
Sodium carbonate (soda ash) is used as a builder but can only soften water through precipitation. Precipitated calcium and magnesium particles can build up on surfaces, especially clothing, and therefore sodium carbonate is not used in laundry detergents.碳酸鈉（蘇打灰）用作洗選強(qiáng)化劑，但只能通過降水軟化水。沉淀的鈣和鎂顆?？梢苑e聚在表面，特別是衣服上，因此碳酸鈉不用于洗衣粉。
Sodium silicate serves as a builder in some detergents when used in high concentrations. When used in lower concentrations, it inhibits corrosion and adds crispness to detergent granules.硅酸鈉在高濃度使用時，在某些洗滌劑中起洗選強(qiáng)化劑作用。當(dāng)用于低濃度時，它抑制腐蝕，并增加洗滌劑顆粒的脆度。
Solvents溶劑
Detergents, as we have learned so far, consist of surfactants, chelating agents and builders. Remember that surfactants are designed to remove dirt from a soiled surface. Chelating agents and builders are added to the formula to keep water hardness from interfering with the cleaning process.正如我們迄今所學(xué)到的，洗滌劑由表面活性劑、夾層劑和洗選強(qiáng)化劑組成。請記住，表面活性劑旨在清除污垢從污垢表面。配方中增加了切合劑和洗選強(qiáng)化劑，以防止水硬度干擾清潔過程。
Water makes up a large percentage of most liquid cleaner formulas. It is not uncommon for water-based detergents to contain 50% water or more. Some ready-to-use formulations may contain as much as 90% to 95% water! With this much water present in a cleaner, why do they work so well? Water can be considered an active ingredient that actually adds to the detergency of cleaners. It performs several very important functions in liquid cleaners. Most importantly, it adds to the “detergency” of a cleaner. Water acts as a solvent that breaks up soil particles after the surfactants reduce the surface tension and allow the water to penetrate soil. Water is capable of dissolving a variety of different substances. In fact, it is called the "universal solvent" because it dissolves more substances than any other liquid.水占大多數(shù)液體清潔配方的很大比例。水性洗滌劑含有 50% 或更多水的情況并不少見。一些現(xiàn)成的配方可能含有高達(dá)90%至95%的水！清潔工里有這么多水，為什么效果這么好？水可以被認(rèn)為是一種活性成分，實際上增加了清潔劑的清潔力。它在液體清潔劑中執(zhí)行幾個非常重要的功能。最重要的是，它增加了清潔工的"清潔力"。水作為溶劑，在表面活性劑降低表面張力并允許水穿透土壤后分解土壤顆粒。水能夠溶解各種不同的物質(zhì)。事實上，它被稱為"通用溶劑"，因為它溶解的物質(zhì)比任何其他液體都多。
One can visualize how this works if you think of your own clothes washing machine. Think about what would happen if you were to add a cup of detergent to your washer and wash a load of clothes with no other water added. Your clothes certainly would not come out clean! Water is necessary for the laundry detergent to work properly.如果你想到自己的洗衣機(jī)，人們可以想象它是如何工作的。想想如果你在洗衣機(jī)里加一杯洗滌劑，在沒有加水的情況下洗一大堆衣服，會發(fā)生什么。你的衣服肯定不會干凈！洗衣粉工作正常需要水。
Water also aids in the suspension and anti-redeposition of soils. Once the soil has been dissolved and emulsified away from the surface, we want to prevent it from being redeposited. Water keeps the soil suspended away from the clean surface so that it can be carried away easily during the rinsing process. It is clear that without water, our cleaning formulas would be much less effective.水還有助于土壤的懸浮和抗重新定位。一旦土壤溶解并乳化，我們就要防止土壤被重新儲存。水使土壤懸浮在遠(yuǎn)離清潔表面的地方，以便在沖洗過程中很容易被沖走。顯然，沒有水，我們的清潔配方將大大降低效率。
In addition to water, other chemical solvents are often added to cleaners to boost performance. Compounds such as 2-Butoxyethanol (butyl), isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) and d-Limonene are all considered solvents. Their main function is to liquefy grease and oils or dissolve solid soil into very small particles so surfactants can more readily perform their function.除水外，其他化學(xué)溶劑通常被添加到清潔劑中，以提高性能?；衔铮?-丁氧乙醇（丁基），異丙醇（摩擦酒精）和d-利莫寧都被認(rèn)為是溶劑。它們的主要功能是液化油脂和油，或?qū)⒐腆w土壤溶解成非常小的顆粒，使表面活性劑能夠更容易地發(fā)揮其功能。
Preservatives防腐劑
A preservative is nothing more than a substance that protects soaps and detergents against the natural effects of aging such as decay, discoloration, oxidation and bacterial degradation. Synthetic detergents are preserved differently from soaps as we will see.
In soaps, preservatives are used to forestall the natural tendency to develop rancidity and oxidize upon aging. In detergents, preservatives are used to prevent bacteria from spoiling the solution. This is necessary because detergents are naturally biodegradable by bacteria found in the air, waste treatment systems and soil once they enter the environment. Acrylics (such as those in floor finishes) can also spoil, if left untreated. Essential uses a variety of preservatives, depending on the application.
