Soapless cleaning? A reality at last?
Isn’t science wonderful? In the New York Times there is an article about a new technology which can put a thin coating on items, such as dishes, mirros and factory machinery, which would make it possible for them to be washed with water alone, preventing all those detergents from being washed out into our rivers.
This new technology is being developed by Jeffrey P. Youngblood, an associate professor of materials engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.
“The oil beads up and then the water moves under the oil, lifting it up so it floats away,” said Kirsten Genson, a postdoctoral researcher in the team, and “We get the oil to remove itself,” said John Howarter, a former student of Dr. Youngblood.
Dr. Youngblood said is in discussions with companies about ways to further develop the coatings and additives. “Probably we will have different permutations,” he said, depending, for example, on whether the product is for coating and cleaning windows or for treating a stain.
Brilliant! Whatever will they think of next?
One would have to carefully consider the implications, if any, of ingesting the coating applied to the surfaces. That it will, over time, be eroded and mix with your food is a certainty. If it is biologically active, and being ingested in sufficient quantities, then there is potential for harm.
Personally I haven’t used washing-up liquid for years anyway. Hot water emulsifies grease well enough, and mechanical, rather than chemical, treatments (i.e. scrubbing) will clean anything just fine.
Hi Phil, thanks for your comment. You are quite right of course, and hopefully the product would be carefully tested before it was used on food utensils. However this would not be a problem I suppose with things like machinery, glass, mirrors etc. It might be very useful, for example, for glass windows in hard to get at spots.
Personally I absolutely loathe washing up, and shove everything into the dishwasher (on the economy cycle). Environmentally wrong no doubt, but I don’t claim to be perfect. Plus the dishwasher gets it a lot cleaner than I would …