Abstract
The cleaning process has a significant environmental impact due to the consumption of resources and chemicals. Laundering procedures were performed in a laboratory washing machine. Orthogonal experiment was carried out to select significant impact factors on washing efficiency and smoothness appearance, and an optimized program was generated according to the experimental results. Compared to the original program, energy consumption of optimized program was reduced by 23%, while the washing efficiency was remained the same. Smoothness appearance of cotton shirt was improved from grade 2.0 to 2.8, which could help to save ironing energy 2.4 kWh and reduce about 2.3 kg CO2-equiv. of the whole lifetime (50 washes). The finding can provide fundamental information to develop a new washing program to achieve good cleaning performance and protect textiles.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allwood, J. M., Laursen, S. E., & B, N. M. P.. (2015). Well dressed? The present and future sustainability of clothing and textiles in the United Kingdom. Journal of the Home Economics Institute of Australia, 22(1), 42.
Altenbaher, B., Turk, S. Š., & Fijan, S. (2011). Ecological parameters and disinfection effect of low-temperature laundering in hospitals in Slovenia. Journal of Cleaner Production, 19(2), 253–258.
Bao, W., Gong, R. H., Ding, X., Xue, Y., Li, P., & Fan, W. (2017). Optimizing a laundering program for textiles in a front-loading washing machine and saving energy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 148, 415–421.
Can, Y., & Akaydin, M. (2013). Effect of laundering process on abrasion and wrinkle resistance of cotton plain fabric. Journal of Textile & Apparel/Tekstil ve Konfeksiyon, 23(1).
Cireli, A., Sariişik, M., Kutlu, B., & Yaman, V. (2004). The effects of washing conditions on soil removal in domestic laundering processes. Autex Research Journal, 4, 101–112.
Han, H. R., Chung, S. E., Kim, J., & Park, C. H. (2015). Mechanical and physicochemical contribution in removal of different soil types on cotton fabric. Textile Research Journal, 85(19), 2009–2019.
Kim, J., Park, Y., Yun, C., & Park, C. H. (2015a). Comparison of environmental and economic impacts caused by the washing machine operation of various regions. Energy Efficiency, 8(5), 905–918.
Kim, J., Yun, C., Park, Y., & Park, C. H. (2015b). Post-consumer energy consumption of textile products during ‘use’ phase of the lifecycle. Fibers and Polymers, 16(4), 926–933. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12221-015-0926-8.
Kissa, E. (1981). Mechanisms of soil release. Textile Research Journal, 51(8), 508–513.
Lai, L. (2013). Research and demonstration of carbon footprint and water footprint of textiles and clothing. PhD thesis, Donghua University.
Lee, A., Seo, M. H., Yang, S., Koh, J., & Kim, H. (2008). The effects of mechanical actions on washing efficiency. Fibers and Polymers, 9(1), 101–106.
Liu, H., Wang, Y., Gong, R. H., Zeng, J., & Ding, X. (2017). The relationships between washing parameters, fabric movement, and wrinkling in a top-loading washer. Textile Research Journal, 80, 1557–1568.
Pakula, C., & Stamminger, R. (2010). Electricity and water consumption for laundry washing by washing machine worldwide. Energy Efficiency, 3(4), 365–382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-009-9072-8.
Pakula, C., & Stamminger, R. (2015). Energy and water savings potential in automatic laundry washing processes. Energy Efficiency, 8(2), 205–222.
Richburg, K. B. (2010). Clothes dryers given tepid welcome in China [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/03/AR2010090302689.html. Accessed 09 March 2010
Shin, S., Warren, P. B., & Stone, H. A. (2018). Cleaning by surfactant gradients: particulate removal from porous materials and the significance of rinsing in laundry detergency. Physical Review Applied, 9(3), 034012.
Von Rybinski, W. (2007). Physical aspects of cleaning processes. Handbook for cleaning/decontamination of surfaces, 1, 1e55.
Yun, C., Islam, M. I., LeHew, M., & Kim, J. (2016). Assessment of environmental and economic impacts made by the reduced laundering of self-cleaning fabrics. Fibers and Polymers, 17(8), 1296–1304.
Yun, C., Patwary, S., LeHew, M. L., & Kim, J. (2017). Sustainable care of textile products and its environmental impact: Tumble-drying and ironing processes. Fibers and Polymers, 18(3), 590–596.
Zhang, Y., Liu, X., Xiao, R., & Yuan, Z. (2015). Life cycle assessment of cotton T-shirts in China. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 20(7), 994–1004.
Funding
The authors would like to thank the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFF0215703), the Shanghai Science and Technology Committee (17DZ2202900), Shanghai Summit Discipline in Design (DD18005), and the Donghua University (CUSF-DH-D-2017078 & ISN2017-3).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liu, H., Li, X., Ding, X. et al. Implementing sustainable laundering program for textiles in an impeller washer in China and saving energy. Energy Efficiency 12, 1729–1736 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-019-09778-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-019-09778-y