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The fatty acid composition of clothes soil

  • Technical
  • Published:
Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society

Summary

Organic soil that had gradually accumulated on cotton garments and was unremovable by normal washing procedures was analyzed for free and combined fatty acids by gas-liquid chromatography.

The fatty acid composition of this material was similar to sebum and hair fat and was remarkably uniform although from several different sources and geographical locations. The predominant fatty acids were C15, C16, and C18 straight-chain acids. More than 30% of the total fatty acid was palmitic acid. The amount of oleic acid was considerably less than is reported for hair and skin fat. No linoleic acid or linolenic acid was detected. The small amount of unsaturated acids is probably the result of their oxidation to polymers and other oxidation products. The amount of free fatty acids was very small because they were converted to insoluble heavy metal soaps. Most of the combined fatty acids were present as esters,i.e., triglycerides.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Laboratories, Whirlpool Corporation, St. Joseph, Michigan

    W. C. Powe & W. L. Marple

Authors
  1. W. C. Powe
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  2. W. L. Marple
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Powe, W.C., Marple, W.L. The fatty acid composition of clothes soil. J Am Oil Chem Soc 37, 136–138 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02644931

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02644931

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