Are bubbles in washing up liquid important?
Bubbles do not have an impact on cleaning performance. If you add washing up liquid to a basin and then the water you will likely see lots of bubbles form. If you add the water to the basin first and then washing up liquid you will not see many bubbles as it is the fast-flowing water agitating the the product that causes the bubbles to form. Both solutions will have the same efficacy as they have the same amount of detergent in them. With washing up liquid / bubbles
Can we have more bubbles?
3 things will effect the amount of bubbles seen – amount of surfactant, water hardness & order of addition:
- Surfactant – the more (anionic) surfactant present, the more bubbles will form.
- Water Hardness – hard water interacts with anionic surfactants, forming “soap scum”, this reduces the efficacy of the detergent but also reduces the amount of bubbles that will form. Introducing a water softener in hard water areas will help with this.
- Order of Addition – as mentioned above, if the product is added to the basin before/during water addition you will see a lot more bubbles than if the product is added once the basin has been filled.
