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Rendering Of Lipase Molecule Courtesy Wikipedia
Lipase - What It Is And Where To Find It
Lipase - What It Is And Where To Find It
Lipase is an enzyme that helps break triglycerides (the oils found in plant and animal sources) into four smaller parts so that other detergent ingredients can attach them to water and wash them down the drain. I'm a massive fan of lipase because it's a gentle, bio-based adjunct to removing two of most common problems home launderers cope with - skin oils and combination food stains like burger drips, soup spills and coffee with milk.
LIPASE ALONE DOES NOT MAKE A GOOD DETERGENT OR PRETREATER
Sorry for shouting.
In the time since I started compiling and publishing the Lipase List, there's been some message drift. Detergents, especially, are complex products and the majority of the workload falls to the surfactants. Time for another tortured analogy.
Oily stains and soils on textiles are like a rusty bolt in a nut. They're stuck together mechanically and chemically. Surfactant is the wrench - the better the surfactant, it's like getting a longer wrench - more ability to pry the mechanical connection apart.
Lipase is like penetrating oil. It surrounds the "rust" and breaks it up so the wrench turns more easily. You can soak the threads in penetrating oil all day long and the bolt won't loosen itself - it needs the mechanical action of the wrench to actually come free from the nut.
Bad or insufficient surfactant + lots of lipase = poor oil removal. Great surfactant - lipase? Decent oil removal. Great surfactant + lipase? Optimal oil removal. The presence of lipase in a product simply tells you that there is lipase present.
When You Should Consider Lipase
When You Should Consider Lipase
When Oily Stains From Food, People Or Pets Survive The Wash - a pretreater, booster or detergent with lipase can improve removal - even after washing and drying, oils from these sources are vulnerable to lipase.
When Clothing Retains An Odor After Washing, Develops One On Storage, Or Smells Worse When It Warms Up On Your Body - this is usually caused by residual skin oils. Using a lipase product in conjunction with adequate surfactant can reduce the risk of this odor rebloom.
When Sheets And Pillowcases Yellow Despite Regular Washing - some people make more body oil than others, and white sheets are often the first textiles to demonstrate weaknesses in the wash process. Adding lipase helps immensely in these cases.
When You're Performing Spa Day - this intensive reset relies on long exposure to lipase to really get the oily residues loosened up for the wash cycle that follows.
The Lipase List(s) -Finding Lipase In The US and Canada
The Lipase List(s) -Finding Lipase In The US and Canada
Detergents: Coming Soon
Detergents: Coming Soon
Boosters: Coming Less Soon
Boosters: Coming Less Soon
How Products Get On The List:
How Products Get On The List:
I take suggestions on Reddit and by email, I regularly survey what's on the shelves at retailers across the US and Canada and I keep an eye out for marketing messages from the usual suspects in laundry chemistry. What I don't do is take money or other consideration for inclusion. My financial disclosure policy is published - if you're new to the site, you may be surprised to find there's not even affiliate links to buy this.
Each of the three lists has different criteria for inclusion. Basically a product has to have a reasonable suspicion of being effective at some multiple of the label dose, be marketed primarily for textile care and provide two congruent sources of ingredient information - product packaging, manufacturer websites, Safety Data Sheets, SmartLabel or government registry. If a product label simply says "enzymes", there must be another source that specifically mentions lipase.
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