Investigating new formulations to improve soft grease removal capability from plastic in hand dish wash products

The following thesis was developed during a six months internship in collaboration with the Procter & Gamble (P&G) BIC (Brussels Innovation Center). P&G is the largest consumer goods company in the world, and it specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer health, personal care and hygiene products. The project is about hygiene products, in this case enhancing the properties of dish detergents. The focus of the internship research were: improving the soft grease cleaning capabilities on plastic substrates, studying also how the wear and tear of the plastic impacts the grease removal; and generating new insights into the discoloration of plastic containers (Tupperware®) during everyday use. Concerning the improvement on soft grease removal, the first step was to validate a test method previously developed and designed to rank the products performances on soft grease removal. An internal standard procedure was followed to validate the test, leading to the assessment of the repeatability, the reproducibility and the sensitivity of the results. The test method was successfully validated and became a fundamental part of the next steps of the project. The second step was to use the validated test method to rank the current formulas and to start an optimization process to improve the products performances in soft grease. This procedure comprised the study of the raw materials (technologies) present in the current formulas, a design of experiment to understand which technology can bring a benefit to the case study, and finally the formulation and test of a series of products containing new technologies. The result of the described work was the finding of two new possible formulas leading to a significant improvement in soft grease removal capabilities. Additional tests are required to bring the products on the market, but what was achieved is a valuable starting point for future innovations.