Lecture Language: English Category: Home Care / Detergents Microorganisms have been isolated from every location that humans have been able to sample. They are in us, on us, and around us. This includes the surfaces that we think are clean and touch every day. Together, these communities of microbes comprise a unique biological fingerprint that is our indoor microbiome. Recent advances in human health have found several links between the indoor microbiome and the human immune system. It is time to re-think the way we clean our homes. Instead of killing the microbes that can support human health, we should consider new solutions that incorporates microbes as cleaning agents in our daily routine. While there are clear benefits to disinfecting surfaces, we should not let our surroundings become sterile. Studies show that when we disinfect a well-used surface, we inadvertently create ideal conditions for new microbes to colonize those surfaces, due to loss of competition. Furthermore, it is often the fast growing, opportunistic pathogens that take hold first, resulting in the opposite of what we truly want for our homes. We tested the effect of probiotic floor cleaners on the floor microbiome at five different high traffic areas. First, we described the baseline microbiome over a three-week period. Then, we added probiotics to the same floor cleaner to study the shift in the floor microbiome over the next six weeks. Lastly, we measured the recovery of the surface microbiome when probiotics were stopped. Our observations from this test lead us to hypothesize that there will be a microbiome shift towards the applied probiotic species included in the probiotic cleaner within the six-week treatment phase. In conclusion, we show that probiotic surface cleaners can shift the indoor microbiome from unknown, potentially pathogenic organisms towards the dominance of natural, safe microbes.

Lecture Language: English Category: Home Care / Disinfectant Agents The global plastic pollution crisis has been further complicated by the coronavirus pandemic, as increased consumption of disinfectants and cleaners has added more plastic waste to the environment. The use of concentrated cleaners can help reduce packaging materials, and save money and resources spent on transport, since less water is shipped.  Corbion has developed guidance for the production of antimicrobial concentrated liquid and powder formulations that match the performance of diluted products. The volume of waste also grows when spoiled product is thrown away without being used; having an effective, sustainable preservative system is essential to ensuring sufficient shelf life. Current preservative systems come with one or more disadvantages: they may irritate the skin; they may be synthetic instead of natural; and their efficacy may be limited by regulatory restrictions on the allowable dosage level. New data developed by Corbion for diverse combined preservative systems can help guide customers' work to achieve safe, sustainable preservation.

Lecture Language: English Category: Home Care / Natural Polymers We present a new suspension polymer formula based on nanocellulose fibers that form a network when dispersed in liquid detergent formulation. The nanocellulose fibers are produced by a fermentation process using specific bacteria that allow an excellent control of the fiber dimensions and physico-chemical properties. After purification, the nanocellulose is activated by high shear stirring in presence of dispersion stabilizers, resulting in a ready to use liquid formulation that can be easily incorporated into several types of home care formulations. Besides polymer concentration, the suspension strength of the polymer when incorporated in liquid detergent is dependent on surfactant type and concentration and can be tuned depending on desired application. The correct dosage can be determined using rheological measurements of the solution yield stress. We exemplify usefulness of this natural polymer in various home care applications such as concentration of fragrances in laundry liquid detergent, incorporation of ZnPT beads in laundry sanitizers, suspension of abrasive beads in toilet bowl cleaners or use in conjunction with natural opacifier.  By offering suspension capabilities without altering the final viscosity of the formula, the new natural biodegradable suspension polymer offers a new degree of freedom to the formulator.