GUIDO BOGNOLO
Scientific advisory board of H&PC Today – Household and Personal Care Today (TKS Publisher)

I recently happened to read an article on surfactants in household detergents dated back to the early 1950ties. I was somewhat surprised to see that the surfactants quoted  were referred to as “wetting agents” as if the only function they were perceived to accomplish was just the wetting of textiles surfaces, while the cleaning function was (presumably) left to the rest of the formulation, (i.e. alkaline builders, bleaches) and the physical action of washing temperature and mechanical agitation.

If the trends of the time are compared with today situation it must be acknowledged that substantial progress has been made, although, as I had the opportunity to highlight recently, I am disturbed by the emerging trend to play more attention to “perfume/scent” than to cleaning, hygiene and fabric care. And the progress is not confined to household detergents and I&I: industrial sectors from personal care/pharmaceuticals to paints/coatings, metal working, lubricants, pulp and paper, crop protection have and are opening to new products and implementing formulation concepts leading to higher performance, better ...