The extensive application and important role of cleaning agents in multiple industries

The widespread application of cleaning agents in light industry, household, kitchen, laundry, industrial, and transportation fields relies on the support of 15 major categories of basic chemicals such as surfactants to meet the unique needs of different industries. The use of these cleaning agents depends on basic chemicals including surfactants, bactericides, thickeners, fillers, dyes, enzymes, solvents, corrosion inhibitors, chelating agents, fragrances, fluorescent brighteners, stabilizers, acids, alkalis, and abrasives among these 15 categories. The application of these chemicals enables cleaning agents to meet the demands of various industries and deliver their unique cleaning effects.

1. Household Cleaning Agents

Household cleaning agents include deodorizers, air fresheners, floor wax, glass cleaners, hand soaps, and cleaning soaps, meeting the deep cleaning needs of buildings and equipment, especially effective sterilization in places like hospitals. Household cleaning refers to the deep cleaning and maintenance of buildings or industrial equipment, covering cleaning needs for floors, walls, furniture, carpets, doors and windows, bathroom facilities, and more. Additionally, cleaning of hard surfaces such as stone, wood panels, metal, and glass is an important part of household cleaning. To meet different cleaning needs, we have developed various household cleaning agents. Among them, disinfectants containing o-phenylphenol and o-phenyl-p-chlorophenol or p-tert-butylphenol, though with a relatively narrow application range, can effectively kill pathogens such as tuberculosis bacteria, staphylococcus, and salmonella in special places like hospitals and guest rooms.

2. Kitchen Cleaning Requirements

In public kitchens, machine washing is mainly used, and cleaning agents with high consumption are strongly alkaline, stronger than ordinary household products. Kitchen cleaning mainly involves cleaning glassware, plates, cutlery, pots, grills, and ovens in public kitchens and restaurants. This cleaning is usually done by machine washing, though some occasions use manual cleaning. Among many kitchen cleaning agents, detergents for automatic dishwashers and their matching rinse aids, bactericides, and drying aids have the highest consumption, followed by hand-washing detergents. Compared to ordinary household products, kitchen cleaning agents usually have stronger alkalinity and sometimes higher concentration.

3. Food Industry Cleaning

The food industry widely uses mixtures of acidic or alkaline cleaning agents with disinfectants, commonly applied in packaging and equipment cleaning. In the food and beverage industry, cleaning agents are widely used for washing packaging bottles, production equipment, and storage containers for food, beverages, dairy products, and meat. Additionally, these industries need to clean cattle pens, sheep pens, milking equipment, and more. When producing dairy products, meat, canned goods, and eggs, acidic or alkaline cleaning agents are usually mixed with disinfectants at a 10:1 ratio. The food industry mainly selects strong alkaline cleaning agents, often compounded with chlorine-containing disinfectants.

4. Transportation Vehicle Cleaning

Covering cleaning from cars to ships, emphasizing that efficient cleaning of aircraft surfaces must follow specialized standards. In the transportation sector, cleaning agents play a crucial role. Whether cars, trucks, buses, trains, airplanes, or ships, their interior and exterior cleaning depends on them. Additionally, cleaning vehicle parts such as brake systems, engines, and turbines is also a key application for cleaning agents. Notably, cleaning the exterior surfaces of transportation vehicles shares many similarities with metal cleaning in the industrial field. The transportation industry has extensive demands for cleaning agents. These agents include those specially designed for vehicle exteriors and windshield cleaning. For cleaning the exteriors of trucks and buses, both alkaline and acidic cleaning agents can be used, but alkaline products should be chosen for aluminum alloy surfaces. Train exterior cleaning agents usually contain organic acids, inorganic acids, and surfactants. Cleaning aircraft surfaces is equally important, as it relates to aviation safety and directly affects economic efficiency. Therefore, aircraft cleaning agents must comply with specialized standards, efficiently remove heavy dirt, and are often independently developed by the aviation industry.

5. Metal and Plastic Cleaning

Industrial cleaning agents for degreasing and rust removal are essential pre-production steps, differing in acidic or alkaline environments. In the industrial field, cleaning agents are widely used for cleaning metal surfaces, plastic surfaces, tanks, filters, oilfield equipment, and more. They can also effectively remove grease layers, dust, and perform paint and wax removal. Before painting or coating metal surfaces, thorough cleaning is necessary to ensure good adhesion. The main task of metal cleaning is to remove surface lubricants and cutting fluids, so solvent-based cleaning agents are commonly used. Metal cleaning targets can be roughly divided into two categories: rust removal and degreasing. Rust removal usually occurs in an acidic environment, aiming to remove oxide layers on steel and other metals, insoluble metal deposits on boiler walls and steam pipes, and other corrosion products. Degreasing is performed under alkaline conditions, mainly targeting oily dirt.

6. Cleaning Agents in Laundries and Hotels

Cleaning agents are used for textile cleaning, including widespread use in laundries, hotels, and hospitals. Cleaning agents not only shine in industrial fields but are also widely applied in washing and other areas. For example, in laundries, hotels, research centers, restaurants, and hospitals, cleaning agents are used for textile cleaning. Additionally, cleaning of flat panel displays and photovoltaic cells also relies on them. Meanwhile, cleaning of swimming pools, clean rooms, studios, and storage rooms also depends on the assistance of cleaning agents.