Antimicrobial laundry supplement for low-temperature washing

Overview

This project develops domestic laundry products incorporating Micro-Fresh®, an established antimicrobial textile technology, to deliver effective decontamination at wash temperatures below 60°C. Three product formats are being explored: an additive-enriched detergent, an additive-enriched fabric conditioner, and an additive-based rinse product. The solution targets a key public-health and sustainability challenge: lowering wash temperatures to reduce environmental impact, while ensuring that potentially harmful microorganisms are reliably eliminated from textiles during and after the wash cycle. This is particularly relevant for healthcare workers who launder uniforms domestically, where low-temperature cycles and machines that fail to reach stated 60°C settings leave garments inadequately decontaminated.

Technical specifications

• Antimicrobial additive: Micro-Fresh® is hypoallergenic, suitable for sensitive skin, and already used by retailers and manufacturers as a textile freshness technology.
• Synergistic action: The additive works in combination with standard detergents to destroy microorganisms at low temperatures, compensating for the reduced thermal kill effect below 60°C.
• Wash-phase performance: Previous testing on contaminated cotton and polycotton samples at 40°C and 73°C demonstrated significant contamination reduction, with up to 8 log(10) reduction observed even at 40°C.
• Rinse-phase finish: When added during the rinse phase, the technology leaves textiles with a durable antimicrobial finish that remains active after at least one subsequent wash.
• Product formats under development: enriched detergent, enriched fabric conditioner, and standalone rinse product, each designed for use in standard domestic washing machines across a range of temperatures and textile types.
• Validation approach: In vitro antimicrobial activity testing, followed by domestic washing machine trials with artificially contaminated samples at varying temperatures, measuring both wash-phase microbial reduction and post-wash fabric antimicrobial activity.

Technology readiness level

The underlying Micro-Fresh® additive is already commercially deployed in textile applications by retailers and manufacturers. Prior collaborative work with De Montfort University has demonstrated proof-of-concept performance in both the wash and rinse phases, including durable antimicrobial finishes on fabric. The current project advances the technology toward market-ready domestic laundry products by optimising formulations across three product types and validating performance under realistic domestic washing conditions. The work is at the formulation development and applied validation stage, with in vitro testing underway and domestic machine trials planned across multiple temperatures and textile types.