Twenty-five terms

Glossary

Short definitions for the words this site uses. Two of them, oxygen bleach and chlorine bleach, are different substances that get treated as one thing, and both entries say so.

A stack of neatly folded blue denim jeans photographed close enough to show the stitching. — Photo: Castorly Stock on Pexels

Surfactant: The part of a detergent that lets water and oily soil get along with each other. Surfactants are the reason washing works at all, and they are present in every detergent on this site whether or not the listing mentions them. Nothing on this site describes how they work beyond that, because the working part is not the part that causes conflicts.See alsoDose · Enzyme
Enzyme: A protein that speeds up a specific chemical change. In laundry, enzymes are included to work on particular kinds of soil, and each one is aimed at a category. Two boosters and one detergent sheet listing in this catalog name enzymes on the front of the box.See alsoProtease · Amylase · Protein fiber
Protease: The enzyme class that acts on protein. A published review of wool finishing describes protease enzymes as able to degrade proteins and describes their deliberate use on wool fiber. That is why protease and protein fiber are the pairing behind one of the conflict pages here.See alsoEnzyme · Protein fiber · Amylase
Amylase: The enzyme class that acts on starch. It is the reason food soils come out of a shirt that has been through a meal. It does not raise the protein fiber question the way protease does, and no listing in this catalog names it specifically.See alsoEnzyme · Protease
Sodium percarbonate: The compound behind most powders sold as oxygen bleach. It is not chlorine bleach and it is not a substitute for reading the label of either. University of Georgia Extension discusses the related perborate bleach and notes that chlorine bleach stops its action, so the two are not used together.See alsoOxygen bleach · Chlorine bleach
Oxygen bleach: The seller name for the perborate and percarbonate family, usually printed as oxygen-powered. It is a different substance from chlorine bleach, with different rules, and this site keeps the two apart deliberately. That difference does not make it mixable with anything: nothing on this site is mixed with anything.See alsoChlorine bleach · Sodium percarbonate · Protein fiber
Chlorine bleach: Household liquid bleach, sold for whitening and sanitizing. It is a different substance from oxygen bleach and the two are not interchangeable in either direction. CDC instructs never to mix bleach with ammonia or any other cleaner, and that instruction is the single most important line on this site.See alsoOxygen bleach · Optical brightener · Load
Optical brightener: An additive that makes fabric look brighter by changing how light leaves it, rather than by removing anything. It is why a shirt can look whiter without being cleaner. No listing in this catalog names one.See alsoChlorine bleach · Free and clear
Dye transfer: Dye leaving one garment in the wash water and arriving on another. It is the problem a dye-trapping sheet is sold to address, and it is a different problem from a stain, which is soil that arrived from outside the load.See alsoDye trap · Load · Cellulose fiber
Dye trap: A sheet sold to absorb dye that has come loose into the wash water. One listing in this catalog is one of these, and it is filed in a subgroup of its own because it is not a stain remover and not a cleaner.See alsoDye transfer · Load
HE washer: A high efficiency washing machine, which uses less water per load than older designs. ENERGY STAR certifies clothes washers against published criteria. A detergent described as HE compatible is the seller saying it suits that lower water volume, which is not a certification of the detergent.See alsoLoad · Dose
Septic system: A system that treats a household’s wastewater on the property instead of sending it to a municipal plant. EPA runs SepticSmart, a public education program for owners. One listing in this catalog uses the phrase septic-safe, which no agency defines.See alsoBiodegradable
Biodegradable: An environmental marketing claim about a material breaking down. The FTC Green Guides set out how such claims should be qualified and substantiated by the advertiser making them. That is guidance on phrasing rather than a definition of the word, and no agency inspects a specific box.See alsoFTC Green Guides · EWG Verified · Septic system
EWG Verified: A mark granted by the Environmental Working Group, a private non-profit organization, against criteria it publishes itself. It is not a government standard and it is not administered by any federal agency. One listing in this catalog carries it.See alsoFTC Green Guides · Biodegradable · Free and clear
FTC Green Guides: Federal Trade Commission guidance on how environmental claims may be made in advertising without being deceptive. It is the closest published document to most of the words in this catalog, and it governs how a claim is phrased rather than what a word means.See alsoBiodegradable · EWG Verified · Free and clear
Free and clear: A marketing phrase indicating that something has been left out, without naming what or against what standard. No agency defines it for laundry products. This site reports which listings use it and makes no claim of its own about skin or sensitivity.See alsoFragrance · FTC Green Guides · EWG Verified
Fragrance: The scent component of a product. Listings in this catalog handle it three ways: they name a scent, they state fragrance free or unscented, or they say nothing at all. Those are three different statements and this site keeps them apart.See alsoFree and clear · Optical brightener
Protein fiber: A fiber whose material is protein. University of Georgia Extension groups silk and wool as natural fibers from animal sources and describes them as damaged by alkaline soaps and high temperatures. This is the definition that makes the enzyme question a real question.See alsoProtease · Cellulose fiber · Enzyme
Cellulose fiber: A fiber whose material is plant cellulose. University of Georgia Extension groups cotton, linen and ramie as natural fibers from plant sources, describing them as strong and absorbent with poor wrinkle resistance. These are the fibers most general-purpose laundry products are designed around.See alsoProtein fiber · Dye transfer
Elastane: The stretch fiber, also sold as spandex and under brand names, that appears as a small percentage of many blends. University of Georgia Extension lists spandex among manmade fibers of chemical origin, and names lycra as an exception to the fabrics chlorine bleach is used on.See alsoProtein fiber · Pilling
Pilling: Small balls of fiber standing up from the surface of a fabric. It is a surface condition rather than a soil, which is why it is addressed by a cutting tool rather than by anything in a bottle.See alsoFabric shaver · Lint
Fabric shaver: A powered device that removes pilling by cutting it. The one in this catalog states battery operation and two replaceable stainless steel blades. It is not an adhesive roller, it is not used on people or animals, and it is stored out of reach of children.See alsoPilling · Lint
Lint: Loose fiber and hair sitting on the surface of a fabric rather than embedded in it. It comes off with adhesive rather than with cutting, which is the difference between a roller and a shaver.See alsoPilling · Fabric shaver
Load: One run of a washing machine, and the unit most detergent listings count in. It is not a fixed quantity: one listing in this catalog counts small loads separately, and several count sheets or units instead of loads. This site never converts between those.See alsoDose · HE washer · Dye transfer
Dose: The amount of product used for one load. This site publishes no doses, no dilutions, no temperatures and no soak times, because all of those belong on the manufacturer label and none of them belong on a web page.See alsoLoad · Surfactant · HE washer

The pairings these terms describe are under Conflicts, and the words printed on packaging are under Labels.