The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum
"Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"

Bio Soft Wash wrote:

---

I found a bottle of "Awesome Products Inc" Oxy-Ultra Deluxe dish soap while I was buying Gain at the dollar store and wondered if the 60 oz bottle would work as well as the 4oz gain. LOL The ingredients say  anionic & non-anionic surfactant?

---

 I would not substitute another dishwashing liquid for Gain, simply because just because a surfactant is or isn't Anionic or Cationic, does not mean it is Chlorine Stable!

The roof cleaning chemical may react with it, and that is never a good thing. 

Anionic surfactants: 

- In solution, the head is negatively charged. This is the most widely used type of surfactant for laundering, dishwashing liquids and shampoos because of its excellent cleaning properties and high sudsing potential. The surfactant is particularly good at keeping the dirt away from fabrics, and removing residues of fabric softener from fabrics. 
- Anionic surfactants are particularly effective at oily soil cleaning and oil/clay soil suspension. Still, they can react in the wash water with the positively charged water hardness ions (calcium and magnesium), which can lead to partial deactivation. The more calcium and magnesium molecules in the water, the more the anionic surfactant system suffers from deactivation. To prevent this, the anionic surfactants need help from other ingredients such as builders (Ca/Mg sequestrants) and more detergent should be dosed in hard water. 
- The most commonly used anionic surfactants are alkyl sulphates, alkyl ethoxylate sulphates and soaps. 


Cationic surfactants: 
- In solution, the head is positively charged. There are 3 different categories of cationics each with their specific application: 
- In fabric softeners and in detergents with built-in fabric softener, cationic surfactants provide softness. Their main use in laundry products is in rinse added fabric softeners, such as esterquats, one of the most widely used cationic surfactants in rinse added fabric softeners. 
- In laundry detergents, cationic surfactants (positive charge) improve the packing of anionic surfactant molecules (negative charge) at the stain/water interface. This helps to reduce the dirtl/water interfacial tension in a very efficient way, leading to a more robust dirt removal system. They are especially efficient at removing greasy stains. 
- In household and bathroom cleaners, cationic surfactants contribute to the disinfecting/sanitizing properties. 


Non-ionic surfactants: 
- These surfactants do not have an electrical charge, which makes them resistant to water hardness deactivation. They are excellent grease removers that are used in laundry products, household cleaners and hand dishwashing liquids. 

There is another category of surfactants too.... 
Amphoteric/zwitterionic surfactants: 
- These surfactants are very mild, making them particularly suited for use in personal care and household cleaning products. They can be anionic (negatively charged), cationic (positively charged) or non-ionic (no charge) in solution, depending on the acidity or pH of the water. 
- They are compatible with all other classes of surfactants and are soluble and effective in the presence of high concentrations of electrolytes, acids and alkalis. 
- These surfactants may contain two charged groups of different sign. Whereas the positive charge is almost always ammonium, the source of the negative charge may vary (carboxylate, sulphate, sulphonate). These surfactants have excellent dermatological properties. They are frequently used in shampoos and other cosmetic products, and also in hand dishwashing liquids because of their high foaming properties.