Question

To clean the surface of floors, walls, windows, bathrooms and stoves it is necessary to use appropriate substances to dissolve the dirt. Find out about the components of the commercial products offered for this purpose.

a) What chemical compounds can be used to remove the dirt?

Answer 1

All-purpose cleansers, glass cleaners, and acidic cleaning agents are commonly used substances to remove dirt. All-purpose cleansers are formulated with a mixture of surfactants, solvents, and other compounds. Glass cleaners contain alcohols, surfactants, and additives like ammonia and dyes. Acidic cleaning agents use strong mineral acids and chelants for the removal of inorganic deposits.

Step-by-step explanation:

All-purpose cleansers are effective with most common kinds of dirt. These cleansers contain mixtures of surfactants, sequestering agents, solvents, hydrotropic substances, polymeric compounds, corrosion inhibitors, skin-protective agents, and sometimes perfumes and colorants. For example, the surfactants used in all-purpose cleaners are alkylbenzenesulfonates, an anionic detergent, and modified fatty alcohols. These cleaners also include water softeners like sodium triphosphate to enhance the behavior of surfactants in hard water.

Glass cleaners, on the other hand, utilize alcohols (such as ethanol or isopropanol) and surfactants to dissolve grease, along with small amounts of ammonia, dyes, and perfumes. They may also contain fine, mild abrasives. Acidic cleaning agents, mainly used for removal of inorganic deposits like scaling, typically contain strong mineral acids and chelants, with the addition of surfactants and corrosion inhibitors to prevent damage.