Business Update

Developing innovative products, for a changing world

by Dr Paul Baxter, Warwick Chemicals

The ability to deliver innovative products to market is often cited as the difference between the best companies and their less successful peers. Cleaning clothes may seem to be a mundane task, but that makes it none the less important for detergent manufacturers to continually create better, and more convenient, products for their customers.

For instance, in the USA this year Procter and Gamble have made a significant investment in Tide Pods. These are multi-compartment water soluble pouches that look attractive, enable incompatible ingredients to be used in the formulation and are convenient for the customer to use. It took eight years to develop the product, but Procter and Gamble see this investment as vital in maintaining their market leading position in the region.

Here at Warwick, we are committed to helping detergent manufacturers make improvements like these, by providing innovative new products to use in their formulations. Warwick was at the forefront of the drive to lower wash temperatures back in the 1980s, when TAED became an ingredient present in nearly all laundry detergents in Europe. TAED meant that cleaning performance didn't have to be sacrificed as washing temperatures in Europe fell from 60-95℃ to 40℃. By including it in their formulations, detergent manufacturers were able to swiftly and efficiently react to changing habits and demands. Nowadays, many people wash at 30℃, and some new machines have programmes were the water is unheated. This puts increasing demands on the detergent, both for removing stains and for delivering hygienic odour free clothes.

Warwick is addressing this new development and the challenges it brings - not only for the European market, but also for those areas of the world where washing in cold water, and often under very dilute conditions, has been the norm for some time. Our scientists have been working on a product which will provide both stain removal and a hygienic wash even when the water is cold. What is more, it has been designed to be affordable even in countries where disposable incomes are low.

In a separate project, Warwick is developing a product which is complementary to TAED and broadens the range of stains that are removed during washing. Both products are on schedule to be launched in 2013, and further developments now in the pipeline have the potential to provide a major step change in washing performance.

Just as we were in the 1980s, Warwick will be at the heart of ensuring that consumers around the world can save money - and help the environment - by washing at lower temperatures, while being confident of achieving a clean and hygienic wash.

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