SURFACTANTS
Figure 4- Formulation testing: Grease Police( indicated with arrows) vs. commercial reference
AmphiStar has thus far created three prototype home care formulations for testing, whose formulations are shown in Figure 3. They are:
• Dishtroyer, an everyday dishwashing liquid which targets grease with the additional requirement of leaving kitchenware safe for people to eat with
• Grease Police, an alkaline surface cleaner for kitchens that targets and removes grease and fat from surfaces
• Shiny Star, an acidic surface cleaner for bathrooms and hard surfaces, which targets soap scum and limescale build-up
Dishtroyer was tested on gravy stains against an identical control formula made using a non-AmphiStar biosurfactant with surfactant levels adjusted to equal total concentration using a TQC scrub machine( pictured) following the recommendations of Germany’ s IKW association.
Testing demonstrated improved performance by Dishtroyer( indicated with arrows) over that of the control formula. Whether the stains were pre-soaked with the dishwashing product( bottom) or not( top), the Dishstroyer formulation produced a considerably cleaner result.
Similarly, Grease Police was tested against a market reference spray on stains consisting of oil and particulate soil( kaolin and carbon black) at 25 %( Figure 4, above) and 4 %( below). In both cases, it produced roughly comparable results to the commercial reference. Shiny Star will be tested in future experiments.
As testing continues, AmphiStar is developing additional prototypes, including a window cleaner and an automatic dishwashing product to provide additional data. Development work will expand the portfolio of molecules and improve formulation experience to eventually eliminate these less sustainable surfactants altogether.
Conclusion
Consumer pressure is pushing surfactant-using industries to seek greener alternatives that maintain performance and have the potential to achieve cost parity with further development. AmphiStar’ s work shows that it is possible to use upcycled feedstocks to produce surfactant ingredients that combine performance with reduced environmental impact by valorising food and agricultural side streams.
Incorporating upcycled feedstocks into home cleaning will enable formulators to develop cleaner products that minimise climate impact and environmental pollution throughout their lives while using a minimum of resources in their production. Further testing will identify opportunities to improve both performance and sustainability while reducing costs, helping to transition biosurfactants from a niche ingredient into a mainstream industry norm, provided that supply, formulation and regulatory challenges are addressed. ●
*- Also contributing to this article was Nikita Abuammar, formulation scientist at AmphiStar
**- AmphiClean and AmphiCare are registered trademarks of AmphiStar
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Sofie Lodens
PRODUCT & PROJECT MANAGER
AMPHISTAR sofie. lodens @ amphistar. com www. amphistar. com www. campanyname. com
NOV / DEC 2025 SPECCHEMONLINE. COM
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