The global shift toward eco-consciousness is driving a revolution in the laundry and cleaning industries, with consumers demanding high-performance products that are also sustainable. Kristen Mauch, Application Development Specialist at Ingredients + Specialties from Univar Solutions, sat down with UL Solution’s Prospector Project Manager, Karly Schieder, to explain why enzymes—specifically powerful cellulases—are increasingly becoming the ingredient of choice to meet this demand.
Eco-consciousness is reshaping the laundry care industry, and many consumers want more sustainable but still high-performing detergents. Why do you think enzymes are emerging as the preferred way to meet this consumer demand over more traditional chemical-based approaches?
Kristen Mauch: There’s so much more to enzymes than just using them for sustainability purposes. It is the performance that you can achieve with them – meaning that it stands out chemically within ingredients in home care and industrial cleaning. The performance factor makes enzymes a key ingredient to any laundry product. Alongside this, enzymes are eco-friendly, biodegradable, trusted ingredients that brands have been adding to laundry detergents for decades to enhance the cleaning process.
Enzymes are chemically unique in that each enzyme class catalyzes a specific type of reaction. For example, proteases break down proteins, so they are built by nature to target certain soils. This makes them extremely effective cleaners, allowing for reduction or elimination of ingredients that may be perceived as less environmentally- friendly, such as optical brighteners. Enzymes can also provide many of the same benefits as these chemistries, all while allowing for a more consumer-friendly label and some additional textile benefits as well.
The impact of enzymes on the sustainability of the laundry process comes from a multi-pronged approach. Enzymes themselves are derived from nature and are biodegradable. A combination of enzyme classes in a detergent enables the replacement of some petro-based ingredients, making the detergent better for the people (gentle on skin) and for the planet. The performance of enzyme-based detergents makes it possible to achieve efficient cleaning faster, at colder temperatures and without rewashes. Finally, the big advantage is that enzymes can help make clothes last longer.
How can enzymes help with clothes longevity? And how significant is this in sustainability and saving money?
Kristen Mauch: As tariffs and sustainability concerns cause a shift away from fast fashion, consumers are prioritizing longevity in their clothing. In fact, 40% of United States consumers rated fabric and color preservation as an important factor in choosing a laundry detergent. To that end, there are a few key enzymes classes that can be highlighted.
Nucleases and cellulases such as Pristine®, Carezyme®, and Celluclean® from Novonesis can provide whiteness, anti-graying, and help support brightness claims, as well as offer fabric preservation benefits through fuzz and pill removal. This helps keep clothes looking new for longer and can even help restore well-loved or thrifted garments.
Enzymes also provide several sustainable benefits, but affordability is still a major purchase driver for the laundry space. A recent Mintel study found that 71% of United States shoppers are willing to change their buying habits to reduce environmental impact, but affordability is a barrier for 53% of consumers. By enabling colder wash temperatures and shorter cycles, enzymes can allow brands to offer time and energy savings – a key benefit to save consumers money. Therefore, consumers don’t need to buy new clothes as often.
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Pristine®, Carezyme® Elite, and Celluclean®. Could you walk us through how each of these works on a molecular level (e.g., what they target)?
Kristen Mauch: Pristine® is a novel enzyme, a deoxyribonuclease (nuclease for short), also called Phosphodiesterase (PDE), that targets body grime by acting on extracellular DNA (eDNA). eDNA is a key component of body grime, attracting dirt particles and causing malodor, especially on performance fabrics like athletic wear or garments with frequent skin contact, such as pillowcases or cuffs or collars of shirts. Pristine® hydrolyzes the phosphodiester bonds in eDNA, releasing them from fabric and allowing them to be washed away in the wash water.
Where perfumes and laundry sanitizers present short-term solutions to malodor, Pristine® acts at the source for a more hygienic clean. It is the only PDE currently on the market and is a great way for brands to differentiate themselves from competitors. Carezyme® Elite is a care cellulase, meaning it removes fuzz and pills. As garments are worn and washed, cotton fibrils often break and become tangled together on the surface of the fabric, causing fuzzing and pilling.
Carezyme® Elite targets those damaged fibrils, trimming them to create a restored surface. Additionally, it is the only protease-stabilized care cellulase on the market. Care cellulases are generally unstable and susceptible to degradation when combined with a protease. Carezyme® Elite allows brands to offer both stain removal and fabric care claims in one product. And finally, Celluclean® is a cleaning cellulase, offering whiteness, brightness, and color care without the need for synthetic optical brighteners.
Celluclean® works by acting on broken fibrils on the surface of clothes, facilitating the release of entrapped soil and particulates. By creating a smoother surface, Celluclean® also prevents redeposition during the wash, preventing graying and dullness.
Looking forward, how do you see enzyme-driven laundry detergents evolving? Are there next-generation enzymes or synergies (e.g., with microbes) or potential new application areas that Univar Solutions is particularly excited about?
Kristen Mauch: Yes, we are looking at potential synergies with microbes for fabric care. There are a lot of things that can’t be machine washed (or maybe not right away) and this is where microbes come in. Bio solutions are ideal for fabric care that can’t be washed, since they do not need to be rinsed. Given sufficient time, micro-organisms will produce the right enzymes to address stains and malodors.
Consumers want performance, convenience, and sustainability, and laundry detergent producers can use enzymes to address all three of these needs. Whether it is a value-tier detergent that offers a simple routine without sacrificing clean or a premium detergent with multiple fabric care claims, enzymes can do it all.
We are excited about showing customers how they can integrate powerful enzymes into budget-friendly formulations. The benefits of enzymatic cleaning extend beyond just laundry. Enzymes are frequently used in dish applications, and Ingredients + Specialties from Univar Solutions even has a foaming dish spray formulation containing enzymes.
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