Detergent enzymes

[3] Laundry enzymes must be able to function normally in a wide array of conditions: water temperatures ranging from 0 to 60 °C; alkaline and acidic environments; solutions with high ionic strength; and the presence of surfactants or oxidizing agents.

[5] Clothes made of delicate materials such as wool and silk can be damaged in high-temperature washes, and jeans and denim can fade due to their dark dyes.

The traditional procedure involved soaking animal hides in a mixture of urine and lime to remove unwanted hairs, flesh and fat, then kneading them in dog or pigeon feces with bare feet.

The subsequent discharge and refuse disposal was severely hazardous to both human health and the environment because of the high amounts of concentrated sulfide and chromium in the effluence.

[6] This method was eventually discarded by the industry in the early 20th century following Röhm's discovery, replaced by a more eco-friendly process involving detergent enzymes.

It is reported that some Philippine consumers who are used to laundering by hand slightly suffered from powder detergents, which mainly consisted of laundry enzyme formulations.