However, the surfactants are of different types. They are either chemically charged or natural-based. Though they both have a common duty to clean their properties vary.
What are plant-based/natural surfactants?
Plant-Based surfactants are the surface-active agents that are formulated or extracted directly from the plants that have properties of disinfection. They are different from bio-surfactants which are commonly composed of living organisms like bacteria, yeast, alkanes, and even animals.
The cleaning products are slowly shifting to formulate plant-based surfactants due to the increasing contamination in the environment and climate change because of the over-usage of chemically active products. The key properties of plant-based surfactants are that along with being eco-friendly they are easily decomposable and do not generate toxins that are equally effective for the environment and living health.
What are synthetic surfactants?
Synthetic surfactants are chemically formulated agents that create a foaming base infused with chemically active agents. The most common synthetic surfactants incorporated in the products are SLS, Sulfates, Chloride, etc. Synthetic surfactants are very commonly used in day-to-day products.
They are very common in usage by most of the manufacturers regardless of the fact that they contain numerous properties that affect the atmosphere and overall health. Products based on synthetic surfactants hold sharp cleaning properties which is why they are actively used and purchased. However, digging deeply they slowly affect by polluting the environment since they are not easily decomposable and equally unsafe.
