USE OF PINEAPPLE PEELS AS ORGANIC
STAIN REMOVAL AND WHITENING AGENT
ON FABRICS
Conducted by:
Lead Researcher
ANA MARIE O. ALDESIMO
WENNY B. CABANTOG
MARIA REGINA C. ANSAY
USE OF PINEAPPLE PEELS AS ORGANIC STAIN REMOVAL AND
WHITENING AGENT ON FABRICS
ABSTRACT
This study involves the determination of the effect of pineapple (Ananas comosus) peel
extract, (with and without salt), on fabrics stained with grease, ink, hair dye, deodorant,
mud,and rust. An 8” X 9” cotton white cloth was used. The fabricwassmeared with the
0.01 g stain in the center, (except for the deodorant where 4 strokes were applied). The
different stained fabrics were setaside for 10 hours, after which were treated with 5
grams each of Clorox, and pineapple extract (with and without salt) for 10 to 20 minutes.
This study was limited to the conduct of visual observation. The ranking test was
considered to determine the degree of preference of stain removed. Results showed
that removal of stains depends on the possible reaction of specified stain
againstthechemical composition of anti-stain solutions used. The effect of the above
three solutions gave significant effect as stain removal. Commercially available
Cloroxwasused as the control. This was able to reducemost of the above stains.
However, the degree of reduction depends on the stain. Pineapple waste extract (acid)
and salt (sodium chloride) were effective against rust, mud,and deodorant. The effect of
the fabric whitening was not noticeable from the three stain removal solutions due to the
spread of smears contributed by different stains in the fabrics.
INTRODUCTION
Stains are part of everyday life. There are more than 100 tough stains and effectivity of
stain removals depends on the kind of stain and the chemical reaction once it gets in
contact with the stain removal.These are some of the solvents that can be used for
stains, such as oxidizing solvents (hydrogen peroxide), reducing solvents (sodium
hydrosulfite, sodium hypochlorite,and sodium chloride), lacquer solvent, inert solvents,
detergents, acids, etc. There are different commercially available stain remover but
consumers are not aware of its effectiveness and/or the kind of stains that they are
capable of removing. The common stain remover and bleaching agent is Clorox. The
active ingredient in Clorox, a popular commercialized stain remover, is sodium
hypochlorite which comes from seawater and breaks down into salt and water.
Oxalic acid and acetic acid are cited as possible stain removal when properly used
(Consumer Guide, nd). Oxalic acid's main applications include cleaning or bleaching,
especially for the removal of rust (iron complexing agent). It acts as rust removal agents
due to its forming a stable, water-soluble salt with ferric. Fruits that contain citric acid may
act as stain removal. These are effective on fruit stains as “like dissolves like”. However,
its acid is considered a weaker acid than the oxalic acid. Concentration, pH, time and
temperature are the various conditions that affect the action of bleach on fabrics.
Halvorson, C.(nd), cited that vinegar with salt is effective against rust. Others cited that
grass and ink are removed by vinegar. Halvorson (nd) also mentioned that salt is
recommended to remove grease, ink,anddeodorant. Investigative study (Mendoza, K,
2016) show that pineapple waste with baking soda was effective as stain remover but
needs scrubbing in order for the stain to disappear. However, it was not made mention
of the stains tested.
The use of pineapple waste as stain remover may be very applicable in the Philippines
area, where pineapple is extensively cultivated. Some of these areas are in the
Northern Mindanao, SOCCKSARGEN (Southern Cotabato, Cotabato Province, Sultan
Kudarat, Sarangani, General Santos City), Bukidnon, Bicol and CALABARZON (Cavite,
Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon). Moreover, it is noted that the Philippines is the
second biggest pineapple-exporting country in the world next to Thailand. In 2009,
57,687 ha were planted to the crop with a total production of 2,198,497. This means that
more wastes are generated.
The use of pineapple waste is noteworthy,thus, this study focuses on the effect of acids
from pineapple wastes and salt on different common stains such as grease, printer ink,
deodorant, hair dye, mud,and rust. It also focuses on the degree ofwhitening once stain
removal is applied. Pineapple contains citric acid, malic acid, ascorbic acid and
pantothenic acid.
Filipinos who can't afford commercialized stain remover could use waste materials such
as pineapple waste. Furthermore, stain remover is oftentimes not available in remote
places. Hence, this study considered acid asthe main ingredient from pineapple wastes
together with salt as a stain removal. Clorox serves as a control. However, this paper
is limited only to visual observations supported by literature reviews. It is hypothesized
(Ho) that there is no significant difference between and among the three stain removers
when treated in fabrics with grease, ink, deodorant, hair dye, mud or rust.
METHODOLOGY
1. Material Preparation and Pineapple Waste Profiling
Commercially available Clorox with 52, 000 ppm sodium hypochlorite was used
as one of the stain removals and/or bleaching agent which served as the control.
Other major agents used were pineapplepeel extract(table ripe) with and without
salt.
Pineapple waste profile such as weights of pineapple peels, core, crown,
pineapple peel extract, core extract was gathered.Ten pineapples were used in
this data gathering. Pure extract and extract with salt were considered in this
experiment. The ratio of pineapple peel extract with salt was 2 parts extract:1-part
salt.
Procedures for preparing the pineapple extract. Two pineapples with almost
the same size and weight were washed and peeled. The pineapple wastes were
weighed and chopped finely. After chopping, the wastes were put inside a clean
white cloth and squeezed to extract the juice.
The acidity of pineapple extract was analyzedusing a pH Meter. Citric acid and
oxalic acid
were analyzed using titratable acidity test (AOAC Official Method, 942.15, 19th
ed., 2012).
The conduct of titratable analysis was sourced out from a recognized laboratory,
the
Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
2. Preliminary Study
` The following types of stains were used in this study: grease, printer ink, hair
dye, deodorant, mud,and rust. Each stain weighing approximately 5 grams were
spread in a 4” X 4” 100% cotton cloth (white T-shirt). These were treated with
chlorox, pineapple waste extract (with and without salt).
3. Experimental Design and Procedure
3.1. Five yards of cotton cloth was purchased. These were measured and cut
into 8” X 9” and used as fabric to be stained. Each stainwas spread in each
fabric as follows: grease (.01g), ink (.01g), hair dye (.01g), deodorant (4
strokes), mud (.01g) and rust (.01grams).
3.2. Stains were allowed to stay in the cloth for 10 hours. The period of
exposure to stain was based on the actual practice that when the fabric is
blemished it is not usually treated at once.
3.3 After 10 hours, each cloth with stain was treated with approximately 5 grams
each of Clorox,purepineapple extract with salt (2:1) and pure pineapple extract
without salt (both from pineapple peels). The stained cloths were exposed to
different stain remover for 10-20 minutes after which was rinsed under running
water.
Table 1 shows the experimental design. Two trials were conducted.
Table 1. Experimental design on determination of an effective stain
remover
and bleaching agent
Stains Treatments
Chlorox Pineapple waste Pineapple waste
extract with salt extract without
salt
grease (.01g) XX XX XX
ink (.01g) XX XX XX
hair dye (.01g) XX XX XX
deodorant (4 strokes) XX XX XX
mud (.01g) XX XX XX
rust (.01grams) XX XX XX
Legend: XX – two trials conducted
3.4. Evaluation and Statistical Analysis
The removal of stain in the fabricand the effect as a whitening agent was
evaluated by 20 panels with 20/20 vision. Two trials were made using its visual
observation.
The ranking was used to evaluate the preferred stain most removed with the least
stain removed.Kramers rank sum test was used to determine if there were
differences between and among samples on the stain removed. AnnexA shows
the questionnaire for ranking the most stained removed.
The effect of the different whitening agents was observedon the same stained
fabrics bythe same twenty panelists. The treated fabric was subjected to visual
observation by ranking the panel’s preference: 1 as the most bleached and 3 as
the least bleached. Kramers ranksum test was used to determine if there were
differences between and among thebleached fabric by preference. Annex B
shows the questionnaire for ranking the most preferred bleached fabric.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1. Pineapple Waste Extract Profile
The pineapple waste extract had an approximate pH of 4.9. The said pH falls
within the normal pH range of pineapple juice (3.5 to 5.2 pH). This exhibits less
acidic juice. Maturity played a major role in its high pH content. This means that it
may contribute to a weaker acid. The pineapple sample used was table ripe. It
contains 0.39% citric acid and 0.254% oxalic acid. When the extract was mixed
with salt, it contains 0.366% and 0.235% citric acid and oxalic acid, respectively.
Forty-eight percent (48%) of the raw table ripe pineapplewas the pineapple waste.
The materials used in this experiment was limited only in its peels which were
27% of the whole pineapple (as purchased pineapple, AP). The core was not
included since it could still be used as juice. The extract to be used stain remover
and/or bleaching was 7% of the As Purchased (AP). Table 2shows the profile of
table ripe pineapple.
Table 2. Table ripe pineapple profile
No Weight of Weight of Weight of Weight of Weight of
Whole Pineapple pineapple Edible
Pineapple, (in grams) extract from extract from parts
AP Peels Core Crown Total peels(grams) core(grams)
(grams)
1 1,600g 390g 110g 260g 400g 90g 40g 790g
2 1,600g 430g 130g 350g 910g 80g 50g 730g
3 1,700g 440g 110g 410g 960g 160g 50g 760g
4 1,650g 530g 130g 340g 1000g 90g 60g 730g
5 1,500g 430g 140g 230g 800g 140g 100g 750g
6 1,650g 420g 120g 330g 870g 130g 60g 740g
7 1,750g 450g 130g 120g 700g 115g 60g 830g
8 1,750g 530g 130g 70g 730g 170g 70g 600g
9 1,750g 490g 140g 100g 730g 120g 100g 800g
10 1,750g 430g 140g 340g 910g 150g 70g 780g
MEAN 1,670g 454 128 255 801g 126g 660g 751g
(27.2%) (7.7%) (15%) (48%) (7.4%) (39.5%) (45%)
2. Preliminary Study
The preliminary study conducted showed that the initial design of the experiment
of using 5 g stain to be spread in the fabric was too thick. Such concentration did
not exhibitareduction of stain. Thus, only 0.01 g stain was spread in the fabric in
the succeeding experiments.
3. Evaluation and Statistical Analysis
Table 3shows the results ofthe ranking based onpreference on stainsfrommost
removed to least removed (lower scores represent most removed). This
Tableshowsthatfabrics stained with grease, ink and hair dye and treated with
Clorox were significantly preferred to have reduced the above stains versus
pineapple extract with and without salt. Annex C shows that Clorox reduced the
stains. The pH of Clorox was around 12 thus the stain was loosened by the
solvents/mixtures. The stain consisting of molecule chains may have been broken
down by the stain removal into smaller pieces which caused the spread in the
fabric but with time and exposure to constant washing and stain removal, the stain
may disappear.
Deodorant stain could be decreased by pineapple waste with salt and result of
statistical analysis (Kramers Rank Sum test) showed that there wasa
significantpreference in terms of stain reduction when compared with the other two
(2) stain removers. This was followed by pineapple waste without salt. This may
be due to the loosening of stain made by the different stain remover but eventually
stains maybe be reduced in the succeeding washing. The mud stains could be
reduced with the application of pineapple waste without salt. The said stain
removal was the most reduced stain on the fabric.Lastly, the majority of the
rustwas removed by pineapple waste without salt. Most probably the active and
effective ingredient was the acid. Contrary to the photo in Annex C, Table 3
exhibited that results of statistical treatment showed pineapple extract with salt
was the least removed
Table 3. Ranking on most preferred stain removal
Stains Treatments Statistical Result
Clorox Pineapple Pineapple Kramers rank sum
waste waste extract test
extract with without salt 5% 32 – 48
salt 1% 30 - 50
grease (.01g) 20* 56* 44 significant
ink (.01g) 20* 45 55* significant
hair dye (.01g) 26* 46 48 significant
deodorant (4 54* 24* 42 significant
strokes)
mud (.01g) 53* 39 28* significant
rust (.01grams) 37 56* 27* significant
Legend: * Significant at 1% level (the least value with asterisk show the most
preferred
reduction of stain, the highest value with asterisk showed the least preferred in
terms of stain reduction)
The same fabrics stained by the different materials were also used in evaluating the
effect of Clorox and pineapple waste with or without salt as bleaching salt. The effect
of the different solutions as whitening agents could not be evaluated because different
stains smeared after each treatment. Whitening of fabrics could not be visibly detected as
shown in Annex C. Result of Kramer’ rank sum test (Table 4) shows that there was no
significant preference between thetwo stain removal solutions when treated on grease and ink.
However, the same Table shows that there wasa significant preferenceon hair dye treated with
Clorox, deodorant treated with pineapple extract with salt, mud,and rust treated with pineapple
extract without salt.
Table 4. Ranking on stain most preferred bleach
Stains Treatments Statistical
Chlorox Pineapple Pineapple Result
waste extract waste extract Kramers rank
with salt without salt sum test
5% 32 – 48
1% 30 - 50
grease (.01g) 32 40 48 non-
significant
ink (.01g) 35 38 47 non-
significant
hair dye (.01g) 30* 48 42 significant
deodorant (4 strokes) 50 27* 43 significant
mud (.01g) 44 46 30* significant
rust (.01grams) 37 53* 30* significant
Legend: * significant at 1% level(the least value with asterisk show the most preferred
bleached fabric, the highest value with asterisk showed the least preferred in
terms of whitening of fabric)
CONCLUSION
There wasa significant preference forthe effects of Clorox, pineapple waste with and without
saltbetween and among samples for all stains. The mostpreferredfor stain removal for grease,
ink and hair dye was the Clorox, deodorant- pineapple waste extract with salt, and mud and rust
– pineapple without salt.As fora whitening agent, panelist did not find any difference in fabrics
with grease and ink. However, panelists significantly preferred Clorox as a bleaching agent on
fabrics with hair dye, pineapple extract with salt on fabric with deodorant, and pineapple extract
without salt on fabrics with mud and rust.
RECOMMENDATION
1. The formulation and procedure should be disseminated as a livelihood project specifically
in the areas where pineapple abounds. However, more trials should be conducted to
further validate results.
2. Other stains should be tested with the pineapple waste extract.
3. Further study should be conducted on the reasons of the reactionbetween and among
basic solutions(Clorox), acid (pineapple waste extract) and sodium chloride.
4. Standardize time of treatment of stain removals. Method of washing should be further
improved and should be based on a scientific background, including the period of
exposure.
5. Monitor the shelf life of the pineapple waste extract.
6. TESDA students should develop their critical analysis in conducting other research and
development in the above areas.
REFERENCES:
AOAC Official Method 942.15, 19th ed., 2012
Chemical composition and sensory analysis of fresh pineapple juice ...
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/22e4/8ef77903bddd70871aadabdc62a1e84e85ba.pdf
retrieved on
Dec. 2017
Consumer Guide (ND) Stain Removing Chemicals - Stain Removal Tools | HowStuff
WorksRetrieved from https://home.howstuffworks.com › Home & Garden › Stain Removal
on Dec 2017.
Cleanipedia (ND) Stain removal tips for clothes retrieved from
https://www.cleanipedia.com/gb/ laundry/how-to-remove-stains-from-clothes-a-handy-
stain-removal-guide on Dec 2017
Halvorson, C (ND) Uses Of Vinegar: Doing Laundry ( Cleaning Colors and
Removing Stains) retrieved from https://home.howstuffworks.com/home-
improvement/household-
hints-tips/cleaning-organizing/uses-for-vinegar-doing-laundry-ga1.htm retrieved on Dec
2017
Halvorson, C (ND Uses for Salt: Doing the Laundry: A Guide to Stain Removal
retrieved from https://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/household-
hints-tips/cleaning-organizing/uses-for-salt-doing-the-laundry-ga3.htm on Dec.
2017.
https://www.veolia.com/sites/g/files/dvc1131/f/assets/documents/2015/11/stain-
removal.pdf
https://www.veolia.com/sites/g/files/dvc1131/f/assets/documents/2015/11/stain-
removal.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalic_acid
Mendoza, K. (2016), Feasibility of Pineapple (Ananas comosus) as a Stain Remover,
Retrieved from https://www.scribd.com/document/329722294/Feasibility-of-Pineapple-
docx
On Dec. 2017.
Remove stains: Stain of any sort yield to scientific treatment (ND) retrieved from
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nCIv905aZGb7hpaA14AcppSZzcIo4MZg/viewlocate and
include
Sweet, D. (2012), Surfactant replacement. The newborn lung: neonatology questions and
controversies (second edition).
Stambolov, T. 1968 Notes on the removal of iron stains from calcareous stone Studies in
Conservation Vol 13, 1968 Issue 1 pp 45-47 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/
abs/10.1179
/sic.1968.004?journalCode=ysic20 on 2014
Susan Rahfield, Pine Brook; Benjamin Newman, Elizabeth, both of N.J. Assignee: Boyle-
Midway Household (ND), Rust removal and method of use thereof for household
products, United States Patent (19) Rahfield et al. 54) (75) 73 (21) 22 51 52) (58) (56)
retrieved from https://patentimages.storage.
googleapis.com/ae/a3/9f/08d6ccf93d1912/US4828743.pdf
Veola (ND) retrieved
fromhttps://www.veolia.com/sites/g/files/dvc1131/f/assets/documents/ 2015/11/stain-
removal.pdf on Dec. 2017
What is the pH of pineapple juice and what is its color on the pH. Retrieved from
https://www.quora.com/ What-is-the-pH-of-pineapple-juice-and-what-is-its-colour-on-the
on Dec. 2017.
Young, J. (2017) What Type of Acid Is in a Pineapple? retrieved from
https://www.livestrong. com/article/282662 -dried-pineapple-nutrition/ on Dec.
2017
Annex A
Forms Used in Conducting Ranking Preference Test on Stain Removal
UTILIZATION OF PINEAPPLE WASTES EXTRACT AS FABRIC STAIN REMOVER
Name of Panelist (Optional): _______________________________ Date:
_____________________
Sex: ________ Age: _______
Instructions:
Please evaluate and use the appropriate scale below to rate your preference on the extent of
stain removed.
STAIN __________
201 202 203
Comments:
____________________________________________________________________________
Rating Scale:1 - The most stain removed 2 - Stain moderately removed 3 - The less
stain removed
Annex B
Forms Used in Conducting Ranking Preference Test on Whitening the Fabric
UTILIZATION OF PINEAPPLE WASTES EXTRACT AS BLEACHING AGENT
Name of Panelist (Optional): _______________________________ Date:
_____________________
Sex: ________ Age: _______
Instructions:
Please evaluate the whole fabric and use the appropriate scale below to rateyour preference on
the whitest cloth. Evaluate the wholefabric.
STAIN _____________
201 202 203
Comments:
____________________________________________________________________________
Rating Scale: 1 – Whitest 2 - Moderately white 3Least white
Annex C
Photo Documentation on the Effect of Chlorox, Pineapple Waste Extract With or
Without Salt
Figure 1a. Effect of chlorox, pineapple extract with and without salt on grease, ink and hair dye
Figure 1b. Effect of chlorox, pineapple extract with and without salt on deodorant, mud,and rust
