The American Cleaning Institute (ACI)

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Surfactants (yellow) cause water to lose surface tension, which is what keeps water separate from other materials Have you ever seen a bead of water sitting on a surface? This is because water has a property called surface tension. This tension causes water to form a bead on the surface of things like glass or fabric. You can see surface tension at work by placing a drop of water onto a counter top. The drop will hold its shape and will not spread. In order to clean the dirt…
Cleaning products play an essential role in daily life. They can remove dirt and stains from our clothes, dried on food from our dishes, and even germs from our hands!  Let’s learn more about the chemistry that makes this happen. What Is Cleaning?  Cleaning is the process of taking something dirty—like your kitchen counter—and removing dirt, grease, and grime found on it. When we clean,…
What do cleaning ingredients do? The industry is committed to helping you understand what ingredients are in your cleaning products and why they are there so that you can make informed buying decisions. These ingredient function definitions have been developed through validated consumer research to provide standardized industry language that helps demystify the ingredient…
Understand the language of soaps and detergents. ALCOHOL: A class of organic compounds containing one or more hydroxyl groups. The alcohols used in light duty and liquid laundry detergents are isopropanol or ethanol (ethyl alcohol). These alcohols are used at low levels in liquid detergent formulations to control viscosity, to act as a solvent for other ingredients, and to provide resistance to low and freezing temperatures encountered in shipping, warehousing, and use. &…
Here's what the cleaning product supply chain is saying about ingredient communication:   "Consumer education is a key part of achieving empowerment through the “right to understand” principle. Education efforts are designed to reach people where they are and creates awareness of the tools and information available."         - Kristin Cordz, Market Actives, LLC, Chair of ACI's Future Leaders…
At ACI, we strive to stay at the forefront of sustainability leadership while doing everything we can to assist those companies just starting out on their sustainability journeys. What Sustainability Means to Us In support of ACI’s purpose to advance the health and quality of life of people and protect our planet, we believe it…
People don't typically dispose of cleaning products - they use them up. Empty packages can then be recycled or discarded with other household waste. Unused amounts of cleaning products can generally be safely disposed of down the drain or in the trash. That's not the case with all products found around the home. For those products that do require special handling, such as solvent-based paints, used motor oil and certain pesticides,…
For spring cleaning, plan your work, then work your plan. You can tackle your spring cleaning checklist quickly, all at once or in smaller chunks of time. Each of the tasks on our list takes just a few minutes, so you can decide how to break it up. Prep for Spring Cleaning Day(s): Inventory your supplies and add what’s missing to your grocery list Make a to-do list for what you want to…
Your home is your castle. We can help you make it sparkle! Get tips for a clean home and clean living, starting with the cleaning basics and moving on to cleaning solutions for surfaces, dishes, laundry and hands. Home Cleaning Basics What are the most important steps to keeping a home clean and healthy? This…
Here at ACI, we have challenged our members to align their corporate climate strategy and targets with the 1.5°C ambition, which strives to reach net-zero global emissions by 2050. Across the cleaning products industry, companies are taking bold action to limit the global average temperature rise to less than 1.5°C. Surface active agents, or surfactants, are an important component of laundry and dish detergents because they loosen and remove…