Next target for Itaconix revealed2 Jun 2026 19:40
In a new article in Chemical and Engineering News, JS reveals their next big target - laundry tablets. This is a much bigger challenge than Dishwasher tablets because of the wash temperature difference (hot vs cold).
https://cen.acs.org/articles/104/web/2026/06/solid-detergents-back-sheets-tiles.html
Solid detergent formats beyond the laundry room!
Some executives in the cleaning industry wonder if they can hold their solid products together using polymers that are already in detergents as active ingredients.
One candidate is a set of polymers derived from a fermentation-derived chemical, itaconic acid, that the US Department of Energy has held up (PDF) as a promising building block to replace petrochemicals.
Polyitaconic acid is already in use in several mass-market dishwasher detergents as a dispersant, chelant, and spot-prevention agent—standard roles for polymers. In laundry detergents, polyitaconic acid does similar work preventing soil redeposition and dealing with hard water. The incumbent active polymers in detergent formulations are mostly synthetic polyacrylates.
At the American Cleaning Institute annual conference in January, John R. Shaw, CEO of the polyitaconic acid maker Itaconix, shared a sample formulation for a dishwasher detergent tablet. The firm makes the low-molecular-weight polymer and derivatives from imported itaconic acid at its New Hampshire plant. Shaw displayed tablets that contain polyitaconic acid at about 15% by weight along with ingredients such as sodium carbonate, a cleaning agent that saponifies oils and fats.
Keeping spots and scale off clean dishes is a big part of what conventional ethoxylated and propoxylated surfactants accomplish in a dishwasher, Shaw said, so more of Itaconix’s polymer means less surfactant. In fact, the sample formulation he showed is less than 10% surfactant and uses only sophorolipids, an emerging surfactant that until now has been used mostly in supporting roles.
On a tablet manufacturing line, the polyitaconic acid also helps hold everything together in a stable shape without the need for a dissolvable wrapper or separate binding ingredients. Combining functions shortens the ingredient label and brings the weight down to 8 g, about half the mass of leading pods and tablets.
The dishwasher detergent is something of a warm-up for the laundry detergent, Shaw says. Dishwashers run hot, which helps ingredients dissolve. In the laundry room, colder wash cycles are growing in popularity. They cut energy use and help clothes last longer but make dissolution a challenge.
Sign In
Follow the stocks
