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Spartan SD-20 is what is referred to as a pure synthetic. It does not contain any soap or soap-like ingredients, such as oleic acid. Furthermore, SD-20 is extremely high in active ingredients – 20% minimum – with 11 principle ingredients.

So how does an all-purpose cleaner, such as SD-20, work? To understand this, let’s examine the EXACT MEANING OF THE WORD “DETERGENT”.

The word itself as used is a generic. According to most dictionary’s, “detergent” refers to any product, soap, or synthetic, which removes soil. However, the popular generic usage of the word refers to those products that are either pure synthetic or basically synthetic in nature. Therefore, let’s examine the actual action of a detergent.

Dirt, as we know it, is generally a combination of oils, greases, carbon, dust, smoke, etc. As a general understanding, the oils and greases that collect on surfaces provide an adherent base for dust, soot, and other air-borne particles to collect. As a result, you are getting a combination of materials that have to be cleaned by detergent and mechanical action.

First, Spartan SD-20 wets the surface. This is sometimes referred to as SPREADING. In other words, there is a chemical process that breaks down the surface tension. Also, in effect, because of the super wetting properties of detergent, you are able to wet a larger surface with less water. This original action might be referred to as WETTING.

The second action takes place after the surface is wet. It is now important to get the detergent down into what we refer to as the “dirt film.” Some detergents are better wetting agents; some are better penetrants, so when a quality cleaning product is formulated, it is important to combine these agents. This second action, then, actually penetrates the soil surface and could be referred to as PENETRATION.

Detergent is composed of two ingredients – hydrophilic, which is referred to as water-loving, and lypophilic, which is referred to as oil loving. This means that one portion of the detergent molecule is attracted to oil and the other portion is attracted to water. This combination action is referred to as EMULSIFICATION. This is especially necessary when cleaning greasy and oily surfaces.

Now that we have wetted the surface, penetrated, and emulsified the soil, it is necessary to suspend the soil so that it will not redeposit and be easily washed off. An example of this would be a carbon-type dust needs to be held in solution so that it doesn’t sink to the bottom of the mop bucket. This action should be referred to as SOIL SUSPENSION.

The formulation of a detergent would normally have all of the four basic qualities but be directed in formulation to the type of soil that was necessary to clean. In effect, you emphasize through formulation certain actions of the detergent so that you achieve greater cleaning effect on specific types of soils.

Spartan SD-20 is a fantastic cleaning product formulated to effectively break up dirt, oil, grime and all kinds of soils and make cleaning easier and more effective!