LANADOL AKTIV is the detergent the LANADOL wet cleaning process is built around. If a plant runs one LANADOL product, this is it.

What it does

AKTIV is a highly active but deliberately mild textile detergent, formulated by Kreussler for the specific conditions wet cleaning works under — gentle drum mechanics and cold water, up to 40°C. That combination is the whole trick. A domestic or industrial detergent needs heat and agitation to shift soil; AKTIV is built to do it without either, which is why garments that carry a dry-clean-only label survive the process intact.

Three things matter in practice:

• It dissolves grease, oil and pigment cold. The current cold power formulation lifts the soils that used to be the argument for solvent — body oils in collars and cuffs, food fats, road grime.
• It protects fibres. Wool in particular is held back from felting and shrinking during the cycle.
• It stabilises colour. Even on dyes with poor colourfastness, the risk of bleeding and cross-staining drops sharply. For a cleaner this is the difference between a process you can put anything into and one you have to second-guess every time.

How it is used

AKTIV is dosed into the cleaning bath at 5 ml per litre of water. It is foam-reduced, so it can also be run through wool and delicate wash programs without overfoaming — useful on machines shared between wet cleaning and general laundry work.

It is normally paired with LANADOL APRET in the final bath. AKTIV cleans; APRET protects the fibre through drying and makes the garment far easier to press. Running AKTIV without APRET is the single most common reason a plant finds wet cleaning slow — the finishing time goes up, not the wash time.

Technical summary

Environmental and workplace position

AKTIV contains no VOCs and meets the requirements of the German Blue Angel environmental label. There is no solvent to recover, no still residue to dispose of, and nothing on site that triggers the storage and handling obligations a solvent machine brings with it. For a plant weighing up a solvent replacement, that side of the ledger is often worth more than the chemical cost difference.

When to reach for something else

• Heavily soiled, less delicate work — LANADOL X-PRESS cleans harder and shortens the cycle, but is not for silk, cashmere, angora or predominantly wool garments.
• Oil and grease that needs pre-treatment — LANADOL AVANT, brushed or sprayed on before the load goes in.
• Leather and suede — clean with AKTIV, then re-oil with LANADOL LICKER.

Frost and storage

Store cool and dry. If a drum has been left somewhere cold, let it come back up to around 15°C before dosing — cold product does not meter accurately through a pump system.

LANADOL AKTIV is supplied in Australia by Spencer Systems. For pricing, a dosing setup on your existing machine, or a trial drum, call 1300 70 69 70 or send us a message. Download the full Kreussler technical datasheet (PDF).