Artificial testing soil and method of testing

• US 20030008402A1
• Filed: 06/14/2002
• Published: 01/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SC Johnson & Son Incorporated
• Original Assignee: SC Johnson & Son Incorporated
• Inventors: Gipp, Mark M., Wietfeldt, John R., Padden, Timothy J., Lepow, Jacqueline V., Singsank, Craig A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,001,773 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 436/8
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 13/00 Accessories or details of general applicability for machines or apparatus for cleaning
• CPC Class Codes: C05G 1/00 Mixtures of fertilisers belonging individually to different subclasses of C05
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 31/222 for investigating moisture content
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 436/10 Composition for standardization, calibration, simulation, stabilization, preparation or preservation; processes of use in preparation for chemical testing

Abstract

An artificial test soil comprises particulate, hair, and fiber components, wherein said particulate component consists of mineral, food, and plant materials, so chosen and proportioned as to correlate to a typical soil found in the home. The test soil may be used to test cleaning products by application of a known amount thereof to a surface, cleaning of said surface, and determination of the amount of said soil removed from said surface.

Claims

1. An artificial test soil comprising from about 40% to 80% of at least one particulate component, and from about 20% to 60% of at least one hair component, wherein the particle size distribution of the particulate component is from 1% to 10% less than 75 microns;

from 10% to 30% between 75 microns and 300 microns; and

from 60% to 85% greater than 300 microns.

2. The soil of claim 1, further comprising a fiber component in an amount of from about 10% to 30%.

3. The soil of claim 2, wherein said particulate component comprises from 40% to 70% of said soil, and comprises at least two materials selected from the group consisting of mineral, food, and plant materials.

4. The soil of claim 3, wherein said particulate component is comprised of from 10% to 40% minerals, 20% to 50% food, and 5% to 40% plant material.

5. The soil of claim 4, wherein said minerals comprise materials selected from the group consisting of sand, feldspar, talc, and clay.

6. The soil of claim 4, wherein said food comprises materials selected from the group consisting of chips, crackers, cereals, and dried soup mixes.

7. The soil of claim 4, wherein said plant material comprises materials selected from the group consisting of dried grasses and dried leaves.

8. The soil of claim 2, wherein said hair component comprises from about 20% to about 40% of said soil, and is comprised of hairs selected from human hair, cat hair, and dog hair.

9. The soil of claim 2, wherein said fiber component comprises from about 20 to about 30% of said soil, and is selected from natural and synthetic fibers.

10. The soil of claim 9, wherein said fiber is selected from the group consisting of cotton, nylon, polyester, wool, rayon, and acrylic fibers, and mixtures thereof.

11. A soil comprising a particulate component selected from mineral, food, and plant materials, and mixtures thereof, and a hair component selected from human hair, pet hair, and mixtures thereof.

12. The soil of claim 11, wherein said particulate component comprises a mineral selected from the group consisting of sand, feldspar, talc, and clay, and mixtures thereof.

13. The soil of claim 11, wherein said hair component comprises human hair, cat hair, and dog hair.

14. The soil of claim 11, further comprising a fiber component selected from natural and synthetic materials, and mixtures thereof

15. The soil of claim 14, wherein said fiber is selected from the group consisting of cotton, nylon, polyester, wool, rayon, and acrylic fibers, and mixtures thereof.

16. The soil of claim 14, wherein said particulate component comprises from about 40% to 80%, said hair component comprises from about 20% to 40%, and said fiber component comprises from about 10% to 30%, wherein the particle size distribution of the particulate component is from 1% to 10% less than 75 microns;

from 10% to 30% between 75 microns and 300 microns; and

from 60% to 85% greater than 300 microns.

17. The soil of claim 14, wherein said particulate component comprises one or more minerals selected from the group consisting of sand, feldspar, talc, and clay, one or more food materials selected from the group consisting of chips, crackers, cereals, and dried soup mixes, and one or more plant materials selected from the group consisting of dried grass and dried leaves, said hair component comprises one or more types of hair selected from the group consisting of human hair, cat hair, and dog hair, and said fiber component comprises one or more fibers selected from the group consisting of cotton, nylon, polyester, wool, rayon, and acrylic fibers.

18. The soil of claim 14, further comprising one or more optional components selected from the group consisting of pollen, human skin cells, and sebum.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein said test surface comprises a hard surface.

19. A method for testing a cleaning product, said method comprising applying a pre-measured quantity of a test soil to a test surface by first, randomly but evenly distributing a particulate component of said test soil to the surface, and second, randomly but evenly distributing a hair component and a fiber component of said test soil to the surface by separating fibers from each other into at least ten divisions of fibers and distributing these divisions of fibers to the surface;

applying the cleaning product to the test surface to remove the test soil; and

measuring the amount of test soil that has been removed by the cleaning product from the surface to obtain the relative efficiency of the cleaning product.