The Clorox Company

Daniel R Leiske

Richard J Wiersema

Maha Y El-Sayed

Susan A Anderson

Eugene A Mizusawa

Chihae Yang

Lipase is immobilized on surfaces to facilitate oil removal from the surfaces and to alter wettability of the surfaces. The lipase is isolatable from a Pseudomonas organism such as,ATCC 53552 or from an organism expressing a coding region found in or cloned from the Pseudomonas. A particularly preferred lipase has a molecular weight of about 30 to 35 kd and is resolvable as a single band by SDS gel electrophoresis. Lipase sorbed on fabric forms a fabric-lipase complex for oil stain removal. The lipase may be sorbed on fabric before or after an oil stain, and the lipase is active to hydrolyze an oil stain on dry fabric or fabric in laundering solutions. The sorbed lipase has enhanced stability to denaturation by surfactants and to heat deactivation, is resistant to removal from fabric during laundering, retains substantial activity after drying fabric at an elevated temperature, and retains activity during fabric storage or wear. Redeposition of oil and oil hydrolysis by-products during laundering of fabric is retarded by the lipase. Oil hydrolysis by-products are removable during laundering of fabric at a basic pH or in the presence of a surfactant.

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Livermore, CA, United States of America

Daniel R Leiske