Urgent Science Project Help!

[SeanPacheco]

Hello everyone!

 

I'm new here obviously, and I need a ton of help with my science project! My experiment design is due on Monday. I need help because a lot of the information is hard to find on the internet. If you can help me find it too, that'll be great!

 

So my fundamental science project question is: Can tide detergent (or bleach?) remove sharpie from clothes? Why or why not? How?

 

I talked to my chemistry teacher and she wants a lot more information on the chemical analysis/make up of the marker and detergent. She said my experiment is very elementary and doesn't have a lot of chemistry involved to make it more complex. On my first draft, I just put the fact that the marker is on the fabric and testing it with different detergents. It's basic I know. So do you think you can help me with adding more chemistry to my project?

 

Questions: Do you think I should use 3 types of fabrics or 1 type of fabric?

Do you think I should use detergent or bleach? If so, how many brands? One?

Can you help me with why the detergent/bleach removes the marker?

Can you help me with how it does this (deep into the chemistry; breaking bonds and such)?

Can you help me with the chemical analysis of the bleach/detergent?

Can you help me with the chemical analysis of the marker?

How do the chemicals/chemistry of the detergent affect each other so it cleans the mark?

 

BASICALLY, I just need to add more chemistry analysis into my project and figure out how many of each material (detergent/fabric) I should use. PLEASE HELP. I need answers by Sunday, January 18th.

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH! REALLY!

[modest]

The chemical composition could be found in the material safety data sheet for the product. You could google 'sharpie msds'.

 

If I were you I'd use both bleach and non-bleach on both cotton and some type of coated synthetic fabric like nylon. I think that would give you interesting results.

 

You could mark two cotton swatches with the pen. Put one in a cup with bleach and water and the other in a cup of detergent and water. Every 10 minutes, for an hour or so, give them a stir and score how well the ink is holding up (1-10). You can make a quick graph with that kind of data.

 

Do the same with two coated nylon fabric swatches (think of a how a weatherproof jacket or tent would feel). Since the question only says "clothing" then that would be an interesting thing to try because I bet it would come off much easier. It would be best if all the swatches were white by the way. The fabric counter at a walmart would be thrilled to help

 

Be sure the ink is fully dry before submerging them in the cleaning solution, and be sure the temperature and concentration of the cleaning solution roughly the same each time.

 

When you're done you'd have 4 sets of data that could all be put on a graph. I'd be very interested to see that graph.

 

 

I wouldn't try to explain the results until you have results, so leave time to figure out why whatever happened, happened. Things to keep in mind: dye inks fade quicker with bleach than pigment inks do. Which kind of ink is the sharpie? The MSDS should say. Also, why does bleach cause cloths to be discolored when detergent doesn't?

 

It would be interesting to see if bleach works the same with both types of fabrics, but maybe the detergent only works with one. But, I'd wait 'till you do the experiment to think about those things.

 

Let us know how it goes.

 

~modest