Laundry sour

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A laundry sour is a chemical added to clothing during the final rinse cycle of a washing machine to lower the pH of the water and to assist with the removal of detergent rust and or mineral residues that clinged on the fabrics. Most such sours are fluoride-based, including ammonium silicofluoride, ammonium bifluoride, and hydrofluosilicic acid; glycolic acid is also used. [1] The US Department of Defense recognizes two "types" of laundry sours: type I is sodium silicofluoride and sodium acid fluoride in powdered, crystal, or flake form; type II is ammonium bifluoride in flake form. [2]

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In chemistry, a salt is a chemical compound consisting of an ionic assembly of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, which results in a compound with no net electric charge. A common example is table salt, with positively charged sodium ions and negatively charged chloride ions.

Fluoride is an inorganic, monatomic anion of fluorine, with the chemical formula F
, whose salts are typically white or colorless. Fluoride salts typically have distinctive bitter tastes, and are odorless. Its salts and minerals are important chemical reagents and industrial chemicals, mainly used in the production of hydrogen fluoride for fluorocarbons. Fluoride is classified as a weak base since it only partially associates in solution, but concentrated fluoride is corrosive and can attack the skin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sodium fluoride</span> Ionic compound (NaF)

Sodium fluoride (NaF) is an inorganic compound with the formula NaF. It is a colorless or white solid that is readily soluble in water. It is used in trace amounts in the fluoridation of drinking water to prevent tooth decay, and in toothpastes and topical pharmaceuticals for the same purpose. In 2020, it was the 265th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 1 million prescriptions. It is also used in metallurgy and in medical imaging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ammonium fluoride</span> Chemical compound

Ammonium fluoride is the inorganic compound with the formula NH4F. It crystallizes as small colourless prisms, having a sharp saline taste, and is highly soluble in water. Like all fluoride salts, it is moderately toxic in both acute and chronic overdose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrogen fluoride</span> Chemical compound

Hydrogen fluoride (fluorane) is an inorganic compound with chemical formula HF. It is a very poisonous, colorless gas or liquid that dissolves in water to yield an aqueous solution termed hydrofluoric acid. It is the principal industrial source of fluorine, often in the form of hydrofluoric acid, and is an important feedstock in the preparation of many important compounds including pharmaceuticals and polymers, e.g. polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). HF is also widely used in the petrochemical industry as a component of superacids. Due to strong and extensive hydrogen bonding, it boils at near room temperature, much higher than other hydrogen halides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kipp's apparatus</span> Laboratory device for preparing gases

Kipp's apparatus, also called a Kipp generator, is an apparatus designed for preparation of small volumes of gases. It was invented around 1844 by the Dutch pharmacist Petrus Jacobus Kipp and widely used in chemical laboratories and for demonstrations in schools into the second half of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hexafluorosilicic acid</span> Octahedric silicon compound

Hexafluorosilicic acid is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula H
2
SiF
6
. Aqueous solutions of hexafluorosilicic acid consist of salts of the cation and hexafluorosilicate anion. These salts and their aqueous solutions are colorless.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ammonium bifluoride</span> Chemical compound

Ammonium bifluoride is the inorganic compound with the formula [NH4][HF2] or [NH4]F·HF. It is produced from ammonia and hydrogen fluoride. This colourless salt is a glass-etchant and an intermediate in a once-contemplated route to hydrofluoric acid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zirconium tetrafluoride</span> Chemical compound

Zirconium(IV) fluoride describes members of a family inorganic compounds with the formula (ZrF4(H2O)x. All are colorless, diamagnetic solids. Anhydrous Zirconium(IV) fluoride' is a component of ZBLAN fluoride glass.

The bifluoride ion is an inorganic anion with the chemical formula [HF2]. The anion is colorless. Salts of bifluoride are commonly encountered in the reactions of fluoride salts with hydrofluoric acid. The commercial production of fluorine involves electrolysis of bifluoride salts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potassium bifluoride</span> Chemical compound

Potassium bifluoride is the inorganic compound with the formula K[HF2]. This colourless salt consists of the potassium cation and the bifluoride anion. The salt is used as an etchant for glass. Sodium bifluoride is related and is also of commercial use as an etchant as well as in cleaning products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sodium fluorosilicate</span> Chemical compound

Sodium fluorosilicate is a compound with the chemical formula Na2[SiF6]. Unlike other sodium salts, it has a low solubility in water.

Ammonium fluorosilicate (also known as ammonium hexafluorosilicate, ammonium fluosilicate or ammonium silicofluoride) has the formula (NH4)2SiF6. It is a toxic chemical, like all salts of fluorosilicic acid. It is made of white crystals, which have at least three polymorphs and appears in nature as rare minerals cryptohalite or bararite.

A monofluoride is a chemical compound with one fluoride per formula unit. For a binary compound, this is the formula XF.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potassium heptafluorotantalate</span> Chemical compound

Potassium heptafluorotantalate is an inorganic compound with the formula K2[TaF7]. It is the potassium salt of the heptafluorotantalate anion [TaF7]2−. This white, water-soluble solid is an intermediate in the purification of tantalum from its ores and is the precursor to the metal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Difluoride</span> Index of chemical compounds with the same name

Difluorides are chemical compounds with two fluorine atoms per molecule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fluorochemical industry</span> Industry dealing with chemicals from fluorine

The global market for chemicals from fluorine was about US$16 billion per year as of 2006. The industry was predicted to reach 2.6 million metric tons per year by 2015. The largest market is the United States. Western Europe is the second largest. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region of production. China in particular has experienced significant growth as a fluorochemical market and is becoming a producer of them as well. Fluorite mining was estimated in 2003 to be a $550 million industry, extracting 4.5 million tons per year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sodium bifluoride</span> Chemical compound

Sodium bifluoride is the inorganic compound with the formula Na[HF2]. It is a salt of sodium cation and bifluoride anion. It is a white, water-soluble solid that decomposes upon heating. Sodium bifluoride is non-flammable, hygroscopic, and has a pungent smell. Sodium bifluoride has a number of applications in industry.

Gadolinium(III) fluoride is an inorganic compound with a chemical formula GdF3.

References

  1. Harry Bennett (1939). The Chemical Formulary. Chemical Publishing Company. p. 517.
  2. United States Dept. of Defense of Defense (1970). Military Standard, Issues 1472-1499. The Department. p. 8.