Hello everyone. I am looking for suggestions for specific non-ionic surfactants for cleaning animal fibers like silk. I have requested a sample of Dehypon LS54 to test, based on the work of Sato and Quye (2019), but am wondering what commercially available options are in regular use on textiles. At Talas, for example, I see Ecosurf EH-3, Tergitol 15-5-9, and Triton X-100. Elsewhere Surfonic JC-80X and Maypon 4C, and these are just from a few sites. What do you use and like? Do you use it alone or in combination with anionic surfactants or other additives that you feel are important to its effectiveness or safety? Perhaps you don’t use non-ionics for silk at all. Any and all advice and experience would be much appreciated.

On a related note, does anyone have any experience with the use of Synthrapol in a conservation context? This is very popular with dyers as a wetting agent and for removing excess dye, and appears to be a non-ionic surfactant, supplemented with isopropanol.

Thanks for your time and attention to this inquiry!