Chapter 5: Enzymes
Cellulase
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The worst fact: it works on the cotton itself, not on stains. A 2001 patent by detergent maker Henkel, first filed in 1995, says earlier colour-brightening cellulases "aggressively degrade" cotton and other cellulose fabrics, causing an "undesirable loss of tensile strength". Australia classes it as "May cause allergy or asthma symptoms or breathing difficulties if inhaled".
Why brands use it: it trims fuzzy fibres on cotton, so clothes pill less, look brighter and don't grey.
Take care if: you have asthma or allergies. Fungal cellulase in bread improvers has also caused baker's asthma.
Comes from: fermentation by fungi (Trichoderma or Aspergillus) or bacteria, usually genetically modified.
Myth check: "Enzymes eat your clothes": partly true. A 2001 detergent-maker patent says the colour-brightening cellulases then in use, including single cellulases such as Carezyme, could weaken cotton. Since 1995 makers have increasingly used single, more targeted cellulases, though we found no independent data on whether these are gentler on fabric. Cotton is cellulose, which proteases and amylases can't break down.
Contaminants: nil.
Fair to say: it was only mildly irritating to skin and eyes when concentrated in animal tests, and the industry's 2005 risk assessment found no documented consumer cases of allergy to it.
Correct as of November 2026. What the badges mean
Sources
- Safe Work Australia. Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS): subtilisin, alpha-amylase, cellulase, mannanase.
- HERA. Subtilisins (protease), 2nd ed. (2007); alpha-amylases, cellulases and lipases (2005).
- Brant A et al. Occupational asthma caused by cellulase and lipase in the detergent industry. Occup Environ Med 2004;61:793-795.
- Quirce S et al. Occupational asthma due to Aspergillus enzymes in bakers. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1992.
- Henkel. US Patent 6,313,081 B1: Detergents comprising cellulases (2001; first filed 1995).
The full source list is at the end of Chapter 5.