Laundry Detergent

Laundry detergent, or washing powder, is a substance which is a type of detergent (cleaning agent) that is added when one is washing laundry to aid in getting the laundry cleaner. Laundry detergent has traditionally been a powdered or solid granular, but the use of liquid laundry detergents has gradually increased over the years, and the

popularity of liquid detergent now rivals that of solid detergent. Some brands also manufacture laundry soap in tablets and dissolvable packets, so as to eliminate the need to measure soap for each load of laundry. In some countries where washing clothes by hand is more popular, detergent bars are more popular. Recently, environmentally friendly detergents have experienced a surge in popularity. Laundry detergent typically consists of ionic and anionic surfactants which act as the detergent to remove the dirt from the clothes, perfume, phosphors which make clothes appear whiter (it is these that show up under ultraviolet light), and for powders anticaking agents to prevent the powder becoming one large lump in the presence of moisture. For liquid degertents, the bulk of the product is water; for concentrated liquids, somewhat less water, but still