What is the surfactant of laundry detergent

There are differences in the details of the detergent formulations of each company, and some companies will have their own selling points on the formula.

But the most commonly used Nonionic surfactant is Coconut diethanolamide (CDEA, brand name 6501).

There is also Primary Alcobol Ethoxylate (AEO-9).

Today's laundry detergent is basically a mixture of a variety of surfactants, it is not accurate to say that there are no ionic surfactants at all, in fact, Sodium Alcohol Ether Sulphate (AES) is also available. The irritation of AES at low concentration is very weak.

In addition, Cocoamidopropyl Betaine (CAB-35) is an amphoteric surfactant with weak irritation and has been used frequently in recent years.

And wait, wait.

The surfactant that really needs to be phased out is LAS, that is, sodium alkylbenzene sulfonate, but I estimate that low-grade products are still in use in China. The cost of LAS itself is very low, and the decontamination effect is very good, but its toxicity is a little higher than the previous ones.

The family of surfactants is very large. In theory, any surfactant has the potential to be used as a detergent, which may involve nothing more than cost, effectiveness and toxicity.