Detergent is a product specially formulated for cleaning by a washing process. The main components are usually composed of surfactants, builders and additives. There are many kinds of detergents. According to the type of soil removal, it can be divided into heavy-duty detergents and light-duty detergents. According to the shape of the products, it can be divided into powder, block, paste, slurry and liquid and so on.

Practice has proved that only anionic surfactants and nonionic surfactants can be used in the water washing of fabrics, which can play a positive and effective role in fabric decontamination. Therefore, these two surfactants are the main materials for laundry detergents. 

Detergents should have good wettability (LBW-1), permeability, emulsifying properties, dispersibility (LBD-1 dispersant), solubilization, and foaming and defoaming properties. The combination of these properties is the washing performance of the detergent. There are many types of detergents, which can be basically divided into soap, synthetic washing powder, liquid detergent, solid detergent and paste detergent.