Surfactant activity content is an important indicator for evaluating the quality of laundry detergent

Clothing is a basic necessity in daily life among the aspects of clothing, food, shelter, and transportation.

With social progress, clothing tends to be more oriented towards pursuing beauty and fashion.

However, while clothes may be fashionable, the process of washing them can be tedious.

In order to ensure that clothes are cleaned effectively and effortlessly, detergents are constantly innovating: from soap to laundry powder and now the indispensable laundry liquid in every household. People put tremendous effort into washing clothes to keep them clean.

Yet, the supermarket shelves are filled with a variety of laundry liquids, and advertisements are abundant, presenting a bewildering array of different types and functions. How can one choose a laundry liquid that cleans effectively while also saving money and effort?

The main component of laundry liquid is surfactant, which plays a primary role in the detergent.

The stain-removing effectiveness of laundry liquid largely depends on the active substance content within it. The active substance content, mainly composed of surfactants, directly affects the strength of the detergent's stain-removing ability.

Additionally, the stain-removing power of laundry liquid is also related to factors such as the type and scientific compatibility of surfactants used in the formulation, the type and content of functional additives like polymers, etc. If amino acid surfactants are used in laundry liquid, they have a certain antibacterial effect. These surfactants are less irritating than specialized antibacterial agents, are easier to rinse off, and can degrade biologically.

The industry standard QB/T 1224-2012 "Liquid Detergent for Clothing" classifies laundry liquids into concentrated and regular types. In 2012, the China Cleaning Products Industry Association formulated and released the "Technical Specifications for Symbol Products of Concentrated Detergents" based on the industry standard. It proposed two product types, "concentrated" and "concentrated+," and implemented certification for marked products. Laundry liquids with a surfactant content of 15% to 25% are classified as regular, 25% to 30% as concentrated, and above 30% can be labeled with the "concentrated+" laundry liquid symbol. In developed countries such as Canada, the United States, and Japan, concentrated detergents account for over 98%, while in China, the proportion of concentrated detergents is only 3%. Concentrated laundry liquid has a lower water content, requires fewer packaging bottles for the same number of washes, and can reduce water usage, save packaging materials, and decrease transportation and warehousing costs, contributing to energy savings, emissions reduction, and environmental protection.