How are Liquid Detergents Made?

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liberatordeluxe

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Joined
Feb 15, 2012
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Does anyone know how the manufacturers make liquid detergents? Do they start off as solid ingredients then diluted into water? Just curious as I wanted to know if they have a shelf life compared to powder.
 
I thought the whole point of these forums was to help out eachother if we wanted to know things or am in the wrong place?
 
If you consider that liquid detergents are a product of the petrochemical industry, i.e. they started out as oil, you could hazzard a guess that a fair proportion of the ingredients are in a liquid format before the manufacturing process.

 

I thought powder detergents were, to one extent or another, dried from a more moist state.

 

Pick some key ingredients and look them up perhaps?

 

Do manufacturers not respond to email or a formal business letter any more? I wouldn't trust anyone on those kind of support lines to have a particularly thorough understanding of the manufacturing process to be honest. I think they're more geared up for the clueless consumer and ready to suggest another of their products as a solution to your problem. Impartial they aren't. 
 
To Aquarius1984 and AquaCycle

I don't want to fall out with you anymore so can we just get on and forget about disagreements? We all have difference of opinion and I know I can sometimes be difficult (blame that being Aries lol) but I am NOT here to troll or pick fights. I joined the site as I have always been interested in washers and detergents and was so happy to come across this site to meet like minded people.

If you were to of met me offline I can assure you I would explain things better but I have never been good at putting across things on forums so I wholeheartedly apologise if I go into a spin.
 
How you getting on with the Ecover SuperElectronic by the way?

I used to buy the bio concentrated liquid but Sainsburys stopped selling that.

I did phone Procter and Gamble but like you say they are more geared up at selling products not knowing about ingredients. They pass your enquiries onto the tech team but more often than not they never get back to you.

What I like about Method and Ecover is they list the ingredients and state where they come from, how they are made and whether they come from plant or animal sources.

The idea of washing clothes in animal fats doesn't really appeal to me.

Ben
 
Ecover? Hmmm...

Ecover is very sudsy in both powder and liquid formats. The suggested dosage of the powder can leave me with suds coming half way up the door.

 

The powder is better at cleaning but after a while the clothes develop a weird whiff - a bit like if you wash something in pure soap - I don't totally love it but can live with it.

 

The absence of OBAs is, to be honest, not so good for whites so I keep pepping up those loads with some Ariel stain remover for whites. If I use a scoop of that with the liquid it tends to leave clothes softer than when I put it with the powder.

 

I tend to use the powder on its own for lights - e.g. work shirts. The liquid is adequate for darks.

 

I don't have filthy clothes or tend to get tricky stains, so it works well enough for me, plus I like the overall principle of their products (but don't quizz me in detail on it).

 

Those are my thoughts!
 
I only got the Ecover delicate at the moment but hardly gets used seeing as I mainly bought it for wool.

I tend tend to where a lot of white clothes so big box powder is not economical for me. I used to add Vanish oxyaction to liquid with whites and that seemed to bring them up nice and bright however that was the one for colours not whites.
 
What I've learned in

developing "Rosalie's" is liquids are blended from liquid stocks, less ethoxylation for non-ionics produces a liquid product. But for the components to stay mixed in the bottle with different specific gravity's for long periods is difficult. Manufacturers' all have secret and patented methods to insure the components ( up to 10 sometimes) stay mixed.

 

However there is a big difference when it comes to enzymes. In liquids enzymes can stay active for 6 months to under a year. In powders enzymes can stay active up to 5 years.

 

 
 
To liberatordeluxe, please don't bring me into threads that I haven't contributed to. I said what I wanted to say in another thread, no need to bring it up here.

Back on topic, this should be an interesting one if we have some science experts on here.
 
ps. not to dwell on it, but seeing as you told one of our most established and respected forum members AND a good friend of all of ours to go and stick his head in the oven, purely because you didn't like the answers you were getting, I think Rob (aquarius1984) is well within his rights to "be like that", as you put it.
 
This sounds like a question for our Dear Laundress

Hoody-who, Laundress.

I would like some enlightenment on this question. I too wondered this. I know that liquids were late to be developed because they had trouble keeping it in suspension. I too thought it was a water dilute.

If anyone has a nice, informative contribution I would enjoy the answer.
 
not that this is the full formula for said laundry detergents.....it gives you an idea of how manufacturers start off, and mix combinations to achieve their products....

for the most part, formulas are kept secret, I know a lot of the cheaper liquids water theirs down, versus the newer 2x, 3x, and 4x liquids are just more concentrated, less water, more chemical!..

 
liquid detergent

no idea how they're made. but on topic of shelf life, looking around the web, it seems to be opened - upto 6 months, unopened - around 9 months?? seems little short for me. other places say upto 3 years. I've got 2 bottles of tide and 2 of cheer that are around 5 years old and seem to be just on the turn.
 
tide

and yes it was a mainstream brand in the UK up until the 70S (According to P&G) I have seen it on sale in UK maybe twice.

I think it would have been too much in competition with Ariel - maybe why we don't have it, or it maybe that it just didn't sell well anymore. we have lost a few detergent brands over the years.
 
We used to have Wisk detergent over here too and it smelt really soapy. The closet soapy smelling detergent currently on the market is Persil non bio liquid and powder. I am currently using Henklel Persil that I got from PoundStretcher and prefer the fragrance to UK Persil.
 
american store

americansweets.co.uk - they only have one tide product in at the moment :( according to them, the tide stuff sells really quickly.

I only used them for the really odd wash, I don't use them continuously so cant 100% compare. but our detergents are really good. so cant say theirs are better or worse than ours. although Tide is considered the best of the best in detergents (in the US) its supposed to be really dear there, compared to other brands.

I got a box of Prudax (don't know what country that's from?) in Morrisons - £6 for 90 washes, but it smells like furniture polish and is foamy and has very large grains - so not really using that either.

I like persil, really like ariel - but find most p and g detergents too soapy - and as I have Samsung eco bubble - worried about foam - scared im never gonna be able to change from persil hahaha
 

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