Abstract
The surfactant content of commercial laundry detergents in Japan and the United States was determined and their ingredients, description on label, detergency, and the typical washing conditions in Japan and the United States were compared. When the surfactant content in compact powder detergents, which category is now leading in both countries, is compared, the content in the Japanese detergents is generally larger than that in the U.S. The American detergents showed higher detergency than the Japanese in the same category, especially at high water hardness. The volume of water, detergent dosage, the amount of builder and the fabric load per wash in the U.S. are about 1.6 times to those in Japan.
