The primary detergents of cleaning chemistry — LAS, SLES, SLS, and AOS — plus a DOSS wetting agent and a sodium xylene sulfonate hydrotrope for laundry, dish, and hard-surface formulations.
Anionic surfactants are negatively charged surface-active agents that do most of the cleaning work in laundry detergents, liquid dish soaps, and hard-surface cleaners. They lift and suspend oily and particulate soil so it rinses away. Sodium linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) is the highest-volume workhorse; the ether sulfate (SLES) and lauryl sulfate (SLS) add foam and form the basis of most liquid cleaners.
These surfactants foam readily and clean at low cost, but foam is a liability in machine dishwash and clean-in-place (CIP) circuits, and detergency drops in hard water as calcium and magnesium ions tie up the surfactant. Pair them with a builder or chelant where water hardness runs above roughly 150 ppm as CaCO3, and specify alpha-olefin sulfonate (AOS) over LAS where hard-water tolerance matters.
For concentrated, clear formulas a hydrotrope such as sodium xylene sulfonate keeps surfactants and solvents in a single phase, while dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DOSS) is the choice when rapid substrate wetting matters more than foam. Specify SLES for liquid dish and personal-cleansing bases where foam and viscosity response are priorities; reserve LAS for cost-driven powder and liquid laundry.
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