Reconstructing formulas:A three-year study of commercial laundry liquids in Western Europe and the United States traces theevolution of surfactant systems.

摘要

In laundry detergents the single most consequential change in marketing form has been the introduction of compact powders. The revolution started in Japan, where compact powder products were introduced in 1987. They were such a success that, within two years, the Japanese powder market had converted to compacts. Compact powders spawned concentrated liquids, which first appeared in Europe in 1991 and in the United States in early 1993. The growth in sales of liquid concentrates in Western Europe was accelerated by the introduction of encapsulated liquid detergent doses in 2000, while in 2006 the shift of the market balance toward liquids in the United States became even more pronounced (72% liquids vs. 28% powders in terms of volume); the encapsulated liquid detergent doses were available through mass merchandisers, presented either by multinational brands or private labels.