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Show CONSUMER,, INSIDE STORY ON DETERGENTS Household detergents consist mainly of two basic ingredients, ingredi-ents, surfactants and phosphates. phos-phates. Surfactants help the water to penetrate the clothing. Phosphates Phos-phates emulsify oily soil, keep dirt particles in suspension so they don't stick to the clothing when you rinse, and contribute materially to the reduction of germ levels on clothes. Other detergent ingredients include suds control agents, silicates, sil-icates, brighteners, perfumes, bleaches and borax. Why do detergents differ in price? Because the cost of the ingredients differs. The most popular brands, in order to protect their popularity, tend to use the most expensive ingredients. in-gredients. Other brands use less costly things. Instead of phosphates, for instance, you can make a detergent deter-gent with combinations of citric cit-ric acid and soda ash or salt cake (sodium sulfate). These substitutes don't do nearly as good a job, but they may cost less, so manufacturers eager to please all segments of the public pub-lic make the lower priced detergents de-tergents for people who prefer them. To make extra sales of his substitute product, at least one manufacturer spread the charge (not really true) that phosphates phos-phates cause pollution and then printed on his package that the detergent with a low-cost low-cost substitute for phosphates was "phosphate free"! No matter what kind of detergent de-tergent you buy, don't assume that the bigger the box, the less you pay per pound. It doesn't always work that way. Two smaller boxes may cost less than one big box with twice as much in it. So compare before you choose. |