Market Survey

Detergents: A bucket-full of Dirty wAter

even if you buy the most expensive detergent brand in india, chances are you will not get as much value for money as you would expect. no brand can qualify to be a grade 1 detergent in india. they clean well alright but they also exert a heavy burden on the environment as detergents have high phosphate contentan ingredient that is being excluded from detergents the world over because of the water pollution it causes.
etergents are perhaps the most advertised products on television today with an estimated market worth of Rs 8800 crore. Almost every urban Indian household uses some brand of laundry detergent or the other, whether of the premium variety for washing machines, or the cheapest detergents, known as the janta variety. Consumer VOICE tested 13 brands and variants belonging to all the three categories of detergents and rated them not just according to their washing performances but also according to how environment-friendly they were, and how much value for money they gave. One of the main findings of our laboratory tests is that no detergent brand qualifies to be in the Grade 1, if we go by the requirements of the standards laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the national standards-setting body. The most expensive detergent brands cost up to Rs 160 for a kilogram, and that they should still fall short of qualifying for the 1st grade, comes as a surprise. The environment-friendliness of detergents is an aspect on which there are no clear answers as of yet. No detergent brand has opted for the Indian ecolabel (known as the Ecomark) to have its environment-friendliness certified. If we consider the very important parameter of how well detergents wash dirt or clean stains, then the test findings reveal that the costliest detergents do not always have to be the best clean-

Market Survey
Visual Appeal and Moisture
The visual appeal of detergents Laundry detergents are essentially in powder form but they too have their own visual appeal in terms of colours and granules. The most appealing detergents are Ariel Ultramatic and Henko Stain Champion Matic with their white colour granules that are interspersed with blue and red granules. Nirma Washing Powder, on the other hand, clearly looks least fashionable with its yellow colour that looks least un-interesting to the eye. Moisture content The national standards do not prescribe any maximum limit for moisture content in detergents, but it is well-known that the presence of moisture leads to the detergent powder turning lumpy. The brand with the highest moisture content is Nirma Washing Powder. It has 9.92 per cent of moisture.
Table I tional standards.

Dirt removal score

How well detergents clean is measured by the detergency test (results shown in percentage). Consumer VOICE tested this by analysing how much of soil could detergents remove from clothes. Indian standards specify that Grade 1 detergents should have a minimum detergency percentage of 65 per cent, Grade 2 should have 55 per cent, and Grade 3 should have 45 per cent. 1. We found that the regular category (falling in Grade 2) brand Ariel Fresh Cleanhas the highest detergency percentage of 69 per cent, making its performance better than that of even premium (Grade 1) brands. 2. Two of the three premium category brands fell short of making the 65 per cent minimum detergency mark. Henko Stain Champion Matic and Ariel Ultramatic (both washing machine detergents) had 50.24 and 63.95 per cent detergency. 3. All other brands match upto the minimum detergency percentage required according to their particular categories (i.e. regular brands or Grade 2 have 55 per cent minimum detergency and Grade 3 brands have at least 45 per cent detergency).

Ranking of Different Categories of Brands

Brand/category Premium Ariel Ultramatic Surf Excel Automatic Henko Stain Champion Matic Sub-premium/Regular brands Ariel Fresh Clean Surf Excel Quick Wash Surf Excel Blue Super Nirma Blue Henko Stain Champion Oxygen Power Tide Jasmine & Rose Rin Advanced Janta Fena Ultra Wheel Lemon Fresh Nirma Washing Powder ers. Among the top-three brands in the detergency test, two are from the sub-premium category (Ariel Fresh & Clean and Henko Stain Champion Oxygen Power), establishing that a consumer can easily match costefficiency with product performance if one knows exactly the qualityindex of the product. The detergency test establishes how well detergents can remove dirt from soiled fabrics. All in all, if consumers are looking for a detergent that gives the best value for money, our test findings would recommend Tide Jasmine & Rose (Rs 25.50 for 500g) and Super Nirma Blue (Rs 29 for 500g), as they Price per 500 g Rs 67.50 to Rs 80 Rs 67.50 Rs 80 Rs 77.5 Rs 25.5 to Rs 60 Rs 55 Rs 60 Rs 42 Rs 29 Rs 44.5 Rs 25.5 Rs 25.5 Rs 11.11 to Rs 11.75 per 500 g Rs 11.75 Rs 11.50 Rs 11.11 Rank 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3

are fairly cheap compared to other brands and are also competitive in terms of their cleaning efficacy, that is closer to the requirements of na-

Active ingredients: detergents dont meet standards

Detergents have certain ingredients (known as active ingredients)

Key Findings
1. Brands Ariel Fresh Clean (69 per cent), Surf Excel Automatic (66.17 per cent), and Henko Stain Champion Oxygen Power (65.67 per cent) give the top performances in terms of cleaning (detergency test). On the other hand, Henko Stain Champion Matic gives the least impressive performance in the detergency test (50.24 per cent). 2. The costliest (premium) brands do not qualify to be called Grade 1 as they do not meet quality and performance requirements as prescribed in national standards. 3. Indian detergents are not environment-friendly. Surf Excel is especially damaging to the environment as it has the highest quantity of phosphates and STTP. 4. The Indian standards have defined three quality grades for detergents. No brand declares its grade on the label.

Table II

Comparative Performance of Detergent Powders

Surf Excel Quick Wash 60/500 60 2 3 4.5 2 2.5 2.17 8.49 7.7 7.82 9.92 26.37 5.98 82.45 63/750 42 2 3 4 2 2.4 2.11 8.22 7.39 9.39 9.95 24 6.44 80.9 58/1000 29 2 3.5 3.5 2 2 1.74 7.08 6.03 7.45 7.33 25.33 6.65 74.61 89/1000 44.5 2 2.5 4 2 2.16 2.11 8.75 4.08 1.5 9.22 27.4 6.54 72.26 51/1000 25.5 2 4 4.5 2 2.16 2.47 7.18 3.04 1.5 9.73 27.03 6.65 72.26 51/1000 25.5 2 3.5 4 2 2.08 2.5 7.31 2.03 1.85 8.8 23.32 6.65 66.04 20/850 11.75 1.5 2.5 3 2 2.16 2.05 6.06 1.5 1.3 9.67 22.36 3.5 57.6 22/950 11.5 1.5 2.5 3 2 2.16 2.17 5.92 1.51 1.5 9.95 20.81 4.09 57.11 20/900 11.11 1 2.5 2 0.7 2.08 0.7 5.05 1.5 1.3 7.42 19.62 3.46 47.33 Sub-Premium & Regular Brands Janta Brands Surf Super Henko Tide Rin Fena Wheel Nirma Excel Nirma St. Jasmine Advanced Ultra Lemon Washing Blue Blue Champion & Rose Fresh Powder Oxygen Power

Parameters

Premium Brands Wt. Ariel Surf Henko Ariel (per Ultramatic Excel St. Fresh cent) Automatic Champion Clean Matic 80/500 80 2 3 4.5 2 2.32 1.98 5.2 9.29 9.76 7.18 27.7 6.09 81.02 155/1000 77.5 3 3.5 5 2 2.24 1.94 5.29 7.42 9.27 9.25 18.14 5.91 72.96 110/1000 55 2 4 4.5 2 2.32 2.38 8.22 7.56 8.69 9.46 29.4 6.51 87.04

MRP, Rs/Weight, gms Unit price per 500 gms (2007) Packing Marking Physical properties* Net weight, gms pH Moisture, % Active Ingredient, % Total phosphate as P2O5 % STPP, % Active alkalinity, % % Detergency Ash built up, % Total

3 7 5 2 3 3 10 10 10 10 30 7 100

135/1000 67.5 3 4 5 2 2.32 2.1 9.5 9.37 8.97 9.38 26.37 5.95 87.96

Grading: 91-100 Excellent, 71-90 Very Good, 51-70 Good, 31-50 Average, <30 Poor *Physical properties include fragrance, free-flowing, free from any unpleasant odour and acceptability of detergent powder. Note: The categorisation of detergents into premium, sub premium/regular, and janta categories was done based on the prices of the brands and recommendations of usage made by the manufacturers

Market Survey

which are responsible for ensuring the cleaning performance of detergents. National standards have specified different minimum active ingredient levels for the three grades of detergents, i.e. 19 per cent for Grade 1, 16 per cent for Grade 2, and 10 per cent for Grade 3. In the premium category, it is only Ariel Ultramatic that measures up to the level specified by national standards for active ingredients. The other two brands, Henko Stain Champion Matic and Surf Excel Automatic, have far lower levels of active ingredients at 9.4 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively. The rest of the eleven brands, with the exception of Nirma washing powder, met the standards requirements.

ingredients that damage ecology

Laundry detergents have long been associated with environmental degradation and pollution of water bodies. The fact that they have phosphates and sodium tri-polyphoshpate (STTP), which are used to soften hard water for better washing, makes them environmentally unviable. In many countries around the world, phosphates have been banned as a detergent ingredient. India has no such regulations as yet. While the use of phosphates is not permitted (instead it requires use of alternate eco-friendly materials in sufficient quantity ensuring similar performance as that formulated with phosphates) in the Indian Standard for Household Laundry Detergent Powders under the Scheme for Eco-Mark in the country but at present no manufacturer has opted for it. Indian standards require detergents to have a certain minimum quantity of phosphates as an ingredient (11 per cent for Grade 1 and 7 per cent for

Market Survey
The Phosphate-Detergent Conflict
Phosphates are an important constituent of detergents as they help soften hard water and suspend dirt in water thus improving the detergents washing performance. STTP and other phosphates also help stabilise the alkalinity of the water, thereby increasing the action of the surfactants in the detergent. Surfactants keep the dirt dissolved in the water and prevent it from penetrating back into the clothes. The problem with detergents is that they can have poisonous effects in all types of aquatic life if they are present in sufficient quantities, and this includes the biodegradable detergents. When we wash clothes, the detergent-loaded wastewater run-off makes its ways to lakes and rivers. All detergents destroy the external mucus layers that protect the fish from bacteria and parasites; plus they can cause severe damage to the gills. Most fish will die when detergent concentrations approach 15 parts per million (ppm). Detergent concentrations as low as 5 ppm will kill fish eggs. Surfactant detergents are implicated in decreasing the breeding ability of aquatic organisms. Detergents also add another problem for aquatic life by lowering the surface tension of the water. Organic chemicals such as pesticides and phenols are then much more easily absorbed by the fish. A detergent concentration of only 2 ppm can cause fish to absorb double the amount of chemicals they would normally absorb, although that concentration itself is not high enough to affect fish directly. The phosphate-problem first came in the limelight when the Great Lakes region of United States of America and Canada were on the verge of disappearing because of excess phosphates in the lakes water, which were a run-off from domestic and industrial waste. In the 1970s, it was clear in the United States that about 60 per cent of the phosphorus in wastewater came from detergents and detergent-manufacturers voluntarily decided to reduce the level of phosphates in their detergents. Many US states, the European Union, Canada, and Japan have limited or banned the use of phosphates in laundry detergents. Now, some US states are considering banning phosphates in dishwasher detergents as well. Washington state has banned the sale of household detergents with more than 0.5 per cent phosphorous; the law went into effect in some areas on July 1, 2008, and will take hold statewide two years later. Several other states have introduced similar legislation.
Surf Excels case. Ariel Ultramatic (18.20 per cent) and Surf Excel Automatic (17.95 per cent) also have more than necessary quantities of phosphates. In contrast, the cheaper janta brands are far more environmentfriendly. Phosphate presence is not a problem with them as Wheel, Fena and Nirma have less than 1 per cent phosphates. The same trend can be noticed with the STTP content as well. Surf Excel Quick Wash is high not only in phosphates but also in STTP content at 31.70 per cent. The more expensive brands of premium and regular category are guilty of loading their detergents with STTP content, whereas the cheaper detergents can be termed environment-friendly as they are low both on phosphates and STTP .

Detergents: how skinfriendly are they?

The alkalinity of a detergent determines how friendly or harsh it is going to be to the skin. The higher the alkalinity (pH), the more the danger that the detergent will be rough on hands and will also erode the fabric of the clothes being washed. Detergents are rarely acidic as high acidic content will mean that detergents will react with metals and eat away the metallic parts of washing machines. All the 13 brands tested by Consumer VOICE had high alkalinity (pH value)above the value of 10.

How We Tested
The laboratory testing of 13 brands of detergents was done according to the procedures prescribed in the national standard IS 4955:2001. In addition to the standard requirements, parameters like pH and moisture content were also considered. The testing was done in an independent laboratory. The brands were divided in three categories according to their price: premium, sub-premium and janta. Care was taken that no crosscomparisons were made across the categories for overall ranking purposes.
Grade 2 detergents), but our test findings show that brands like Surf Excel Quick Wash have far too much phosphate in them. In fact, phosphates make 23.4 per cent of the total mass of the detergent in

Courtesy: December 2008 issue of Consumer VOICE magazine