Laundry detergent is a type of detergent (cleaning agent) used for cleaning dirty laundry (clothes). Laundry detergent is manufactured in powder (washing powder) and liquid form. while powdered and liquid detergents hold roughly equal share of the worldwide laundry detergent market in terms of value, powdered detergents are sold twice as much compared to liquids in terms of volume. Laundry detergent or washing powder is a substance that is a type of cleaning agent that is added for cleaning laundry. In common usage,"detergent" refers to mixtures of chemical compounds including alkyl benzene sulfonates, which are similar to soap but are less affected by hard water.