Household Ingredients Compared  ›  Laundry Detergent (Singapore)

Laundry detergent: what's actually in it?

Format note: detergent labels rarely print a full ingredient list the way food does. Most packs and brand disclosures list surfactants and functional ingredients by name and purpose (cleaning agent, enzyme, whitening agent, preservative), and some list only percentage bands by function (for example "15–30% anionic surfactants"). This page quotes exactly what was printed — full lists where they exist, banded declarations where that is all the source gives — and says which kind each panel is. A safety data sheet (SDS) ingredient summary is not a full pack list and is never presented as one here: SDS sections list only hazardous components in ranges, so where an SDS was the only source, the product is not panelled.

This page does not give a health score, a cleaning ranking or a "best" pick, and it does not show prices (they change weekly). Cleaning claims are the brands' claims, quoted as such — nothing here is a lab test.

Scope: laundry detergent sold in Singapore — liquid, powder, pods/capsules and sheets, as separate rows per brand/variant, including sensitive/baby, colour-care and concentrated variants. Fabric softener has its own page (category 106), dishwashing liquid has its own page (category 107), and stain removers and bleach are not in scope for this page.

The headline, in 30 seconds

• The same three surfactants appear in almost every liquid panelled here. Sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (LAS) and sodium cocoate (soap) form the cleaning base of all six Dynamo liquids, and SLES/LAS variants anchor the Persil, Biozet Attack and Seventh Generation liquids too. The surfactant system is the formula; everything else is support.
• The biggest difference between variants is what is left out, not what is added. Dynamo Professional Free and Clear prints no fragrance and no dyes; the Regular, Eucalyptus and Sard liquids print identical ingredient lists to each other in the Henkel disclosure — the fragrance is the only thing that differs, and it is printed only as the word "Fragrance". Sensitive/baby positioning is mostly a shorter list, not a different cleaning system.
• Pods and capsules are the least transparent format. Dynamo Professional Dual Capsules and Ariel 3in1 PODS are panelled only as percentage-band declarations ("15–30% anionic surfactants, 5–15% soap") because no full per-product list was retrievable for them. The pod film itself (polyvinyl alcohol) is named in some disclosures and not in others.
• Powder is the only format with a built-in oxygen bleach on this page. Biozet Attack Regular Powder lists sodium percarbonate (oxidative bleach) plus zeolite as water softener — a builder system liquids do not carry. No liquid panelled here lists a bleach.
• No Singapore retailer ingredient section was retrievable for this category. FairPrice publishes ingredient sections for some products, but none was retrieved for any detergent; Cold Storage publishes no ingredient lists at all. Every panel here rests on a brand/manufacturer disclosure or a retailer label transcription from another market, flagged as such — so every SG pack still needs a photo before publish.

At a glance — form, surfactant base and source strength

Panelled with verbatim lists or verbatim banded declarations: 20 products. Of these, 8 are Dynamo (SG sale confirmed for the brand at FairPrice) and 1 is Pigeon (SG sale confirmed via Amazon.sg); the other 11 are reference panels whose lists come from another market and whose Singapore sale was not verified in this pass. Seen-but-not-verified: see below.

Dynamo liquids — Henkel AU/NZ ingredient disclosure

Dynamo is sold in Singapore (FairPrice lists the range, including the Plant-Based Power Gel — see seen-but-not-verified). The lists below come from Henkel's Australia/New Zealand ingredient disclosure PDFs, not from a Singapore pack. Flag: the AU/NZ formulation may differ from the Singapore pack; verify on the SG pack before publish. Note also that the Regular, Eucalyptus and Sard liquids print identical ingredient lists in this disclosure — the scent difference is not visible in the list beyond the word "Fragrance".

Dynamo capsules — banded declarations only

Persil liquids — US label transcriptions (reference panels)

Persil is a Henkel brand (outside the UK, where it is Unilever's). No Singapore sale of these exact Persil liquids was confirmed in this pass, and no SG pack list was retrieved — the three panels below are US label transcriptions, kept as reference panels so the formulas can be compared with Dynamo's, not as Singapore pack facts. SDS note: Henkel US safety data sheets for Persil Sensitive and Persil Advanced Clean were retrieved in this pass, but their composition sections list only hazardous components in ranges — they are not presented as pack lists here, per the brief.

Ariel pods — UK banded declarations (reference panels)

Ariel is P&G's brand. No Singapore sale of these exact Ariel pods was confirmed in this pass. Both panels are UK retailer label pages giving EU detergent-regulation banded declarations, not full lists.

Attack Zero, Pigeon, Seventh Generation, Biozet Attack — reference panels

Seen but not verified — do not panel until checked

• Breeze (Unilever, Singapore) — liquid (including Colour Care and 2 in 1 Fragrance of Comfort) and powder sold in Singapore; Shopee SG lists bundle deals for the 3.6kg liquid. No verbatim list retrieved for any Breeze variant in this pass — Unilever's UK ingredient site covers Surf, not the SG Breeze range. Each variant needs its own pack check.
• Dynamo Plant-Based Power Gel — sold at FairPrice (weekly promotion, October 2026) but no ingredient list retrieved in this pass; do not assume it matches the Regular liquid list.
• Dynamo powder and any other Dynamo variant — no Dynamo powder list was retrieved; the Henkel disclosure covers liquids and dual capsules only.
• Tide (P&G) — Tide Pods Spring Meadow sold in Singapore at NTUC FairPrice/Finest, Cold Storage, Giant, Watsons, Lazada and Shopee (SG guides, August 2026), and Tide liquid and powder are widely listed on Shopee SG. No per-product verbatim list was retrieved for any Tide product; Tide's US A–Z page is a glossary of ingredients across all Tide products, not a per-product list, so it cannot panel any single Tide variant.
• Ariel liquid and powder (P&G) — only the UK pods are panelled; no SG Ariel liquid/powder list was retrieved, and SG sale of the pods themselves was not verified.
• Persil powder, capsules and Colour variants — only the three US liquids are panelled; no SG Persil sale was confirmed at all in this pass.
• Attack (Kao) other variants — only Attack Zero drum-type is panelled (Japan list); Attack Super Clear Gel, Attack Reset Power (powder) and other Attack variants sold via Donki/Shopee SG import channels have no verbatim SG list retrieved.
• Selleys Colour Care and Anti-Bacterial Laundry Liquid — sold at FairPrice Online (Colour Care 3kg listing) and major supermarkets; no ingredient list retrieved in this pass.
• arFUM laundry capsules — 5-in-1 capsules sold in major Singapore supermarkets and on Shopee/Lazada/Qoo10; the brand site describes plant-based ingredients but publishes no per-variant ingredient list that was retrieved.
• Ka laundry pods — sold at NTUC and Cold Storage and online; no ingredient list retrieved.
• TOP detergent (Lion, Singapore) — Lion Corporation Singapore's TOP range (including TOP Platinum Clear powder, sold via Japanese import channels); no SG verbatim list retrieved.
• Kodomo Nature Care and Kodomo Extra Care baby laundry detergent (Lion, Singapore) — widely sold in Singapore and recommended in SG baby-detergent guides; no verbatim list retrieved for either variant. The only Kodomo list found was for a head-to-toe wash (a different product, not detergent).
• Pigeon Baby Laundry Detergent powder; Tollyjoy, Pureen and Farlin baby laundry detergents — SG baby-care brands with laundry detergents on SG shelves; no verbatim list retrieved for any of them.
• UIC / Bio-Zip — Singapore-made Bio-Zip detergent sold at FairPrice; no ingredient list retrieved in this pass.
• OMO, Rinso, Fab, Surf — Unilever laundry brands in the region; no SG sale with a verbatim list was confirmed for any of them in this pass (OMO powder was found only on an Australian grocer listing).
• Bio-home, Earth Breeze sheets, Tru Earth strips, Clean Conscience pods, Grab Green pods, K-Mom, IVLY Nature baby detergent — eco/specialty brands sold in Singapore via eco-stores, iHerb SG or online; Earth Breeze's label summary was retrieved only for the US product ("biodegradable anionic surfactants, biodegradable non-anionic surfactants, liquidless laundry sheet" — a summary, not a full list) and no SG sale was confirmed for any of them.
• Biozet Attack PLUS variants (Softener, Eliminator, Stain Power, Sensitive) and Biozet Attack Regular Refill — full Kao Australia lists were retrieved for these (see research notes) but they are not panelled here to keep the page to the core range; SG sale not verified for any of them.
• Giant, Sheng Siong, Cold Storage, Don Don Donki, Mustafa, Meidi-Ya, Le Petit Depot, Little Farms and RedMart house-brand and import detergent ranges — category pages were not paginated in this web pass and no product-level verbatim list was retrieved from any of these channels beyond the brands above. In-store shelf check and pack photos needed.
• Vanish, bleach and stain removers — deliberately excluded; not laundry detergent for this page.

Nutrition — what the numbers say

Nutrition information does not apply to laundry detergent, and it is not printed for it. Laundry detergent is not food or drink: it has no energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate, sugars or sodium content to compare, and no Nutri-Grade. This page therefore does not invent, estimate or borrow any nutrition numbers, and it keeps comparing what the packs and disclosures do print — surfactants, enzymes, builders and brighteners — exactly as before.

If a future version of this page adds a related product that does carry a printed composition claim, that product would need its own section and its own pack source — it would not be merged into these detergent rows.

How to read a laundry detergent label — the jargon, in plain English

Surfactant

The cleaning agent: a molecule that loosens dirt and oil from fabric so water can rinse it away. Almost every detergent's cleaning power comes from its surfactants.

Anionic surfactant

A negatively charged surfactant — the workhorse type. SLES (sodium laureth sulfate), LAS (sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate / linear alkylbenzene sulfonate) and sodium lauryl sulfate are all anionic surfactants.

Nonionic surfactant

An uncharged surfactant, often an alcohol ethoxylate (for example laureth-7, C12-14 pareth-7, polyoxyethylene alkyl ether). Used alongside anionic surfactants, especially for greasy stains and low-foam formulas.

Soap (sodium cocoate, fatty-acid sodium salts)

Surfactant made from fats/oils (coconut oil gives sodium cocoate). Listed separately from synthetic surfactants on most labels; also acts as a foam regulator.

Enzymes (protease, amylase, lipase, mannanase, cellulase, pectate lyase)

Biological catalysts that break down specific stains: protease for protein (milk, blood, sweat), amylase for starch, lipase for fats, mannanase for gum-based stains, cellulase for fabric care/pilling, pectate lyase for plant-based stains. "Bio" on a UK pack means enzymes are present; "non-bio" means they are not.

Optical brightener (disodium distyrylbiphenyl disulfonate)

A fluorescent whitening agent: it absorbs UV light and re-emits it as visible blue light, making whites look whiter. It does not remove dirt — it changes how light reflects off the fabric. Note that "free and clear" / sensitive products on this page still list it.

Builder / sequestrant / water softener

Ingredients that soften wash water so surfactants work better: sodium carbonate, sodium citrate, zeolite (sodium aluminosilicate), phosphonates such as DTPMP, and EDTA/DTPA-type chelators. They bind calcium and magnesium in hard water.

Oxygen bleach (sodium percarbonate)

A solid bleach used in powders: it releases oxygen in water to tackle oxidisable stains. Liquids on this page do not list a bleach; powders do.

Preservative (methylisothiazolinone, methylchloroisothiazolinone, benzisothiazolinone, isothiazolinones)

Added to liquid detergents to stop bacteria and mould growing in the bottle. These are the ingredients most often named in full on labels because they are known sensitisers.

Fragrance / parfum

Usually printed as the single word "Fragrance" or "Parfum" with no breakdown. EU/UK pod labels are the exception here: Ariel names individual fragrance allergens (limonene, linalool, geraniol, citronellol and others).

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)

The water-soluble film that forms a pod or a detergent sheet. It dissolves in the wash; whether it counts as an ingredient depends on the disclosure — Seventh Generation sheets name it, Dynamo capsules do not.

Banded declaration

An EU/UK detergent-regulation style disclosure giving percentage ranges by function (for example ">30% anionic surfactants") instead of naming each chemical. Quoted here as printed; it is not a full ingredient list.

SDS (safety data sheet)

A hazard document, not a recipe: its composition section lists only hazardous components, in ranges. An SDS summary is never presented as a pack ingredient list on this page.

Bio IOS

Kao's proprietary cleaning agent marketed as the main ingredient of Attack Zero (brand claim). It is not a chemical name on the retrieved list, which names surfactant sub-systems instead.

What this page is not

• Not a lab test. Cleaning, stain removal, whitening and odour claims were not measured; brand claims are quoted as brand claims.
• Not a cleaning ranking, and not a "best" pick. A longer or shorter ingredient list is not a ranking.
• Not a price comparison. Prices change weekly; formulations change less often, but still change.
• Not complete. The brands in seen-but-not-verified are not yet panelled, for the verification reasons given, not hidden. No Singapore pack photo was retrieved for any panelled product — every panel rests on a brand disclosure or a non-SG label transcription.

Sources and method

Checked 5–6 November 2026 from: Henkel AU/NZ ingredient disclosure PDFs for Dynamo liquids and dual capsules (assets.henkel-lhc.com, current and April 2019 versions — the two disagree on the Odour Eliminating liquid, flagged on the page); Kao Australia product information for Biozet Attack Regular Powder, Regular Liquid and Power Capsule (biozetattack.com.au); US label transcriptions for Persil Original (kangacare.com), Persil Free & Sensitive (manuals.plus) and Persil TripleCare Original (cvs.com); UK retailer label pages for Ariel 3in1 PODS and Ariel All-in-1 PODS (onestop.co.uk); Amazon Japan listing for Attack Zero drum-type (amazon.co.jp); Hong Kong retailer listing for Pigeon Baby Laundry Detergent Pure (hongkongmall.com) with SG sale via Amazon.sg; US retailer label pages for Seventh Generation Free & Clear liquid (foodlion.com) and sheets (amazon.com); SG-sale evidence from FairPrice weekly promotion (Dynamo Plant-Based Power Gel), Shopee SG (Breeze bundle), SG guides (Tide Pods at NTUC FairPrice/Finest, Cold Storage, Giant, Watsons; arFUM and Ka pods at NTUC/Cold Storage), FairPrice Online (Selleys Colour Care) and the Lazada SG brand wiki (Breeze range). Henkel US safety data sheets for Persil Sensitive and Advanced Clean were retrieved but deliberately not used as pack lists. Cold Storage publishes no ingredient lists at all; no FairPrice ingredient section was retrieved for any detergent. Full per-fact source list is in the accompanying research notes. No figure was estimated or borrowed from another variant or market; no SDS summary is presented as a pack list.