PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURE OF DETERGENT POWDERS

The invention relates to the preparation of spray-dried powders of low bulk density. Fabric washing powders containing nonionic surfactants as the major or sole detergent-active species have unacceptably high natural bulk densities (about 0.6 g/l). It has been found that the incorporation of certain alkenyl succinate salts into the crutcher slurry can reduce the bulk density of the resultant spray-dried powder. There is also a need for absorbents of low bulk density for manufacturing nonionic-surfactant based powders by dry-mixing routes and it has been found that suitable absorbents can be prepared by adding alkenyl succinate to a slurry of the chosen ingredients and spray-drying.