DETERGENT COMPOSITION HAVING HIGH PENETRATING ABILITY

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a lowly foaming detergent having high detergency and penetrating ability and suitable, e.g. for scouring fibers by using, as the constituents, an alcohol and a nonionic surfactant comprising a polyoxyalkylene adduct to a branched alcohol. SOLUTION: This detergent contains a nonionic polyoxyalkylene adduct surfactant of formula I [wherein R is an organic compound residue containing active hydrogen atoms; AO and BO may be the same or different and are each a 2-6C alkylene oxide; and (n) and (m) are each the average number of alkylene oxide molecules added and are 1 or greater, provided that n+m=(2 to 50)] and an alcohol of formula II (wherein R is a 1-30C alkyl or alkenyl). It is desirable to use a highly active Al-Mg composite oxide catalyst for forming the alkylene oxide adduct because of a narrow distribution of the number of alkylene oxide molecules added. When both of the AO and the BO in formula I comprise ethylene oxide, the total of (n) and (m) is preferably 4 to 30. If the surfactant has a degree of narrowness of at least 55%, it is excellent in biodegradability. The most desirable blending ratio of the surfactant of formula I to the alcohol of formula II is (86:14) to (92:8).