How to Make Detergent Washing Powder – Process, Cost, Material

Hindustan Unilever limited company dominated the entire share of the Indian market in the production of many consumer good items for more than half century. They offer distinct categories of products like shampoos, tea, coffee, packaged food, ice cream, water, cosmetics, toothpastes, soaps, detergent. The specific item that we are talking about here is detergent powder.  Hindustan Unilever limited enjoyed the unhindered monopoly over the production of detergent powder with the entire market share to themselves till 1985. Competition began when for the first time Hindustan Unilever detergent Surf encountered the deterrence from the detergent powder named Nirma of Nirma Chemicals. Nirma was launched to meet the needs for middle and lower classes and that’s when the Surf was dragged down from its leading position of topmost selling detergent powder. After that, competition kept on increasing with the advent of many detergent making companies like HLL’s brand of wheel and Rin and Rohit Surfactants brand of Ghadi offering detergent powder for affordable prices. The market share divided and the rest is history.

Detergent powder is a regular consumable item. It was there; it is here and will remain so till the world continue to exist. The compound annual growth rate of detergent powder has been valued at 9.5% within the machine wash category since 2005 and 8.8% within the hand wash category since 2005. Also the detergent powder making process is not a complex matter. It is a very simple procedure and the kind of business that can be started at decent capital investment. It is the one of the profitable business to tap upon.

It has also been reported that huge giant consumer goods producing companies like Hindustan Unilever limited, Nirma, etc are losing their market share to the local brands. This might boost your confidence if you are thinking of starting up a detergent powder making business, then it is a fair deal to make.

Before jumping into this plan and strategize your business plan.

First thing that you need to determine which range segment will you choose for detergent powder production. As there are three segments, premium range, middle range and popular or low range. To give a perspective, the low range or popular enjoys 45% of the market share, mid range enjoys 40% and the share is premium is 15%, contributed by high-end users.

Next thing that you have to decide upon is which detergent powder manufacturing will you opt for. There are basically four major categories: heavy duty detergent, fabric soft detergent, light duty detergent, phosphate free detergent. Choose from the following before starting the detergent powder making process.

1. Factory location

First of all, your business should work in accordance with the rules and regulations of government. Determine your factory location considering the easy and prompt availability of raw material and proximity of market place from the factory so that overhead cost of transportation is reduced. The location should have proper basic amenities availability like electricity, transportation, water, etc

2. Legal permit

After all the clarity that you need about your business venture, obtain license to run the business. For setting up the physical infrastructure for business operation it is of utmost importance to get Consent to Establish and ‘Consent to operate’ from pollution control board of the locality. Then you have to get BIS certification, a means to guarantee the quality, reliability and safety of the product to the customer. Get your brand name secured by registering to Trademark and obtain trading license from municipal authorities. Apply for GST registration and MSME Udyog Aadhar online registration.

For commencing Distributing system, go for Distribution Agreement Paper.

3. Equipment Procurement

Depending upon the scale of operation Procure the required equipments and machinery  for detergent powder manufacturing process like mixing vessels, reactors, blender, blowers, furnace, spray dryer, perfumer, packaging machine, conveyors sieve, high pressure tanks and reactors, gas stove or electric stove, hand gloves,  basin, pulveriser, neutralizer, cyclone.

Procurement will cost you decent sum of investment, make sure that you get your machinery insured. Also proper attention should be given on maintenance and repair to avoid major damage.

4. Raw material procurement

For procuring raw materials for detergent powder making process, contact number of raw material suppliers, compare the cost of raw material and additional services they are willing to offer.  The raw material required for detergent powder making are surfactants, sodium sulphate, labsa, sodium tri-polyphosphate, alkyl benzene sulphonate, trisodium phosphate, sodium meta silicate, color, carbon methyl cellulose, Glauber’s salt, fabric softeners, detergent builders, bleaches, caustic soda, soda ash light, sodium silicate, synthetic perfumes, polythene and customized packaging bags, water, etc.

How to make detergent powder?

Answer to how to make washing powder involve involves few steps.

First step is mixing. Mix the surfactants, synthetics fragrances and blender into the big containers called blenders. These provide automated service, they keeps on rotating mixing all the ingredients. It has blades insides which help in proper mixing of the ingredients.

Second step is at the bottom of the blender there is an opening that pass the blending ingredients on to the conveyor sieve

Thirdly, the product is finally dropped into sealing machines and then product is available to be packed and ready to enter the market.

This is a very simple washing powder making process.  There is also another method to make washing powder which is rather complex, that is, Spray dried process.

In this process, both the dry and liquid ingredients are mixed together leading to the formation of slurry or a semi-liquid mixture. Then the semi-liquid mixture is heated upon and transfer at  high altitude tower, there it is sprits’ under strenuous pressure. This led to the formation of small granules. This small dried mixture is then collected and they are screened afterwards to maintain the uniformity of size. Bleach, enzymes and perfumes are finally added as the granules cool down. And finally are packed into bags and ready to enter the market.

Pricing of the product

Calculate your operating cost, cost of raw material, labor cost, machinery, tools and equipment cost, their depreciating cost, maintenance and repair cost, electricity bills, water bills, lease cost, packaging cost, additional cost of promotion and marketing, distribution cost overhead cost of transportation and miscellaneous expenses. After computing and evaluating all the aspects to decide upon the cost of your product, affordability of the product should be kept in mind at the time of deciding the price. This is because the market already has many established detergent powder making companies, offering the product at low prices. And if you place your product at higher range then it might create difficulty in increasing your sales given the price sensitivity of the Indian customers.

Promotion and Distribution

Established distributor- dealer network, making sure the availability of your product at the marketplace. For attracting sale, promotion is necessary. Digital platforms has made the promotion and advertisement of the product easier these days. Instead of investing your money in printing and distribution of pamphlets of your product, invest on online platforms instead. You need to establish trust among your customers. For this, you can create your website online providing the detailed description of your product and company. Use catchy tactics to engage masses. Offer some sample packets of your products for free or at a discounted rates or offer some gift at the purchase of product for getting initial sales.