Detergent Development
Detergent formulation development from concept to commercial product
d-labs provides specialist detergent formulation development for companies seeking to create new products, improve existing formulations or solve specific performance, cost, stability and manufacturing challenges.
Development Capabilities
What can d-labs develop?
d-labs develops and optimises detergent formulations across a range of household and commercial cleaning applications, with each project built around the client’s specific performance, cost and commercial objectives.
Laundry Detergent Development
Development of liquid, powder, concentrated and specialist laundry formulations designed against defined cleaning performance, cost and product requirements.
Dishwashing Product Development
Formulation development for manual and automatic dishwashing products, including liquids, powders, tablets and other product formats.
Hard Surface Cleaner Development
Development and optimisation of cleaning formulations for hard-surface and related household cleaning applications.
Reformulation & Cost Optimisation
Improve an existing formulation to address performance, raw-material availability, cost, sustainability, stability or other commercial requirements.
Scale-up & Manufacturing Support
Technical support to help move formulations from laboratory development toward practical commercial manufacture.
Our Development Process
From product idea to commercial formulation
Every development project is different, but our approach follows a structured pathway from defining the commercial objective through formulation, performance validation and preparation for manufacture.
01
Define the brief
We establish the required product format, performance targets, benchmark products, cost objectives, ingredient constraints and other commercial requirements.
02
Formulation development
Our chemists design and prepare prototype formulations based on the agreed technical and commercial objectives.
03
Performance testing
Prototypes are evaluated using relevant laboratory performance methods and compared against agreed benchmarks where appropriate.
04
Optimise
Formulations are progressively refined using the performance data to balance efficacy, cost, stability and other project requirements.
05
Validate
The preferred formulation undergoes appropriate confirmation testing, including stability and other agreed technical evaluations.
06
Prepare for manufacture
d-labs provides the final formulation and manufacturing specification and can support scale-up and transition into commercial production.
Development & Testing
Formulation decisions backed by performance data
At d-labs, formulation development and performance testing are closely integrated. Rather than relying on formulation theory alone, prototype products can be evaluated against relevant benchmarks throughout development.
This allows our chemists to identify where performance is improving, where trade-offs are occurring, and which formulation changes are delivering meaningful results.
The result is a more evidence-based development process focused on achieving the required balance of performance, cost, stability and commercial practicality.
Where can we start?
Wherever you are in the development process.
You do not need to arrive with a finished technical brief. d-labs can work from an early product idea, an existing prototype, a competitive benchmark or a formulation that simply is not delivering what you need.
I have an idea
You know the type of product you want to create, the consumer need or market opportunity, but do not yet have a formulation.
How d-labs helps:
We can help translate the concept into a technical development brief and take it through formulation, testing and optimisation.
I already have a prototype
You have started development internally or with another supplier, but the formulation still needs technical refinement.
How d-labs helps:
We can assess the existing prototype, identify development priorities and continue the formulation and optimisation programme from there.
I want to match or beat a benchmark
You have identified a market-leading or commercially relevant product that defines the level of performance you want to achieve.
How d-labs helps:
We can benchmark the reference product, develop candidate formulations and use comparative performance testing to guide optimisation.
My existing product needs improvement
Your current product may have a performance, cost, stability, sustainability, raw-material or manufacturing issue.
How d-labs helps:
We can investigate the problem, identify potential causes and reformulate or optimise the product against the revised objectives.
Commercial Development
Formulations developed around the objectives that matter to your business.
Successful detergent development involves more than maximising cleaning performance. d-labs works against the broader technical and commercial requirements of each project, balancing performance with the practical constraints that determine whether a product can succeed in market.
Performance
Develop against defined cleaning, stain-removal, dishwashing or other relevant performance targets.
Cost
Optimise formulation performance within agreed raw-material or finished-product cost objectives.
Stability
Build products that remain physically and chemically suitable throughout their intended shelf life and use conditions.
Sustainability
Support objectives relating to ingredient selection, concentration, packaging efficiency or other environmental requirements.
Ingredient constraints
Work around preferred, prohibited or restricted raw materials, supplier requirements and formulation policies.
Manufacturing practicality
Consider processing, raw-material handling, scale-up and production constraints during development rather than only at the laboratory stage.
Intellectual Property
Your final formulation belongs to you
d-labs develops formulations specifically for each client and project. At the completion of the development programme, ownership of the final formulation developed for the client is transferred to the client.
d-labs does not provide that final formulation to another organisation.
Bespoke development
Formulations are developed against the individual client’s requirements.
Client ownership
The final formulation developed for the project is owned by the client.
Confidentiality
Projects and formulation information are handled confidentially.
Selected Development Projects
Development challenges solved in the real world
d-labs has supported detergent companies with complex development and reformulation challenges across multiple product categories. These examples show how our formulation and testing capabilities are applied in practice.
High-Performance Naturally Derived Laundry Liquid Development
A global detergent manufacturer engaged d-labs after more than two years of internal development had failed to achieve the required performance within target cost. d-labs delivered an enzymatic laundry liquid meeting the key performance and commercial objectives within approximately 8–9 months.
Dishwasher Tablet Development to Outperform the Market Leader
d-labs developed and optimised a dishwasher tablet formulation to achieve performance superior to the market-leading benchmark while remaining within the client’s required cost and timeframe.
New Low-Water Laundry Liquid Format Development
A start-up engaged d-labs to develop a new laundry liquid format designed to minimise water use while matching market-leading performance. d-labs created a unique two-step system that allowed the product to be blended at home from two small packets while meeting performance and environmental objectives.
Have a detergent product idea or development challenge?
d-labs can help turn an initial concept, existing prototype or underperforming formulation into a commercially viable product supported by specialist formulation expertise and performance testing.