A harsh detergent is the general name given to ionic detergents, which can be harmful to the skin. These detergents are called ionic because their molecules gets charged up when they come in contact with water.

The ionic detergents which are very common and are present almost every where are sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate (both acronymed SLS) and their analogs, such as ammonium lauryl sulfate, ammonium laureth sulfate and others.

Clinical studies of skin protectors have used SLS to produce experimental skin damage situations. Since they are very powerful and effective detergents, SLS and analogs are excessively used in many of the household and body-care products such as shampoos, soaps, dishwashing liquids, laundry detergents, etc.

Even our daily soap contains ionic detergents although not as powerful as SLS.

It is always advised that you should read the ingredients on all the products that you use for your skin. If you come across a product that contains ionic detergents, try to avoid the usage of such product or else look for similar products that have nonionic detergents or look out for a substitute for that product.

You can also try out different cleansing methods by wearing gloves when you are doing your household work so that your skin is not in contact with the detergent.

For example, if your regular soap or shampoo has some ionic detergents like SLS or its analogs then you can also have an alternative by using products like baby shampoo or glycerin based soap as a moisturizer.