First introduced in 1946, the Tide® brand of laundry detergent is part of the Procter & Gamble family of consumer products. Washing powders were first introduced in the 1880s; these new products were merely pulverized soaps but over the subsequent decades, new cleaning agents were introduced including the advent of totally synthetic detergents. Detergent formulation was revolutionized with the discovery of the alkylbenzene sulfonates, which, when combined with the use of chemical builders, made machine washing with hard water possible and led to the introduction of the original Tide laundry detergent for heavy-duty, machine use. Each year, Tide® researchers duplicate the mineral content of water from all parts of the United States and wash 50,000 loads of laundry to test Tide® detergent's consistency and performance. The product line includes stain remover pens, liquid detergent, laundry pods and instant stain remover.