# Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on detergents (Text with EEA relevance), Division: Consumer laundry detergents

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

The packaging of detergents sold to the general public intended to be used as laundry detergents shall bear the following information:
the recommended quantities and/or dosage instructions expressed in millilitres or grams appropriate to a standard washing machine load, for soft, medium and hard water hardness levels and making provision for one or two cycle washing processes,
for heavy-duty detergents, the number of standard washing machine loads of ‘normally soiled’ fabrics, and, for detergents for delicate fabrics, the number of standard washing machine loads of ‘lightly soiled’ fabrics, that can be washed with the contents of the package using water of medium hardness, corresponding to 2,5 millimoles CaCO 3 /l,
the capacity of any measuring cup, if provided, shall be indicated in millilitres or grams, and markings shall be provided to indicate the dose of detergent appropriate for a standard washing machine load for soft, medium and hard water hardness levels,
The standard washing machine loads are 4,5 kg dry fabric for heavy-duty detergents and 2,5 kg dry fabric for light-duty detergents, in line with the definitions in Commission Decision (EU) 2017/1218 establishing the EU Ecolabel criteria for laundry detergents. A detergent shall be considered to be a heavy-duty detergent (as defined in point (2) of Article 2(1) of that Decision) unless the claims of the manufacturer predominantly promotes fabric care, i.e. low temperature wash, delicate fibres and colours.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2004/648/annex/VII/division/B/division/1 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2004-648/annex-VII/division-B/division-1
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.