AbstractRecent developments in the formulation of detergents have been driven by a strong consumer demand for natural and biodegradable products. Detergent manufacturers responded to this demand with corresponding products and advertising slogans such as “fully biodegradable”, “natural” or even “double natural” to oust their competitors. In a detergent formulation, starch‐ derived products can in principle be used for the following purposes: as the hydrophilic head group in surfactants, as the starting material for (poly)carboxylate co‐builders and as the backbone of bleaching activators. Non‐ionic classical surfactants can be replaced by alkylpolyglucosides (APGs), a class of products completely based on renewable resources such as glucose and fatty alcohols derived from natural fatty acids. Sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP), the product responsible for the eutrophication of surface waters, can be substituted by a combination of an inorganic zeolite and highly oxidised starch (dicarboxylic starch) or by citrate. Acetylated polyols derived from hydrogenated carbohydrates such as sorbitol can take over the function of the petrochemically‐based tetraacetyl ethylene diamine (TAED) used as activator to allow perborate bleaching at lower w