Persil the ""work of the washboard""—saving consumers time and rendering the historic method of "sun-bleaching" (by laying clothes out in the sun) unnecessary. Persil was the first commercially available self-activated laundry detergent (combining bleach with the detergent). The invention of Persil was a significant breakthrough. The name, "Persil", is derived from two of the original ingredients, sodium perborate and silicate. The original name was deemed unsuitable as an international brand because it is hard to pronounce in some languages. Coincidentally, "persil" is the French word for the herb, parsley. Persil is sold in powder, liquid detergent, liquid capsule, liqui-gel, and tablet
Phosphates in detergent algal blooms have still continued to worsen for other reasons. Most dishwasher detergent contains complex phosphates, as they have several properties that aid in effective cleaning. However, the same chemicals have been removed from laundry detergents in many countries as a result of concerns raised about the increase in algal blooms in waterways caused by increasing phosphate levels (see eutrophication). Phosphorus that runs into freshwater lakes and rivers can cause algal blooms. Phosphate-free detergent reduces the amount of phosphate wastewater treatment plants must clean up. From the 1960s-2010s the standard way to determine the amount of phosphate in water is