Patent ID: 8034760

Claim:
A method of washing a fibrous manufactured article, comprising adding a softening detergent composition in the form of a powder and the fibrous manufactured article either separately or in combination to water; said softening detergent composition comprising: (a) 2 to 20% by mass of clay granules comprising as a main component a smectite clay mineral represented by the following general formula (I), provided that a Na/Ca mass ratio in the granules is 2.0 to 4.0: [Si 8 (Mg a Al b )O 20 (OH) 4 ] X− .X/n[Me] n+ (I) wherein a, b, and x satisfy the formulas 0<a≦6, 0≦b≦4, 0.2≦x=12−2a−3b≦1.2; Me is at least one member of Na, K, Li, Ca, Mg and NH 4 ; and n is valency of Me; (b) 3 to 9% by mass of a nonionic surfactant; and (c) 12 to 27% by mass of an anionic surfactant, provided that a salt of a fatty acid is excluded as a part of anionic surfactant (c); wherein the average particle size of the (a) clay granules is 300 to 1000 μm.