Compositions containing alkyl sulfates and/or alkoxylated alkyl sulfates and a solvent comprising a diol

A process for manufacturing an aqueous liquid or gel-form laundry detergent comprising the steps of:

• (i) at a first location, preparing a shippable anionic surfactant paste consisting essentially of:
• from about 30% to about 75% by weight of an anionic surfactant selected from the group consisting of linear or branched alkyl sulfates, linear or branched alkoxylated alkyl sulfates, and mixtures thereof, from about 3% to about 18% of a primary solvent, wherein said primary solvent is a diol and the hydroxyl groups present in said diol are attached to adjacent atoms, wherein said primary solvent has a Hansen hydrogen-bonding parameter of about 5 to about 20 and a Hansen polarity parameter of about 5 to about 15,
• from about 0.1% to about 18% of a secondary solvent selected from the group consisting of a monoalcohol of formula (II)
• wherein each of R3, R4, and R5 is independently selected from H or a substituted or unsubstituted, linear or branched C1-C6 alkyl group, glycerine, propoxylated glycerine, ethoxylated glycerine, 1,2-propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, and mixtures thereof,
• wherein the balance of the paste is water;
• (ii) shipping the anionic surfactant paste to a second location;
• (iii) at the second location, adding said anionic surfactant paste to a composition comprising a surfactant and adjuncts.