A surfactant composition comprising one or more surfactant derivatives of isomers of acyclic detergent alcohol having 11, 16, or 21 carbon atoms and two, three, four or five methyl or ethyl branches or mixtures thereof wherein the surfactant derivatives are selected from the group consisting of cationic surfactants, zwitterionic surfactants, amine oxide surfactants, alkylpolyglycoside surfactants, soaps, fatty acids, di-long-chain alkyl cationic surfactants and mixtures.