To obtain a composition which is lowly irritant to skin and hair, is highly foaming to give creamy foam within the range from weakly acidic to alkaline, and exhibits excellent detergency and good feeling of use by formulating a specific sugar ether carboxylic acid compound and an amphoteric surfactant.

A sugar ether carboxylic acid compound of the formula is employed. In the formula, R is 6-30C (on the average) alkyl, alkenyl or hydroxyalkyl; A is 2-3C alkylene; S is a residue of a 4-8C sugar alcohol; m is 0-10; n is 1-6; and M is H or a salt-forming cation. The wt. ratio of the sugar ether carboxylic acid compound (A) to an amphoteric surfactant (B) to be mixed is usually 10/90 to 95/5. The total amount of the components A and B compounded in the detergent composition is preferably 0.5-50 wt.% when the detergent is in a liquid form, 1-70 wt.% when in a pasty form and 1-80 wt.% when in a solid form.