Surfactants are the most essential active substances in detergents, and their standardization process has a significant impact on the development of the surfactant industry. The development history of the standardization of detergents has been introduced previously. Herein, from the perspective of standardization, the development history of various surfactant products has been reviewed and analyzed in detail. Moreover, the development history of the main raw materials for surfactant synthesis has also been introduced briefly.