Cleansing compositions include a mixture of alkyl ether carboxylic acids and/or salts thereof, each having a structure according to formula (1):R1—O—(CH2CH2O)n—CH2—COOM (1)where R1 is an alkyl group having 4 to 22 carbon atoms, n is a number of from 0 to 20, and M is a hydrogen atom, alkali metal, alkaline earth metal, ammonium, or organic ammonium. The mixture includes alkyl ether carboxylic acids and/or salts having at least two different alkyl groups R1, an average carbon number of alkyl groups R1 of alkyl ether carboxylic acids and/or salts in the mixture is from 10.8 to 12.5, the mixture includes alkyl ether carboxylic acids and/or salts in which n=0 in an amount of from 8 to 27% by weight based on a total weight of the mixture, the mixture includes alkyl ether carboxylic acids and/or salts in which n=1 and alkyl ether carboxylic acids and/or salts in which n=2 in an amount of from 28 to 38% by weight based on the total weight of the mixture, and the mixture includes alkyl ether carboxylic acids and/or salts in which n≦6 in an amount of at least 10% by weight based on the total weight of the mixture.
