Because of their unusual surfaces active properties, the alcohols produced by reducing fatty acids or esters have achieved wide cormmercial use. A comparison is made between the two methods of reduction practiced commercially- sodium reduction and hydrogenolysis-with respect to raw materials, material balances, materials of construction, investment costs, labor and utilities costs, and quality of products. Evaluation data indicate that unsaturated sulfates produced from unsaturated tallow alcohols are superior to saturated sulfates from hydrogenated tallow alcohols as detergent raw materials. However,economical production of high quality unsaturated sulfates has not yet been achieved. The versatility of unsaturated alcohols is emphasized; these are produced economically only through reduction with sodium.