A heavy duty detergent composition having incorporated therein an acetylated sugar ether which provides bleach activation and detergency boosting properties to the detergent composition. The acetylated sugar ether contains a long-chain alkyl group. The acetylated sugar ether acts as a bleach activator by reacting with a bleaching agent, such as sodium perborate monohydrate, to generate peracetic acid. Following perhydrolysis, the compount acts as a detergency booster.