Fatty alcohol (ether) sulfates which are obtained by co-sulfating mixtures of (a) C.sub.8-22 fatty alcohols and (b) C.sub.8-22 fatty alcohol ethoxylates containing an average of 1.9 to 3.9 ethylene oxide units in a ratio by weight of 20:80 to 80:20, and then neutralizing the mixtures thus co-sulfated with aqueous bases. The substances have distinctly improved low-temperature behavior in relation to ether sulfates with comparable degrees of ethoxylation, and are useful as components of surface-active compositions.