Abstract: Novel methanesulfonamides useful as non-yellowing antistatic agents for laundered fabrics, detergent compositions containing an effective anti-static amount of said methanesulfonamide and a method of protecting fabrics against acquiring static electricity by contacting fabrics with said composition during laundering. These compounds provide antistatic protection without reducing optical brightener performance of the detergent composition.This invention relates to novel antistatic agents and detergent compositions to be used in the laundering of fabrics containing said antistatic agent which is a nitrogen substituted methansulfonamide having the formula:RNHSO.sub.2 CH.sub.3wherein R is a secondary aliphatic hydrocarbon chain of at least 8 carbons.