What are detergents? What change has been made in detergents to make them easily bio-degradable? Explain the cleansing action of detergents.
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Detergents and soaps

by Chris Woodford. Last updated: June 11, 2018.
When you're young, "bathtime" is another word for "torture" and a harmless block of soap can seem like an offensive weapon. Fortunately, most of us soon grow out of that little problem and learn to recognize soap and water for what they are: a perfect way to shift the daily grime.
Soap seems like the simplest thing in the world. Just splash it on your face and it gets rid of the dirt, right? In fact, it's quite a cunning chemical and it works in a really interesting way. Let's take a closer look!
Photo: Some typical household detergents. All of them, except for the soap, are liquids. Environmentally friendly detergents, such as those produced by Ecover, are made with plant-based ingredients to reduce their environmental impact.
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What are detergents?

Photo: Soap: the detergent we know best. This one describes itself as "pure" because it contains no added chemicals or perfumes.
Often we use the words "soap" and "detergent" interchangeably, but really they're quite different things. A detergent is a chemical substance you use to break up and remove grease and grime, while soap is simply one kind of detergent. Soap has a long history and was originally made from purely natural products like goat's fat and wood ash. Today, detergents are more likely to be a mixture of synthetic chemicals and additives cooked up in a huge chemical plant and, unlike traditional soap, they're generally liquids rather than solids. Detergents are used in everything from hair shampoo and clothes washing powder to shaving foam and stain removers. The most important ingredients in detergents are chemicals called surfactants—a word made from bits of the words surface active agents.
What are surfactants?
You might think water gets you wet—and it does. But it doesn't get you nearly as wet as it might. That's because it has something called surface tension. Water molecules prefer their own company so they tend to stick together in drops. When rain falls on a window, it doesn't wet the glass uniformly: instead, it sticks to the surface in distinct droplets that gravity pulls down in streaks. To make water wash better, we have to reduce its surface tension so it wets things more uniformly. And that's precisely what a surfactant does. The surfactants in detergents improve water's ability to wet things, spread over surfaces, and seep into dirty clothes fibers.
Surfactants do another important job too. One end of their molecule is attracted to water, while the other end is attracted to dirt and grease. So the surfactant molecules help water to get a hold of grease, break it up, and wash it away.
How detergents work

The cleverest part of a washing machine isn't the drum or the drive belt, the electric motor that spins it around or the electronic circuit that controls the program: it's the detergent (soap powder or liquid) you put in right at the start. Water alone can't clean clothes because it won't attach to molecules of grease and dirt. Detergent is different. The surfactants it contains are made of molecules that have two different ends. One end is strongly attracted to water; the other is attracted to oily substances like grease.
Suppose you got some grease on your favorite jeans. No problem! Throw them into the washing machine with some detergent
Cookies help this site work smoothly. Unless you opt out, our partners may use them for advertising and social media. You can opt in or out of cookies at any time. More info




Detergents and soaps

by Chris Woodford. Last updated: June 11, 2018.
When you're young, "bathtime" is another word for "torture" and a harmless block of soap can seem like an offensive weapon. Fortunately, most of us soon grow out of that little problem and learn to recognize soap and water for what they are: a perfect way to shift the daily grime.
Soap seems like the simplest thing in the world. Just splash it on your face and it gets rid of the dirt, right? In fact, it's quite a cunning chemical and it works in a really interesting way. Let's take a closer look!
Photo: Some typical household detergents. All of them, except for the soap, are liquids. Environmentally friendly detergents, such as those produced by Ecover, are made with plant-based ingredients to reduce their environmental impact.
Advertisement
What are detergents?

Photo: Soap: the detergent we know best. This one describes itself as "pure" because it contains no added chemicals or perfumes.
Often we use the words "soap" and "detergent" interchangeably, but really they're quite different things. A detergent is a chemical substance you use to break up and remove grease and grime, while soap is simply one kind of detergent. Soap has a long history and was originally made from purely natural products like goat's fat and wood ash. Today, detergents are more likely to be a mixture of synthetic chemicals and additives cooked up in a huge chemical plant and, unlike traditional soap, they're generally liquids rather than solids. Detergents are used in everything from hair shampoo and clothes washing powder to shaving foam and stain removers. The most important ingredients in detergents are chemicals called surfactants—a word made from bits of the words surface active agents.
What are surfactants?
You might think water gets you wet—and it does. But it doesn't get you nearly as wet as it might. That's because it has something called surface tension. Water molecules prefer their own company so they tend to stick together in drops. When rain falls on a window, it doesn't wet the glass uniformly: instead, it sticks to the surface in distinct droplets that gravity pulls down in streaks. To make water wash better, we have to reduce its surface tension so it wets things more uniformly. And that's precisely what a surfactant does. The surfactants in detergents improve water's ability to wet things, spread over surfaces, and seep into dirty clothes fibers.
Surfactants do another important job too. One end of their molecule is attracted to water, while the other end is attracted to dirt and grease. So the surfactant molecules help water to get a hold of grease, break it up, and wash it away.
How detergents work

The cleverest part of a washing machine isn't the drum or the drive belt, the electric motor that spins it around or the electronic circuit that controls the program: it's the detergent (soap powder or liquid) you put in right at the start. Water alone can't clean clothes because it won't attach to molecules of grease and dirt. Detergent is different. The surfactants it contains are made of molecules that have two different ends. One end is strongly attracted to water; the other is attracted to oily substances like grease.
Suppose you got some grease on your favorite jeans. No problem! Throw them into the washing machine with some detergent
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