ELI5- What is “soap”? We have bar soap, dish soap, antibacterial soap like dial, hand soap, foaming hand soap and more I’m sure. What ties them together to all be called soap?
In: Chemistry
Most of what we call “soap” would actually be a detergent in the chemistry sense. Dish “soap”, laundry “soap” are actually detergents. Soap, as others specifically have said, is usually some sort of fat treated with a strong base like lye to create the bars we can use for cleaning. The specifics of what detergents and soaps do, in the most basic sense, is to help break the bonds between water molecules so other molecules, like grease and dirt, can fit between them and wash away.
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