I’ve had several objects over the years that are sticky on purpose (game pieces for travel games, Cricut cutting mats, jelly window clings, etc), and usually instructions will say if they begin to lose their stickiness, wash with soap and water and leave out to dry. I understand that debris can cover up a sticky surface, but why does the soap not remove or otherwise create a film that would prevent the sticky from sticking? What properties of the soap and the sticky item are at play? And if the item is entirely sticky, does it count as an adhesive, and why does soap not just remove the adhesive?
In: Chemistry
It’s all about molecular/atomic bonds. Sticky things have an electron structure that make them bind well to most other molecules/atoms. Things like oils have the opposite effect: they don’t bind well to most other molecules/atoms. So what happens is that when the oils coat the sticky things, they form a barrier between the sticky material and whatever other materials, so eliminating the stickiness.
Soap + water binds to oils very strongly and pulls them away from other materials. When done to a sticky material, it removes the layer of oil, exposing the sticky surface again, and thus restoring stickiness.
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