I’ve noticed when cleaning dishes that when the cleaning solution is “sudsy,” cleaning seems to happen more quickly (less scrubbing, etc.).
Is this because:
* The suds themselves help with cleaning
* The suds don’t help with cleaning but they indicate that the cleaning solution has a particular desirable property;
* The suds don’t help with cleaning and aren’t related to any desirable property.
A related question is: For any effective cleaning solution can one create a cleaning solution which is just as effective but has very little sudsiness?
In: Chemistry
Bubbles are made by surface tension.
Oils disrupt this surface tension.
Therefore, if you can foam, you have not overwhelmed the properties of the detergent.
This also applies to shampoo and bath soap: if your hair is very dirty, you will never be able to lather-until you rinse the first run of shampoo off and start again. “Lather, rinse, repeat” is a joke: if you can achieve lather, there is no need to repeat.
Your last question is an emphatic yes: nonsudsing dish detergents are a thing. It’s called “dishwasher detergent”. This is by design, especially for use in high pressure high speed machines. Use a foaming soap in something that is putting forth much more power and speed than human arms can, and you will end off with a [foamsplosion (jump to 15:00)](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_rBO8neWw04&t=1685s)
Latest Answers