SOAP

This article is about a common cleaning compound. For other uses of the word Soap, see Soap (disambiguation).

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Soap is a surfactant cleaning compound used for personal or minor cleaning. It usually comes in solid moulded form, termed bars. In somewhat recent years, the use of thick liquid soap has been becoming increasingly more widespread, especially from dispensers in public washrooms. Soap is used in conjunction with water for washing and cleaning. The wet soap residue and the dirt or soil are rinsed off with clean water afterwards. In the developed world, synthetic detergents have superseded soap as a laundry aid.

Related Topics:
Surfactant - Cleaning - Mould - Liquid - Dispenser - Washroom - Water - Detergent - Laundry

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Many soaps are mixtures of sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids which can be derived from oils or fats by reacting them with an alkali (such as sodium or potassium hydroxide) at 80°–100 °C in a process known as saponification. The fats are hydrolyzed by the base, yielding glycerol and crude soap. Historically, the alkali used was potash made from the deliberate burning of vegetation such as bracken, or from wood ashes.

Related Topics:
Sodium - Potassium - Salt - Fatty acid - Alkali - Sodium - Potassium hydroxide - Saponification - Hydrolyzed - Glycerol - Potash - Bracken

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Soap is derived from either oils or fats. Sodium Tallowate, a common ingredient in many soaps, is in fact rendered animal fat. Soap that is made of vegetable oils, such as olive oil, are generally termed castile soap.

Related Topics:
Rendered - Olive oil - Castile soap

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