Does the main washing effect of soap come from foam?Soap and rain water, why does it not rinse off?Fireplace window: Can one influence how fast soot is building up?What is the effect of oxygen on soap foam?Where did all the elements come from?Why it is hard to rinse off soap from your body using rain waterSoaps come in different colors, but why is soap lather always white?What is the grey film/black sludge from mercury? How to remove it?Washing stainless steel separator from organic residueThe chemical reaction between lemon juice and polystyrene foam cupsWhat does borax do in and to the washing machine?

How can I wire a 9-position switch so that each position turns on one more LED than the one before?

Is there a word for the censored part of a video?

Why doesn't the standard consider a template constructor as a copy constructor?

Is there any pythonic way to find average of specific tuple elements in array?

"Whatever a Russian does, they end up making the Kalashnikov gun"? Are there any similar proverbs in English?

What is the best way to deal with NPC-NPC combat?

What does MLD stand for?

Where was the County of Thurn und Taxis located?

How much of a wave function must reside inside event horizon for it to be consumed by the black hole?

What is this word supposed to be?

Creating a chemical industry from a medieval tech level without petroleum

Can a stored procedure reference the database in which it is stored?

Philosophical question on logistic regression: why isn't the optimal threshold value trained?

Contradiction proof for inequality of P and NP?

What makes accurate emulation of old systems a difficult task?

Apply a different color ramp to subset of categorized symbols in QGIS?

How exactly does Hawking radiation decrease the mass of black holes?

Is there really no use for MD5 anymore?

Why do distances seem to matter in the Foundation world?

Double-nominative constructions and “von”

What is the unit of time_lock_delta in LND?

Are there moral objections to a life motivated purely by money? How to sway a person from this lifestyle?

Does a large simulator bay have standard public address announcements?

Why did C use the -> operator instead of reusing the . operator?



Does the main washing effect of soap come from foam?


Soap and rain water, why does it not rinse off?Fireplace window: Can one influence how fast soot is building up?What is the effect of oxygen on soap foam?Where did all the elements come from?Why it is hard to rinse off soap from your body using rain waterSoaps come in different colors, but why is soap lather always white?What is the grey film/black sludge from mercury? How to remove it?Washing stainless steel separator from organic residueThe chemical reaction between lemon juice and polystyrene foam cupsWhat does borax do in and to the washing machine?













6












$begingroup$


I am curious if the main cleaning effect of soap comes from its foam (or, maybe, it is just a by-product).

Here are some points, that might clarify what I mean:



  1. Does foam sort of "carry" dirt and germs away from the surface?

  2. If it is not the "main motor", which makes the soap function: is it possible to make a soap which will still be as effective without it producing any foam?

  3. What percent of the cleaning work, if any, does foam undertakes (i.e. how effective would soap be against germs and dirt without its foaming ability)?









share|improve this question









New contributor




Filipp W. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.







$endgroup$
















    6












    $begingroup$


    I am curious if the main cleaning effect of soap comes from its foam (or, maybe, it is just a by-product).

    Here are some points, that might clarify what I mean:



    1. Does foam sort of "carry" dirt and germs away from the surface?

    2. If it is not the "main motor", which makes the soap function: is it possible to make a soap which will still be as effective without it producing any foam?

    3. What percent of the cleaning work, if any, does foam undertakes (i.e. how effective would soap be against germs and dirt without its foaming ability)?









    share|improve this question









    New contributor




    Filipp W. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.







    $endgroup$














      6












      6








      6


      1



      $begingroup$


      I am curious if the main cleaning effect of soap comes from its foam (or, maybe, it is just a by-product).

      Here are some points, that might clarify what I mean:



      1. Does foam sort of "carry" dirt and germs away from the surface?

      2. If it is not the "main motor", which makes the soap function: is it possible to make a soap which will still be as effective without it producing any foam?

      3. What percent of the cleaning work, if any, does foam undertakes (i.e. how effective would soap be against germs and dirt without its foaming ability)?









      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      Filipp W. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.







      $endgroup$




      I am curious if the main cleaning effect of soap comes from its foam (or, maybe, it is just a by-product).

      Here are some points, that might clarify what I mean:



      1. Does foam sort of "carry" dirt and germs away from the surface?

      2. If it is not the "main motor", which makes the soap function: is it possible to make a soap which will still be as effective without it producing any foam?

      3. What percent of the cleaning work, if any, does foam undertakes (i.e. how effective would soap be against germs and dirt without its foaming ability)?






      everyday-chemistry cleaning






      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      Filipp W. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      Filipp W. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.









      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited Apr 21 at 15:31









      Liam

      1237




      1237






      New contributor




      Filipp W. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.









      asked Apr 21 at 12:53









      Filipp W.Filipp W.

      1395




      1395




      New contributor




      Filipp W. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.





      New contributor





      Filipp W. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






      Filipp W. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.




















          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          15












          $begingroup$

          Foam is a side effect of using a tensio-active agents (though some tensio-active agents are engineered to produce as little foam as possible, e.g. in washing machines). In fact, you could consider that, if soap has nothing better to do, it will form foam. This answers some of your questions: foam does not (really) carry away dirt and its percentage of efficiency in the whole process is low.



          Molecules of soap are made of 2 parts: a hydrophobic tail (which loves fat, grease, lipids, whatever you call them) and a hydrophilic head which loves water, and hate lipids.



          When the hydrophobic tails are busy linking to a greasy stain or grease on your hands, they no longer participate into forming bubbles/foam.



          The easiest way to verify that is to pour a little bit of oil in your hands and rub them. Wash your hands with soap a first time: there will be almost no foam. Now rinse your hands and wash them again: there should be much more foam!



          Note that it does not mean that your hands are cleaner, regarding bacteria, but just that they are less greasy!



          If you want to remove bacteria, rub your hands with soap for at least 30 seconds. So-called "anti-bacterial" soaps do not achieve better and promote bacterial resistance.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$








          • 5




            $begingroup$
            Anti-bacterial soaps are better at killing bacteria. It's just that normal soap is already amazing at killing bacteria, and humans are resistant enough that the difference is essentially non-existent for a normal healthy human. It's certainly very noticeable where people aren't healthy.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            Apr 21 at 15:31






          • 9




            $begingroup$
            @Luaan Normal soap doesn't "kill" bacteria at all. Rather, the surfactants in soap allow the bacteria to be washed away. This is why hand-washing technique is also so important, and why water alone (no soap) is still surprisingly effective when no other options are available. If you want a biocidal effect, you need an anti-bacterial soap. But, as pointed out here, the efficacy levels are not significantly higher (although they do increase the longer you rub the soap around, unlike the surfactant effect, which peaks after a certain minimal amount of time), and they promote resistance.
            $endgroup$
            – Cody Gray
            Apr 21 at 16:47


















          1












          $begingroup$

          The foaming action of soap was put there as a sort of "indicator" that something is happening. It's a marketing strategy because people are ignorant about how soap works. The bubbles are just air pockets and have no effect on cleanliness.






          share|improve this answer








          New contributor




          Dumbassahedratron is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.






          $endgroup$








          • 1




            $begingroup$
            This is not true for "normal" soap, but is true for some "detergents".
            $endgroup$
            – Hot Licks
            Apr 21 at 19:08






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Actually, it is. You can make some soap yourself and it'll only foam slightly, if you don't add foaming agent like producers do.
            $endgroup$
            – Mithoron
            Apr 21 at 22:05










          • $begingroup$
            Made soap yesterday and have been making soap for personal use for several years. I use the standard oil/lard process. This soap foams quite well, in my experience. The bubbles seem finer, and the froth seems "creamier".
            $endgroup$
            – Tim Nevins
            Apr 22 at 16:10











          Your Answer








          StackExchange.ready(function()
          var channelOptions =
          tags: "".split(" "),
          id: "431"
          ;
          initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

          StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
          // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
          if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
          StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
          createEditor();
          );

          else
          createEditor();

          );

          function createEditor()
          StackExchange.prepareEditor(
          heartbeatType: 'answer',
          autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
          convertImagesToLinks: false,
          noModals: true,
          showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
          reputationToPostImages: null,
          bindNavPrevention: true,
          postfix: "",
          imageUploader:
          brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
          contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
          allowUrls: true
          ,
          onDemand: true,
          discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
          ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
          );



          );






          Filipp W. is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.









          draft saved

          draft discarded


















          StackExchange.ready(
          function ()
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fchemistry.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f113103%2fdoes-the-main-washing-effect-of-soap-come-from-foam%23new-answer', 'question_page');

          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown

























          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes








          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes









          15












          $begingroup$

          Foam is a side effect of using a tensio-active agents (though some tensio-active agents are engineered to produce as little foam as possible, e.g. in washing machines). In fact, you could consider that, if soap has nothing better to do, it will form foam. This answers some of your questions: foam does not (really) carry away dirt and its percentage of efficiency in the whole process is low.



          Molecules of soap are made of 2 parts: a hydrophobic tail (which loves fat, grease, lipids, whatever you call them) and a hydrophilic head which loves water, and hate lipids.



          When the hydrophobic tails are busy linking to a greasy stain or grease on your hands, they no longer participate into forming bubbles/foam.



          The easiest way to verify that is to pour a little bit of oil in your hands and rub them. Wash your hands with soap a first time: there will be almost no foam. Now rinse your hands and wash them again: there should be much more foam!



          Note that it does not mean that your hands are cleaner, regarding bacteria, but just that they are less greasy!



          If you want to remove bacteria, rub your hands with soap for at least 30 seconds. So-called "anti-bacterial" soaps do not achieve better and promote bacterial resistance.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$








          • 5




            $begingroup$
            Anti-bacterial soaps are better at killing bacteria. It's just that normal soap is already amazing at killing bacteria, and humans are resistant enough that the difference is essentially non-existent for a normal healthy human. It's certainly very noticeable where people aren't healthy.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            Apr 21 at 15:31






          • 9




            $begingroup$
            @Luaan Normal soap doesn't "kill" bacteria at all. Rather, the surfactants in soap allow the bacteria to be washed away. This is why hand-washing technique is also so important, and why water alone (no soap) is still surprisingly effective when no other options are available. If you want a biocidal effect, you need an anti-bacterial soap. But, as pointed out here, the efficacy levels are not significantly higher (although they do increase the longer you rub the soap around, unlike the surfactant effect, which peaks after a certain minimal amount of time), and they promote resistance.
            $endgroup$
            – Cody Gray
            Apr 21 at 16:47















          15












          $begingroup$

          Foam is a side effect of using a tensio-active agents (though some tensio-active agents are engineered to produce as little foam as possible, e.g. in washing machines). In fact, you could consider that, if soap has nothing better to do, it will form foam. This answers some of your questions: foam does not (really) carry away dirt and its percentage of efficiency in the whole process is low.



          Molecules of soap are made of 2 parts: a hydrophobic tail (which loves fat, grease, lipids, whatever you call them) and a hydrophilic head which loves water, and hate lipids.



          When the hydrophobic tails are busy linking to a greasy stain or grease on your hands, they no longer participate into forming bubbles/foam.



          The easiest way to verify that is to pour a little bit of oil in your hands and rub them. Wash your hands with soap a first time: there will be almost no foam. Now rinse your hands and wash them again: there should be much more foam!



          Note that it does not mean that your hands are cleaner, regarding bacteria, but just that they are less greasy!



          If you want to remove bacteria, rub your hands with soap for at least 30 seconds. So-called "anti-bacterial" soaps do not achieve better and promote bacterial resistance.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$








          • 5




            $begingroup$
            Anti-bacterial soaps are better at killing bacteria. It's just that normal soap is already amazing at killing bacteria, and humans are resistant enough that the difference is essentially non-existent for a normal healthy human. It's certainly very noticeable where people aren't healthy.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            Apr 21 at 15:31






          • 9




            $begingroup$
            @Luaan Normal soap doesn't "kill" bacteria at all. Rather, the surfactants in soap allow the bacteria to be washed away. This is why hand-washing technique is also so important, and why water alone (no soap) is still surprisingly effective when no other options are available. If you want a biocidal effect, you need an anti-bacterial soap. But, as pointed out here, the efficacy levels are not significantly higher (although they do increase the longer you rub the soap around, unlike the surfactant effect, which peaks after a certain minimal amount of time), and they promote resistance.
            $endgroup$
            – Cody Gray
            Apr 21 at 16:47













          15












          15








          15





          $begingroup$

          Foam is a side effect of using a tensio-active agents (though some tensio-active agents are engineered to produce as little foam as possible, e.g. in washing machines). In fact, you could consider that, if soap has nothing better to do, it will form foam. This answers some of your questions: foam does not (really) carry away dirt and its percentage of efficiency in the whole process is low.



          Molecules of soap are made of 2 parts: a hydrophobic tail (which loves fat, grease, lipids, whatever you call them) and a hydrophilic head which loves water, and hate lipids.



          When the hydrophobic tails are busy linking to a greasy stain or grease on your hands, they no longer participate into forming bubbles/foam.



          The easiest way to verify that is to pour a little bit of oil in your hands and rub them. Wash your hands with soap a first time: there will be almost no foam. Now rinse your hands and wash them again: there should be much more foam!



          Note that it does not mean that your hands are cleaner, regarding bacteria, but just that they are less greasy!



          If you want to remove bacteria, rub your hands with soap for at least 30 seconds. So-called "anti-bacterial" soaps do not achieve better and promote bacterial resistance.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$



          Foam is a side effect of using a tensio-active agents (though some tensio-active agents are engineered to produce as little foam as possible, e.g. in washing machines). In fact, you could consider that, if soap has nothing better to do, it will form foam. This answers some of your questions: foam does not (really) carry away dirt and its percentage of efficiency in the whole process is low.



          Molecules of soap are made of 2 parts: a hydrophobic tail (which loves fat, grease, lipids, whatever you call them) and a hydrophilic head which loves water, and hate lipids.



          When the hydrophobic tails are busy linking to a greasy stain or grease on your hands, they no longer participate into forming bubbles/foam.



          The easiest way to verify that is to pour a little bit of oil in your hands and rub them. Wash your hands with soap a first time: there will be almost no foam. Now rinse your hands and wash them again: there should be much more foam!



          Note that it does not mean that your hands are cleaner, regarding bacteria, but just that they are less greasy!



          If you want to remove bacteria, rub your hands with soap for at least 30 seconds. So-called "anti-bacterial" soaps do not achieve better and promote bacterial resistance.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered Apr 21 at 13:18









          SteffXSteffX

          2,154410




          2,154410







          • 5




            $begingroup$
            Anti-bacterial soaps are better at killing bacteria. It's just that normal soap is already amazing at killing bacteria, and humans are resistant enough that the difference is essentially non-existent for a normal healthy human. It's certainly very noticeable where people aren't healthy.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            Apr 21 at 15:31






          • 9




            $begingroup$
            @Luaan Normal soap doesn't "kill" bacteria at all. Rather, the surfactants in soap allow the bacteria to be washed away. This is why hand-washing technique is also so important, and why water alone (no soap) is still surprisingly effective when no other options are available. If you want a biocidal effect, you need an anti-bacterial soap. But, as pointed out here, the efficacy levels are not significantly higher (although they do increase the longer you rub the soap around, unlike the surfactant effect, which peaks after a certain minimal amount of time), and they promote resistance.
            $endgroup$
            – Cody Gray
            Apr 21 at 16:47












          • 5




            $begingroup$
            Anti-bacterial soaps are better at killing bacteria. It's just that normal soap is already amazing at killing bacteria, and humans are resistant enough that the difference is essentially non-existent for a normal healthy human. It's certainly very noticeable where people aren't healthy.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            Apr 21 at 15:31






          • 9




            $begingroup$
            @Luaan Normal soap doesn't "kill" bacteria at all. Rather, the surfactants in soap allow the bacteria to be washed away. This is why hand-washing technique is also so important, and why water alone (no soap) is still surprisingly effective when no other options are available. If you want a biocidal effect, you need an anti-bacterial soap. But, as pointed out here, the efficacy levels are not significantly higher (although they do increase the longer you rub the soap around, unlike the surfactant effect, which peaks after a certain minimal amount of time), and they promote resistance.
            $endgroup$
            – Cody Gray
            Apr 21 at 16:47







          5




          5




          $begingroup$
          Anti-bacterial soaps are better at killing bacteria. It's just that normal soap is already amazing at killing bacteria, and humans are resistant enough that the difference is essentially non-existent for a normal healthy human. It's certainly very noticeable where people aren't healthy.
          $endgroup$
          – Luaan
          Apr 21 at 15:31




          $begingroup$
          Anti-bacterial soaps are better at killing bacteria. It's just that normal soap is already amazing at killing bacteria, and humans are resistant enough that the difference is essentially non-existent for a normal healthy human. It's certainly very noticeable where people aren't healthy.
          $endgroup$
          – Luaan
          Apr 21 at 15:31




          9




          9




          $begingroup$
          @Luaan Normal soap doesn't "kill" bacteria at all. Rather, the surfactants in soap allow the bacteria to be washed away. This is why hand-washing technique is also so important, and why water alone (no soap) is still surprisingly effective when no other options are available. If you want a biocidal effect, you need an anti-bacterial soap. But, as pointed out here, the efficacy levels are not significantly higher (although they do increase the longer you rub the soap around, unlike the surfactant effect, which peaks after a certain minimal amount of time), and they promote resistance.
          $endgroup$
          – Cody Gray
          Apr 21 at 16:47




          $begingroup$
          @Luaan Normal soap doesn't "kill" bacteria at all. Rather, the surfactants in soap allow the bacteria to be washed away. This is why hand-washing technique is also so important, and why water alone (no soap) is still surprisingly effective when no other options are available. If you want a biocidal effect, you need an anti-bacterial soap. But, as pointed out here, the efficacy levels are not significantly higher (although they do increase the longer you rub the soap around, unlike the surfactant effect, which peaks after a certain minimal amount of time), and they promote resistance.
          $endgroup$
          – Cody Gray
          Apr 21 at 16:47











          1












          $begingroup$

          The foaming action of soap was put there as a sort of "indicator" that something is happening. It's a marketing strategy because people are ignorant about how soap works. The bubbles are just air pockets and have no effect on cleanliness.






          share|improve this answer








          New contributor




          Dumbassahedratron is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.






          $endgroup$








          • 1




            $begingroup$
            This is not true for "normal" soap, but is true for some "detergents".
            $endgroup$
            – Hot Licks
            Apr 21 at 19:08






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Actually, it is. You can make some soap yourself and it'll only foam slightly, if you don't add foaming agent like producers do.
            $endgroup$
            – Mithoron
            Apr 21 at 22:05










          • $begingroup$
            Made soap yesterday and have been making soap for personal use for several years. I use the standard oil/lard process. This soap foams quite well, in my experience. The bubbles seem finer, and the froth seems "creamier".
            $endgroup$
            – Tim Nevins
            Apr 22 at 16:10















          1












          $begingroup$

          The foaming action of soap was put there as a sort of "indicator" that something is happening. It's a marketing strategy because people are ignorant about how soap works. The bubbles are just air pockets and have no effect on cleanliness.






          share|improve this answer








          New contributor




          Dumbassahedratron is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.






          $endgroup$








          • 1




            $begingroup$
            This is not true for "normal" soap, but is true for some "detergents".
            $endgroup$
            – Hot Licks
            Apr 21 at 19:08






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Actually, it is. You can make some soap yourself and it'll only foam slightly, if you don't add foaming agent like producers do.
            $endgroup$
            – Mithoron
            Apr 21 at 22:05










          • $begingroup$
            Made soap yesterday and have been making soap for personal use for several years. I use the standard oil/lard process. This soap foams quite well, in my experience. The bubbles seem finer, and the froth seems "creamier".
            $endgroup$
            – Tim Nevins
            Apr 22 at 16:10













          1












          1








          1





          $begingroup$

          The foaming action of soap was put there as a sort of "indicator" that something is happening. It's a marketing strategy because people are ignorant about how soap works. The bubbles are just air pockets and have no effect on cleanliness.






          share|improve this answer








          New contributor




          Dumbassahedratron is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.






          $endgroup$



          The foaming action of soap was put there as a sort of "indicator" that something is happening. It's a marketing strategy because people are ignorant about how soap works. The bubbles are just air pockets and have no effect on cleanliness.







          share|improve this answer








          New contributor




          Dumbassahedratron is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.









          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer






          New contributor




          Dumbassahedratron is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.









          answered Apr 21 at 16:58









          DumbassahedratronDumbassahedratron

          272




          272




          New contributor




          Dumbassahedratron is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.





          New contributor





          Dumbassahedratron is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.






          Dumbassahedratron is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.







          • 1




            $begingroup$
            This is not true for "normal" soap, but is true for some "detergents".
            $endgroup$
            – Hot Licks
            Apr 21 at 19:08






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Actually, it is. You can make some soap yourself and it'll only foam slightly, if you don't add foaming agent like producers do.
            $endgroup$
            – Mithoron
            Apr 21 at 22:05










          • $begingroup$
            Made soap yesterday and have been making soap for personal use for several years. I use the standard oil/lard process. This soap foams quite well, in my experience. The bubbles seem finer, and the froth seems "creamier".
            $endgroup$
            – Tim Nevins
            Apr 22 at 16:10












          • 1




            $begingroup$
            This is not true for "normal" soap, but is true for some "detergents".
            $endgroup$
            – Hot Licks
            Apr 21 at 19:08






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Actually, it is. You can make some soap yourself and it'll only foam slightly, if you don't add foaming agent like producers do.
            $endgroup$
            – Mithoron
            Apr 21 at 22:05










          • $begingroup$
            Made soap yesterday and have been making soap for personal use for several years. I use the standard oil/lard process. This soap foams quite well, in my experience. The bubbles seem finer, and the froth seems "creamier".
            $endgroup$
            – Tim Nevins
            Apr 22 at 16:10







          1




          1




          $begingroup$
          This is not true for "normal" soap, but is true for some "detergents".
          $endgroup$
          – Hot Licks
          Apr 21 at 19:08




          $begingroup$
          This is not true for "normal" soap, but is true for some "detergents".
          $endgroup$
          – Hot Licks
          Apr 21 at 19:08




          1




          1




          $begingroup$
          Actually, it is. You can make some soap yourself and it'll only foam slightly, if you don't add foaming agent like producers do.
          $endgroup$
          – Mithoron
          Apr 21 at 22:05




          $begingroup$
          Actually, it is. You can make some soap yourself and it'll only foam slightly, if you don't add foaming agent like producers do.
          $endgroup$
          – Mithoron
          Apr 21 at 22:05












          $begingroup$
          Made soap yesterday and have been making soap for personal use for several years. I use the standard oil/lard process. This soap foams quite well, in my experience. The bubbles seem finer, and the froth seems "creamier".
          $endgroup$
          – Tim Nevins
          Apr 22 at 16:10




          $begingroup$
          Made soap yesterday and have been making soap for personal use for several years. I use the standard oil/lard process. This soap foams quite well, in my experience. The bubbles seem finer, and the froth seems "creamier".
          $endgroup$
          – Tim Nevins
          Apr 22 at 16:10










          Filipp W. is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.









          draft saved

          draft discarded


















          Filipp W. is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.












          Filipp W. is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.











          Filipp W. is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.














          Thanks for contributing an answer to Chemistry Stack Exchange!


          • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

          But avoid


          • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

          • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

          Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


          To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




          draft saved


          draft discarded














          StackExchange.ready(
          function ()
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fchemistry.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f113103%2fdoes-the-main-washing-effect-of-soap-come-from-foam%23new-answer', 'question_page');

          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown





















































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown

































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown







          Popular posts from this blog

          Sum ergo cogito? 1 nng

          三茅街道4182Guuntc Dn precexpngmageondP