Soaps and detergents

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Soaps and detergents are essential to personal and public health. Through their ability to loosen and remove soil from a surface, they contribute to good personal hygiene; reduce the presence of germs that cause infectious diseases; extend the useful life of clothes, tableware, linens, surfaces and furnishings; and make our homes and workplaces more pleasant.

The aspects of soap and detergent chemistry that make them effective cleaners are the same aspects that cause them have a big impact on the environment and cause allergic reactions in some humans. Additionally, many commercial detergents go beyond cleaning. Some contain coloured pigments that absorb certain wavelengths of light to make clothes appear cleaner others contain bleaches. Choosing soaps and detergents for that are strong enough to do the job you require but will have a minimum impact on the environment and your health is a challenge.

Soaps and detergents have been organised into five groups: personal cleansing, household laundry, household dishwashing, household cleaning and industrial detergents.