Soap vs Detergent: A Comparison

Let us look at the different advantages and disadvantages of using soap vs. detergent.

What is the difference between soap and detergent? Most of us use them for the same purpose, that is cleansing our body, clothes and around the house. Both can help to remove dirt and grime from surfaces. Yet soaps and detergents are quite different.

Soap

Soap is a sodium or potassium salt of a carboxylic acid. The end product of a bar of soap is a soap salt and glycerol. Products labelled as sodium stearate and sodium palmitate are actually soap.

Soap manufacturers produce their soaps using natural ingredients like vegetable oils and animal fats. The vegetable oils can be olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, etc. Excess oil and fat is used to keep the content moist in handmade soaps.

Soaps are biodegradable, which means they break down naturally without the aid of artificial additives.

In hard water, soaps form precipitates and less lather (or bubbles). Normally made in a solid form, soap takes time to dissolve in water.

We mostly use soaps for washing hands and our bodies. We use soaps for washing kitchen utensils too.

Detergent

They usually make detergents of sodium or potassium salts. Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) and Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate (SDS) are chemical ingredients commonly found in most detergents.

Manufacturers produce detergents using synthetic products from petroleum or petroleum fractions.

As petroleum is one of the ingredients, many detergents are not biodegradable. We cannot dissolve non biodegradable wastes using natural agents and will remain on earth for thousands of years.

Detergents do not form precipitates and bubbles well in hard water. This is because of the addition of a substance called sodium zeolite in detergents.

They sell most detergents in liquid form and they take less time to dissolve in water.

We use detergents for laundry, dishes and cleaning our homes. Body gels and shampoos are detergents. The ingredients are synthetic and contain chemicals.

Soap vs Detergent

We should all think about whether we should be using soap or detergent on our body. To help you understand the benefits of using soap, you can find some information in this article Why Use Natural Soaps.