What is the difference between soap and shampoo?
I understand the basic idea of a surfactant - a molecule that binds to dirt on one end and water on the other end.
I don't understand why that molecule doesn't get stuck binding to skin or clothes the same way it binds to dirt.
I also don't understand exactly why there would be different versions for laundry, dishwasher, and hand dishes; but I guess a vague idea of different strengths makes sense.
But mostly I don't understand why soap and shampoo are separate. Also, given that they are, why do we use shampoo for head hair but not for hair on other parts of the body.
https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/19663/soap-versus-shampoo
This was a great post that talked a lot about different interested related things but never actually answered what is the difference between soap and shampoo.
>Shampoo, or more specifically the detergents present in it, are similar, but produced by a different process, to create a surfactant that is less likely to bond to the mineral compounds in hard water, and so is more effective than soap when using it with tap water from most regions.
This doesn't seem to have anything to do with soap vs shampoo but just any surfactant in hard water. This is the worst part of the post though, the rest is great to read.
I understand the basic idea of a surfactant - a molecule that binds to dirt on one end and water on the other end.
I don't understand why that molecule doesn't get stuck binding to skin or clothes the same way it binds to dirt.
I also don't understand exactly why there would be different versions for laundry, dishwasher, and hand dishes; but I guess a vague idea of different strengths makes sense.
But mostly I don't understand why soap and shampoo are separate. Also, given that they are, why do we use shampoo for head hair but not for hair on other parts of the body.
https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/19663/soap-versus-shampoo
This was a great post that talked a lot about different interested related things but never actually answered what is the difference between soap and shampoo.
>Shampoo, or more specifically the detergents present in it, are similar, but produced by a different process, to create a surfactant that is less likely to bond to the mineral compounds in hard water, and so is more effective than soap when using it with tap water from most regions.
This doesn't seem to have anything to do with soap vs shampoo but just any surfactant in hard water. This is the worst part of the post though, the rest is great to read.
