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Everything about Soap

Substance used for cleaning

Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants typically used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are used as thickeners, components of some lubricants, emulsifiers, and catalysts. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: SoapA 5-minute orientation
  2. Skim a recent paper: Effectiveness of interventions to improve drinking water, sanitation, and handwashing with soap on risk of diarrhoeal disease in children in low-income and middle-income settings: a systematic review and meta-analysisInfluential work since 2022
  3. Pick up a classic book: The art of soap-makingThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  4. Read the landmark paper: SOAP: short oligonucleotide alignment programCited 3,242 times
  5. Go sideways: Palmolive (brand)A closely related topic
  6. Go sideways: Saponification valueA closely related topic

📖 Definitions

Noun A metallic salt derived from a fatty acid, commonly used in cleaning products.

Noun Some other substance, often a detergent or another surfactant, able to mix with both oil and water, used for cleaning.

Noun Money, specially when used as a bribe.

Noun A soap opera.

🗂️ The subject at a glance

  1. Types
  2. Soapmaking
  3. History

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

🆕 Influential since 2022

📚 Books worth reading

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

🔗 Related topics