Soap, Detergent

A detergent is a compound, or a mixture of compounds, intended to assist cleaning. more...

Such a substance, especially those made for use with water, may include any of various components having several properties:

• surfactants to 'cut' grease and to wet surfaces
• abrasives to scour
• substances to modify pH, either to affect performance or stability of other ingredients, or as caustics to destroy dirt
• water "softeners" to counteract the effect of "hardness" ions on other ingredients
• oxidants (oxidizers) for bleaching and destruction of dirt
• materials other than surfactants to keep dirt in suspension
• enzymes to digest proteins, fats, or carbohydrates in dirt or to modify fabric feel
• ingredients, surfactant or otherwise, modifying the foaming properties of the cleaning surfactants, to either stabilize or counteract foam plus ingredients having other properties to go along with detergency, such as optical brighteners, softeners, etc., and colors, perfumes, etc.

Not only the material to be cleaned, but also the apparatus to be used, and type of and tolerance for dirt, dictate vast differences in the compositions of detergents. For instance, the following are all examples of glass-cleaning agents; however, they demonstrate the importance of context in the selection of an appropriate glass-cleaning agent:

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