Clothes are soaked in soap water. By soaking, clothes powder become soft and their surface become flexible. As a result the dirt particles become loose and while washing and rubbing, they come out of the clothes. Soap is alkaline in nature. Soaps which have vegetable fat are soft soaps.
Soap makes the cloth soft and then breaks down the grease particles to make the dirt loose from the small pores in the clothes. With the help of rubbing and soapy froth the dirt comes out and the cloth becomes clean.
Soap
Soap is made by mixing fats and alkalis. Both vegetable and animal fats are used. Paraffin oil is also added to enhance its quality. This is available in the form of cakes, powder, flakes, jelly, etc. Soaps are of two types:
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(a) Hard soap
(b) Light or mild soap
(a) Hard soap. Hard soap is made from coconut oil or any other similar oil. Caustic soda which is an alkaline is mixed with it. Such soaps form less lather and require more scrubbing and involve lots of labour. This method of soap making is known as hot method. Such soaps are not suitable for washing delicate and fine clothes like silk, etc.
(b) Light or mild soap. Such soaps are made by cold method. Light fats like linseed oil and light alkaline like caustic potash is used. Delicate and fine clothes should be washed with these soaps.