Lather/foam/bubbles don't clean

[bcla]

It's kind of an annoyance (to me at least) that we as Americans are so conditioned to thinking that we need bubbles in order to clean properly. We have shampoo with lathering agents, which I suppose does help spread the actual cleaning agents. However, so many are conditioned to later/rinse/repeat in order to get a thick lather that gives the impression that the hair is cleaner. It's usually plenty clean the first time, and washing it again may unnecessarily strip away too much natural oils, which protects the hair and scalp to some degree.

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen06/gen06999.htm

Lather helps, but there is an upper limit to the effectiveness of lather. It turns out that not a lot of lather is necessary to get the advantages mentioned in the paragraph [that mentioned increasing surface area] above. So soaps that do not lather very well (castile and glycerine soaps, for example), seem to work just as well. Thus, the excessive lathering that we see is an addition based on commercial reasons. We have been taught to think that lather is equal to good cleaning, so more lather must be even better. This is only true up to a certain point, the increased interaction between soap, water, and oil does not increase further after a certain point.

We're used to having hand dishwashing detergent that foams up, and using soap that produces bubbles. And laundry detergent that foams up. I've had fun with that, where excessive detergent will foam up so much that it bubbles out of the washer as well as foam that isn't removed in the spin cycle and where it might need another rinse because there was so much foam that wasn't removed. However, then we have modern equipment that's needs a cleaning agent that doesn't foam up much, like high efficiency washing machines and automatic dishwashers. I remember a tenant ran out of automatic dishwasher detergent and just put in hand dishwashing detergent. It started spewing foam onto the kitchen floor.

A lot of cynics think that this was all marketing - especially with shampoos where the repeat cycle meant that people would use more and buy more.

 

[Robinrs]

I remember years ago hearing a laundry expert say on Martha Stewart's show say that if you see bubbles in your water, you've used too much.

 

[kimblebee]

I never lather my hair twice when I wash it. I put in the shampoo, bubble it up, let it sit for a bit, then rinse it out. I do agree though that we are conditioned to think that more bubbles=cleaner.

 

[U2_rocks!]

I tried using a shampoo that doesn't lather once - it was really hard to tell if I had gotten it spread around to everywhere I wanted it! Particularly if I was sweaty after a workout and really wanted to make sure my scalp was clean. That's one issue with things that don't lather.

 

[ellone]

I avoid liquid soaps with SLS which is that lathering agents most soaps use. The more natural stuff doesn't lather as well as stuff with SLS but I've gotten used to it.

 

[bcla]

I avoid liquid soaps with SLS which is that lathering agents most soaps use. The more natural stuff doesn't lather as well as stuff with SLS but I've gotten used to it.

Depends on what you mean by "SLS".

Sodium lauryl sulfate or ammonium lauryl sulfate are actually detergents/surfactants that don't foam, and they're ubiquitous. Most so-called "hand soaps" use a detergent. It's also the most common detergent in dishwashing and laundry detergents. I've seen this in some skin cleansers like Cetaphil, which doesn't lather.

One common foaming agent that isn't a detergent is cocoamide diethanolamine (cocoamide DEA on most labels).

Then there sodium laureth sulfate, which is a detergent/surfactant that has some foaming properties.

I do use a "hand soap" that foams, because my wife likes it. However, it's annoying because it leaves a mess of suds that I have to rinse off - with a lot of water. Or I guess with the water shortage in California I could just leave it there until the next time I use the faucet.

 

[ilovepcot]

I tried using a shampoo that doesn't lather once - it was really hard to tell if I had gotten it spread around to everywhere I wanted it! Particularly if I was sweaty after a workout and really wanted to make sure my scalp was clean. That's one issue with things that don't lather.

Yeah. And when shampoo I used wasn't lathering the way I was used to, I kept pouring it on in hopes of lather. Wasted waaay too much and still wasn't happy. Love the lather!

 

[Diznygrl]

Shampoo has to lather or else you can't really tell if it's getting everywhere it needs to be. Even if it is a psychological thing, shampooing without some kind of lather just feels gross to me, like I'm not even washing my hair. Like when you're at hotels which usually have hard water and the shampoo won't lather properly. It feels like your hair is just absorbing the shampoo instead of the shampoo scrubbing the hair and scalp. I end up having to use way more shampoo than I do at home.

I switched to foaming hand soap not because I think it cleans better than regular soap, but unlike bcla I feel that it makes less of a mess. I got tired of cleaning up rogue streaks of liquid/cream soap goo out of the sink. I don't seem to have that problem with foam.

 

[bcla]

I switched to foaming hand soap not because I think it cleans better than regular soap, but unlike bcla I feel that it makes less of a mess. I got tired of cleaning up rogue streaks of liquid/cream soap goo out of the sink. I don't seem to have that problem with foam.

I wasn't referring to one of those "foaming hand soaps" with a thin liquid and a pump that injects air when dispensed. That's not really lather, but an alternative means of producing more surface area. Those kinds tend to wash away easily.

We use Softsoap "Aquarium Series" or the equivalent you can find at Costco. It's a thick, goopy gel, and once lathered it takes a long time to break up. The ingredient list includes a pretty well known foaming agent.

 

[Diznygrl]

I wasn't referring to one of those "foaming hand soaps" with a thin liquid and a pump that injects air when dispensed. That's not really lather, but an alternative means of producing more surface area. Those kinds tend to wash away easily.

We use Softsoap "Aquarium Series" or the equivalent you can find at Costco. It's a thick, goopy gel, and once lathered it takes a long time to break up. The ingredient list includes a pretty well known foaming agent.

OHHH, ok. Gotcha.