So what's the deal w/Soap Scum?

[jramire2]

OK, so I've recently become a wetshaver, which has caused me to spend way too much time on this site.

In doing so, I've also been reading in this forum a lot, and shifted towards "real" soaps vs. detergent based body bars. I've read here that detergent bars can leave a film on your skin, and that real soap doesn't.

So, if that's the case, then what's the deal with soap scum on shower doors or the soap ring that's left on bathtubs a lot. Is that really "soap" scum like people say or is it really "detergent" scum? And if it is soap scum, then isn't the same layer of stuff being left on your skin too?

I'd like to know b/c if it is the detergent that leaves this nasty stuff, then I'm thinking of trying to track down a soap based product for our laundry as well.

~Joshua

 

[TromboneGuy]

The soap ring left on bathtubs results from taking baths. Soap OR detergent sort of binds to dirt, so you have a soap/dirt mix floating on the top of the bathwater. Plus, the soap destroys the surface tension of the water, so everything moves toward the endges of the tub.

Then, when you drain water out of the tub, a lot of the soap/dirt mix sticks to the side of the tub rather than going down the drain. Hence, a scum ring on the tub. The scum is actually mostly dirt you just washed off of yourself that, for one reason or another, didn't go down the drain.