Science Common Sense

187 - How does soap clean dirty dishes?

Soap is very good at cleaning dirty dishes. Here's how it works:

When you mix soap with water, it creates lots of tiny bubbles. These bubbles can attach to the food particles stuck on the dishes (like grease or grime).

The soap bubbles then surround the food particles and lift them off the dishes. This process is called 'emulsification'.

When you rinse the dishes with water, the soap bubbles and the food particles they're carrying get washed away, leaving your dishes clean.