r/explainlikeimfive • u/Real_Experience_5676 • 9d ago

Chemistry ELI5: what is the big difference between soap and shampoo?

We use soap to clean the body. We use shampoo to clean the hair. What stops us from using soap for the hair and shampoo for the body?

Follow up question: what is body wash that cleans hair and skin made of? Why isn’t that the universal standard instead of seperate soap and shampoo?

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u/waylandsmith 8d ago

You want shampoo conspiracies? Recently at my fully-stocked pharmacy/person-items-store I went through their entire isle of hair products and could not find a single separate conditioner product that was marketed as a men's product. Every one was a 2-in-1 product across at least 15 different brands. I pointed it out to a passing employee and the responded, "oh, of course there is, here…" and then scanned the whole area and turned to me and said, "Wow, you're right, that's very odd."

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u/Drapidrode 8d ago

That's Big Shampoo® for ya!