Which one is more effective for washing clothes soap or detergents give a reason for your answer?
Detergent, because detergents contain ammonium or sulphonate salts of long-chain carboxylic acids, they are better than soaps. With calcium and magnesium present in hard water, the charged ends of these will not precipitate. Soaps, on the other hand, will precipitate with the calcium and magnesium ions in hard water.
Detergents are preferred over soap due to the following reasons: