Cleaning with soap and soapless detergents. Detergent comes from the Latin word detergere meaning to clean, it is defined as a cleansing agent. Therefore, water itself is a detergent. This essay looks at soap and soapless (or synthetic) detergents. Both substances we use everyday and have a big market commercially, they effect everyone. Soaps are made from natural products and soapless detergents are produced chemically, each having advantages and disadvantages. Soap has a much longer history than it’s relatively new synthetic version. There is evidence of soap made in Mediterranean countries around 2500 years ago. The basic process has not changed mu