Talk:Laundry detergent/Archives/2015

Reaction with biomolecules

I think most of us have noticed that when detergent powder, especially slightly moistened, comes in contact with our skin, it feels warm, suggesting that there is an exothermic reaction between the skin and the detergent. I am not exactly sure why this happens, although I have learned from some sources that this might be because of bond formation between the liophilic (or hydrophobic) ends of the detergent dipole and the surface biomolecules of the skin, and the subsequent release of ATP (contributing to the warm feeling) in the process. I was wondering if anyone could add a section explaining reactions of detergent with biomolecules in general, and with the skin in particular (with citations from reliable sources of course). Knaveknight (talk) 14:03, 19 July 2015 (UTC)