Word.ws English Dictionary

soap scum

soap scum noun: the buildup of insoluble calcium or magnesium fatty acids from the use of soap with hard water, which leads to a dulling of surfaces and acts as a matrix for trapping soils.

Noun

soap scum (uncountable)

  1. The buildup of insoluble calcium or magnesium fatty acids from the use of soap with hard water, which leads to a dulling of surfaces and acts as a matrix for trapping soils.
    • You can purchase one of the numerous cleaners on the market specifically formulated to dissolve soap scum or use a variety of home remedies for ridding tile, showers and bathtubs from the dull gray film.1999, Jeff Bredenberg, Clean It Fast, Clean It Right, →ISBN, page 349
    • Clean soap scum off a tub or shower stall by applying hot vinegar with a sponge or rag, then scrubbing hard with a stiff-bristled scrub brush.2007, Ellen Sandbeck, Organic Housekeeping, →ISBN

Questions about soap scum

What does soap scum mean?
Soap scum means the buildup of insoluble calcium or magnesium fatty acids from the use of soap with hard water, which leads to a dulling of surfaces and acts as a matrix for trapping soils.
What part of speech is soap scum?
Soap scum is a noun.

Words near soap scum in the dictionary

  1. soap pans
  2. soap plant
  3. soap plants
  4. soap ring
  5. soap rings
  6. soap scum
  7. soap shaker
  8. soap suds
  9. soap test
  10. soap tests
  11. soap tree

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: soap scum (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-soap scum.wav.

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