<p>香皂 is one type of 肥皂. normally 香皂 is only for cleaning human body when people clean hand and have a bath.</p>

<p>some other type of 肥皂 are clean something else, like cleaning clothes.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-23T01:53:57.590Z
2014-06-23T01:53:57.590Z
caoglish
<p>香皂 is soap made out of "scented" (香) materials, hence <strong>scented</strong>  soap. 肥皂 is soap made from fat (肥), hence ordinary soap</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-23T18:57:40.397Z
2014-06-23T19:45:00.527Z
2014-06-23T19:45:00.527Z
Tom Au
<p>The difference is exactly as the definitions say. 香皂 is "<strong>scented</strong> soaps", while 肥皂 is just generic "soaps". That is the only difference. 香皂 is abbreviated from 香肥皂, meaning soap with added scents.</p>

<p>You can use either for washing face, body, hand, or clothes, but normally people use 洗衣粉/精 for the latter. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-21T09:16:24.083Z
exactly. But seldom see anyone uses a 香皂 to wash his/her face, because it can easily hurt eyes.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-21T16:20:53.197Z
We usually use 洗面乳／露 for washing our faces. Similarly, 沐浴乳／露 is bodywash.
DaoWen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-23T20:12:23.643Z
Sure. But that's talking about what people like to *do* now, not what the words mean. Bar soaps used to be the norm anyway.
Semaphore
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-21T08:34:00.967Z
2014-06-21T08:34:00.967Z
Semaphore
<h2 id="section-i905">香皂</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>scented soap, toilet soap</p>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="section-1-ar51">肥皂</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>soap</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What's difference though?</p>

<difference>
香皂 vs. 肥皂: What's the difference?
# 香皂 vs. 肥皂: What's the difference?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-06-21)

## 香皂

> scented soap, toilet soap

## 肥皂

> soap

What's difference though?

**Tags:** difference


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-06-21. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

The difference is exactly as the definitions say. 香皂 is "**scented** soaps", while 肥皂 is just generic "soaps". That is the only difference. 香皂 is abbreviated from 香肥皂, meaning soap with added scents.

You can use either for washing face, body, hand, or clothes, but normally people use 洗衣粉/精 for the latter.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: exactly. But seldom see anyone uses a 香皂 to wash his/her face, because it can easily hurt eyes.  
> **username_5**: We usually use 洗面乳／露 for washing our faces. Similarly, 沐浴乳／露 is bodywash.  
> **username_3**: Sure. But that's talking about what people like to *do* now, not what the words mean. Bar soaps used to be the norm anyway.  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2014-06-23. Score: 3

香皂 is one type of 肥皂. normally 香皂 is only for cleaning human body when people clean hand and have a bath.

some other type of 肥皂 are clean something else, like cleaning clothes.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2014-06-23. Score: 1

香皂 is soap made out of "scented" (香) materials, hence **scented** soap. 肥皂 is soap made from fat (肥), hence ordinary soap


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