Are Detergents Harmful To Plants?

An 8th grade science fair project is not expected to be an original experiment as long as the procedures are well-demonstrated and fully support the topic idea. Sometimes, smaller and a more specified science fair projects wins over the complicated ones because they are easier to understand. So just a tip: in conducting science projects, select a more specified topic that is easier to understand. One example is the effect of detergent on plants. In this project, you are going to find out if different detergents affect the growth of plants.


What are the effects of detergents to plants?


Detergents are made up of toxic components, so it will create a negative effect on plants, regardless of their commercial brands.


  • 4 plants of the same kind in pots
  • 21 pcs of 50-gram sachets of detergent powder of different brands
  • water
  • 3 big cups for watering


  1. Prepare the plants and make sure that they are of the same kind.
  2. Check if all plants are all fresh and green.
  3. Put the plants on the area where there is direct sunlight.
  4. Label each pot with: Without Sunlight, With Detergent 1, With Detergent 2, With Detergent 3
  5. On the 3 cups, make three different detergent solutions. 100:1000 that is 100g of detergent powder and 1000ml of water.
  6. Take the first plant (plant a) and pour 1000 ml of water in it. Do not use the detergent solution, just pure water.
  7. Take the second plant (plant b) and pour the 1st detergent solution.
  8. Repeat the same procedure for the third and fourth plant (plant c & plant d) and pour the second and third detergent solution respectively.
  9. Do this everyday for one week and write observations daily.


After one week, you can get results like: which plant is healthier, did the plants wither, which plant has a good condition and which kind of detergent makes the plant more withered. In summary, we will find out if detergents have a negative effect on plants.


To sum up everything, all kinds of detergents have a negative effects on plants.



One Response

Leave a Reply