The effect of free fatty acid in fatty soil on the detergency of particulate soil was investigated. Cotton lawn fabric was soiled with the mixture of polmitic acid, hydrogenated fat, paraffin oil and iron oxide black altering the contents of palmitic acid and was laundered with different sur-fastants under various temperature and alkalinity. The rate of soil removal was estimated by means of the spectoometic analysis of iron on the fabric before and after washing. The results of dergency were compared those obtained by reflactance and K/S value from Kubelka-Munk equation which were derived from reflactance measurements.