The effects of surfactants and concentration of NaOH in surfactant solution on the removal of free fatty acid soil from cotton fabrics were investigated. Cotton fabrics were soiled with palm itic acid which is the most common fatty acid found in natural oily soil and washed in Lauder-ometer with various types of surfactant with or without NaOH. The rate of soil removal was estimated by analyzing palmitic acid contents in fabric before ar d after washing. Analysis of palmitic contents was made by extracting palmitic acid with azeotropic mixture of alcohol-benzene and the extracts were titrated with standard NaOH solution. It was shown that the types of surfactant are important factor in free fatty acid removal and the efficiency increases in the following order: SLS<DBS<Na-palmitate, Tween 80<soap. When NaOH was added to surfactant solutions, efficiencies of soil removal were apparently im-proved except sodium soap. Anionic surfactant which is the most common active component of commercial sindet showed the best detergency in alkali solution and the rate of soil removal was attained up to $90\%$ of initial sorption. In relation to the mechanism of detergency, the suspending and emulsifying power of surfactants were also examined. From the results of this experiments, it could be concluded that the soap formation with alkali and the suspending power of surfactant arc significant factors in free fatty acid soil removal, but the emulsifying power of it is neglizible.