A University of Bristol team has dissolved iron in liquid surfactant to create a soap that can be controlled by magnets. The discovery could be used to create cleaning products that can be removed after application and used in the recovery of oil spills at seaScientists from the University of Bristol have developed a soap, composed of iron rich saltsdissolved in water, that responds to a magnetic field when placed in solution. The soap’s magnetic properties were proved withneutrons at the Institut Laue-Langevin to result from tiny iron-rich clumps that sit within the watery solution. The generation ofthis property in a fully functional soap could calm concerns over the use of soaps in oil-spill clean ups and revolutionise industrial cleaning products.


Source: http://www.bris.ac.uk/chemistry/news/2012/11.html

Another weird invention if I might say so. Kindly note that the image is not of the soap.