Surfactants represent an important class of compounds owing to their ability to readily locate at interfaces, be it air–liquid, liquid–liquid or solid–liquid. As such, surfactants are commonly employed as stabilisers in emulsions and foams as well as dispersing aids for solid particles. Understanding their interactions with such materials is therefore crucial for efficient use of these molecules. This work will utilise small-angle neutron scattering to understand surfactant interactions and adsorption on colloidal particles in bulk water. The results obtained from these experiments will subsequently form a roadmap for optimising particle–surfactant mixtures for uniform thin film drying.