Hide electrical lead in soapsuds (7)
I believe the answer is:
leather
'hide' is the definition.
(an animal hide)
'electrical lead in soapsuds' is the wordplay.
'lead' says to take the initial letters.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'soapsuds' becomes 'lather' (synonyms).
The initial letter of 'electrical' is 'e'.
'e' going inside 'lather' is 'LEATHER'.
(Other definitions for leather that I've seen before include "Treated hide" , "Tanned animal skin" , "Cured animal hide" , "Fabric" , "kid, perhaps" .)