Soap even applied to synthetic material? Not half (8)
I believe the answer is:
flattery
'soap' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Soft soap' mean 'flattery' so perhaps 'soap' could also mean 'flattery')
'even applied to synthetic material? not half' is the wordplay.
'even' becomes 'flat' ('flat' can be similar in meaning to 'even'**).
'applied to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'synthetic material?' becomes 'terylene' (I've seen this before).
'not half' means to take half the letters.
'terylene' with half the letters taken is 'tery'.
'flat'+'tery'='FLATTERY'
(Other definitions for flattery that I've seen before include "sugar?" , "flannel" , "Sweet talk" , "Excessive or insincere praise" , "Fawning, false praise" .)