The effects of nonionic surfactants OP-10 and OP-30 (polyoxyethylated octyl phenols with 10 and 30 oxyethylene groups, respectively) in surfactant mixtures with ionic surfactants hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) have been investigated by a conductometric method in conjunction with fluorescence, surface tension, zeta potential, and DLS measurements. The interactions are found to be antagonistic in nature for each of the systems: i.e., micellization of CTAB as well as SDS is hindered on addition of the nonionic surfactants. The antagonism is found to be more prominent in the presence of OP-10 compared to that of OP-30. Two types of mechanistic paths, path A operating below the critical micellar concentration and path B operating beyond the critical micellar concentration of nonionic surfactants, have been suggested. In path A, the retardation in micellization has been attributed to a decrease in monomeric concentration of the ionic surfactants from solution as a result of the formation of a hydrophobic complex between nonionic and ionic surfactants. In path B, the decrease in monomer concentration is due to the solubilization of the ionic surfactant in micelles of the nonionic surfactants in a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio. A theoretical treatment to the interaction in each ionic-nonionic pair yields a positive value of the interaction parameter supporting the concept of antagonism. The formation of the hydrophobic complex is supported by fluorescence and surface tension measurements. A schematic representation of the stabilization of these hydrophobic complexes has been suggested. The association of ionic surfactants by nonionic micelles is suggested by zeta potential and DLS studies. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.