The effect of addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to a layer of hydrophobically modified ethyl(hydroxyethyl)cellulose (HM-EHEC) preadsorbed on hydrophobized mica has been studied with an interferometric surface force apparatus (SFA). The force between the surfaces was always repulsive on both compression and separation. The range of this force, which is 1500 Å for the HM-EHEC layers, undergoes a non-monotonic change on addition of SDS. Initially, at low SDS concentrations the layer expand, while at higher surfactant concentrations a contraction of the adsorbed layer is observed. At 1.5 mM SDS the range of the force is at maximum, while at 6 mM SDS the layer is significantly thinner than before addition of SDS. The results are discussed in terms of polymer-surfactant interfacial association and competitive adsorption. The data obtained by surface force measurements agree qualitatively with ellipsometry findings on the same system