Jeana Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Being the strange soap freak that I am now, I was in a health food store and began looking at all the soap labels. I thought it was interesting all the different ways people list their ingredients in order not to include sodium hydroxide on their labels. I think the best one was "soaponified oils of ....." I like that though and may use it too.Has anyone else noticed this before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soyoholic Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 That's the terminolgy I use. If the soap is made correctly the sodium hydroxide or lye should be totally expended when the soap cures in the 2 - 3 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 I've seen that, and disagree with it. It's not proper, any way you look at it.If you wanted to list it with saponified oils of whatever, each one should be listed again, as unless you are using a 0% superfat (OW!) there are unsaponified oils left... So it would have to read:Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Lardate, Water, Tallow, Lard, FD&C Blue 1So, if you used 9 oils, each would have to be listed twice, and you've got to figure out how much is left unsaponifed of each oil to list it properly. How would you know that more tallow got saponified than the lard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeana Posted January 28, 2006 Author Share Posted January 28, 2006 Actually that is how one of the other labels read now that you mention it. I wondered what sodium tallowate and all the other sodiums were. I thought it could be their way of saying soaponified oils. But since it really isn't lye or sodium hydroxide left after the process is over then we aren't accurately listing ingredients either, right?I've heard of people looking for lye free soaps before and saying they have found them at the health food store, now I know why they found them. Because of the way the ingredients are listed they assume lye was not used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 You're right on that one too.. According to what I have read, in the US we can with soap label them with what went in the soap, or what is in the finished process of the soap. And like I said earlier, we just can't know what percentage of what is left unsaponified - and that's why I choose method number one. http://www.oshun.ca/inci.htmlYou can go there to see the sodium inci stuff... lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spellkast Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 I was under the impression (for some strange reason) that ingredients did not have to be put on soap labels. I thought I read it on this board a while ago- and didn't question it, but now that I've started making soap, I realize that you can put just about anything in it, and what if someone is allergic to one of the ingredients (say almond oil.) And even though the oils are saponified, people with nut allergies could still have a reaction from it, correct? I'm far from selling my soap yet, but is this the case? Ingredients or no ingredients...that is the question! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamtam Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 I'm sure others know more than I do, but from doing alot of research on the net, I have read that soap itself is not considered a cosmetic by the FDA. So individual ingredients don't necessarily need to be listed. You should be careful with EO's and probably list them, as some should not be used by pregnant women. Several posts I read said that they put a disclaimer, something like "If irritation occurs, discontinue use" just to cover their butt. ANyone else with info, please chime in, I would like to know for sure... I have a store and have been making herbal M&P, getting ready to label and put out for sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Right - unless a cosmetic claim is made on the soap (exfoliating, cleansing, etc) then it doesn't have to have an ingredient label. But if you choose to list anything, it must have all the ingredients listed. It's all or nothing. Spellkast, a person allergic to nuts should have a reaction whether or not the oil has been saponified. Interested in other peoples opinions on this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meridith Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 I list all the ingredients on my soap labels with the exception of lye. My belief is that it isn't in the end product, so I don't need to label it. I like the ingredients on my lables so that the customer can see whats in it not just for allergies but to show I put no detergents in my soaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landa Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Yeah I have never understood putting the lye on there if youve made your soap correctly then there isnt any left, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOPI Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 My understanding of the law is that if it is truly soap (oils and lye) then you don't have to list ingredients. If you make a claim about it then it is considered a cosmetic and you have to list ALL the ingredients including sodium hydroxide. They want everything listed that goes into the product and don't care about the end result(no lye left). I personally prefer that my labels show every ingredient including sodium hydroxide. Jeana- I have noticed many mislabled products in stores. Even the large chains have products labled incorrectly. I guess there aren't many b&b police. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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