Is shaving cream safe to eat?

Kids will experiment and test things out, if they were not trying whilst you were there i'm sure they'd get your back turned and make some lather for themselves. I doubt they would eat or indeed swallow too much of it and certainly a once only attempt i'd say.

My old dad used to brush his teeth with soap back in the early 60's. Toothpaste was a luxury in old Ireland then. He had great teeth all his life and suffered no ill effects from the soap. At least he was clued up enough to know that keeping them clean was better than letting them rot.

The only thing i could say is that swallowing it would give you a problem stomach for a day and your sphincter may resemble the opening credits of Bonanza.

So, how does everybody here know that shaving cream tastes bad?

Parataxis said:

So, how does everybody here know that shaving cream tastes bad?

Click to expand...

Because if you are overzealous with your brush when lathering, you frequently get shaving cream into your mouth. Tends to happen to me every time I use Proraso/C.O. Bigelow.

Doesn't Proraso make a line of soups, too...? Might be yummier than their line of shave products.

Speaking as someone who works in an ER, when in doubt, contact your local poison control number. There's marvelous tomes of information available to those folks on pretty much everything ingestible. The number here in Oregon is 1-800-222-1222. I'm not sure of other places, but it should be in your phone book.

Take a look at the ingredients to the soap and give them a quick call. Just be sure you tell them that your kids didn't actually eat the soap (unless, of course, they did), and that you're just wondering about toxicity.

You can also call the company. When my cat knocked over a wax-tart burner (my wife loves the scented waxes) and got it all over himself, we called up Yankee Candle and spoke to the production foreman who was immensely helpful. The company should have an MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheet) available for their products and should know if it's toxic or not. Whether their company policy allows them to tell you or not may vary.

I seriously doubt a dab of shaving soap on the tongue would be very harmful. Think of all the things kids eat, or ate long ago before helicopter parents. I remember crunching into a nice juicy grasshopper, tasting ants, and yes, having my mouth washed out with soap.

Drubbing said:

No offense back, but spoken like a true expert who doesn't have any kids?

Kids can be sneaky, quick with their hands and feet, and squeeze into all sorts of places they can't get out of. All in the time it takes you to bend down and open or close a cupboard door when you didn't even know they were in the same room as you.

They are domestic ninja's.

Responsibility doesn't even get a chance sometimes.

Click to expand...

True, I'll admit that I don't have any kids. I'm just saying that I know that when I do have them, I vow to watch them like a hawk. I know I'll probably slip up on doing so more than a few times, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to still try to keep my eye on them when I can.

nihmrodd said:

Doesn't Proraso make a line of soups, too...? Might be yummier than their line of shave products.

Click to expand...

That's Progresso, buddy. But if you ask me, they both taste equally as horrible!

Angus Young said:

Stupid question I know but my daughters like watching me shave. I keep my brush away from them but they want to grab it to play with some lather. If I let them it's enevitable they'll try to taste it as it smells nice. Will this do them any harm?

Click to expand...

It doesn't seem to hurt the Yankees.

A girlfriend once asked me if I actually liked the taste of shaving lather when I got some in my mouth. I lied and said yes...

My parents made sure I sampled many different flavors of soap and I have suffered no long term problems. I guess I should have kept my mouth shut.

nihmrodd said:

Doesn't Proraso make a line of soups, too...? Might be yummier than their line of shave products.

Click to expand...

No, no...that's Progresso.

moshulu said:

A girlfriend once asked me if I actually liked the taste of shaving lather when I got some in my mouth. I lied and said yes...

Click to expand...

Why?
Why one, did she ask you and two, did you lie? I mean, what was the benefit of lying? I hope you scored with that lie.

rickboone1 said:

No, no...that's Progresso.

Click to expand...

No, that's hilarious!

The thing you have to do is to change the contents...on a clean mug or cup put some...MAYO'!!! It will taste good!!

AngelWolf said:

Speaking as someone who works in an ER, when in doubt, contact your local poison control number. There's marvelous tomes of information available to those folks on pretty much everything ingestible. The number here in Oregon is 1-800-222-1222. I'm not sure of other places, but it should be in your phone book.

Take a look at the ingredients to the soap and give them a quick call. Just be sure you tell them that your kids didn't actually eat the soap (unless, of course, they did), and that you're just wondering about toxicity.

You can also call the company. When my cat knocked over a wax-tart burner (my wife loves the scented waxes) and got it all over himself, we called up Yankee Candle and spoke to the production foreman who was immensely helpful. The company should have an MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheet) available for their products and should know if it's toxic or not. Whether their company policy allows them to tell you or not may vary.

I seriously doubt a dab of shaving soap on the tongue would be very harmful. Think of all the things kids eat, or ate long ago before helicopter parents. I remember crunching into a nice juicy grasshopper, tasting ants, and yes, having my mouth washed out with soap.

Click to expand...

so who got to hold the cat down and shave it?

I was trying a diagonal pass on my neck last evening after seeing it mentioned on here. My son (22 months old this week) walked in and grabbed my shaving brush, fully lathered-up that I had sat on the edge of the counter while shaving. I looked down and he had a frown and completely a lathered mouth.

He obviously just picked it up and put it in his mouth!

Yes it was funny.

Poor little guy just wanted to be like his father.

RexHavoc said:

A common side effect of soap poisoning is blindness, but this is usually only seen in Lifebouy soap, for more info.....

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20001224/REVIEWS08/12240301/1023

Click to expand...

Completely untrue.

I grew up on that soap (the salmon/orange bars!) and I'm fine...well, I can see fine.

I just want to point out that the thread title is: "Is shaving CREAM safe to eat?" But most people seem to be discussing soap. I think we need to debate the differences (he says only half kidding...).

But in all seriousness, I'm going to agree with all the people who thinks it's fine. I'm pretty sure I've purposely tasted a few of my soaps with no ill effects (hopefully the fact that I can't remember is not due to said tasting). I know I have definitely wanted to taste many...


The bottom line is like everyone says, it's not toxic and so without eating an entire tube/puck I would say worst case scenario is a stomachache and maybe the runs. Even after an entire tube/puck it would probably just be a bad stomachache and some runs/vomiting.

More than likely though, the quantity consumed will be very small. You start with an almond sized gob of cream, turn it into yummy lather and then eat a bit of lather...how much was cream and hoe much was air/water? You'd need to eat a whole bowl of lather just to consume an almond size of cream. If your children are hungry enough for that, and think it tasted good enough to eat the whole bowl, maybe we should all start eating lather...or you should give them bigger breakfasts