Another Cedarfurnitureman-alike on the bay?
- Thread starter xgunterx
- Start date
Technically according to the FDA soap doesn't need to have an ingredient list as long as it falls into the guidelines of being a soap and you are making no other claims other than it cleans the skin.
The the moment you make some type of claim about it, saying that it's moisturizing puts it into the category of a cosmetic and then requires an ingredient list that is written in order from the greatest amount to the least amount. But if you make a drug claim saying it will cure psoriasis (for example) then it falls into the drug category and needs to be labeled as such with active ingredients listed and such.
But "most" soapmakers feel it's in the best interest of their business to make that list of ingredients known to their customers. Either in writing on the web site, on the label or to those that ask. Consumers should have access to this information just in case there is an allergy to a specific ingredient in the product.
This seller just lost a sale because he refused to give up any information about the product. Makes a person wonder, did he buy them in bulk from overseas with unknown and questionable ingredients or are they really made using an old family recipe. Handmade soap should always have the ingredients weighed out rather than using volume measurements. Volume just isn't accurate enough and you can end up with lye heavy soap which will burn the skin. Also many use recipes on the internet which are bad recipes, but saying it's an old 50 year family recipe sounds better than the alternative.
Is it a melt and pour soap. Did the seller go down to Michaels craft store and pick up some melt and pour base and chunk it up, melt and some sent before pouring into a mold. If melt and pour soap was used there are very different qualities of it and that needs to be remembered. The stuff purchased in most craft stores is a very low quality.
Personally when it comes to Old Family Recipes and soap my opinion isn't very high of them because they lack modern technology to understanding the ingredients and the oils to get a really good bar of soap.
Maybe it's just because I tried some soap that a friend of mine makes (and sells) using an old recipe of his aunts. His aunt is 89 and he refuses to change his recipe because it was his aunts recipe and he feels that she is right and that is the only way to make soap. Granted it was a hard bar of soap, but it was also over-cleansing and stripped to much of the natural oils off the skin. It left my skin feeling way to "squeeky clean" and dry and almost itchy because it didn't moisturize the skin at all. To me that wasn't a good bar of soap at all because it lacked the knowledge that we know about how to make soap and the properties of oils. So I would personally opt to buy or use a product that has science on it's side. At least for configuring the recipe knowing it's going to be a gentle soap, not harsh and will leave me feeling clean but not to squeeky clean and moisturized skin.
A list of ingredients, and an alleged "family recipe" for making soap, are two completely different things. I know the ingredients in a bar of Irish Spring, but could never replicate it on my own. In the age of the savvy, environmentally conscious, label reading consumer, refusing to divulge the ingredients of a product, especially one that gets used on the skin, is ridiculous.
This is a grand place to point to the vendor TOU here at the B&B-
and this in particular,
"Vendors should expect in-depth, specific questions about their products and be prepared to discuss manufacturing process and ingredients."
and this in particular,
"Vendors should expect in-depth, specific questions about their products and be prepared to discuss manufacturing process and ingredients."
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This is a grand place to point to the vendor TOU here at the B&B-
and this in particular,
"Vendors should expect in-depth, specific questions about their products and be prepared to discuss manufacturing process and ingredients."
What's sad is that B&B has to state that specifically, since it's not true elsewhere.
I emailed this guy to order some, and he never even emailed me back to to let me know he was out, or that he that he didn't want to sell to me.
The first time I was on ebay I tried to bid on something form him, and he sent me a nasty email wanting my phone number and everything because i had a zero score.
The first time I was on ebay I tried to bid on something form him, and he sent me a nasty email wanting my phone number and everything because i had a zero score.
Excellent post, Krissy. There is a reason why modern soap-makers forgo grandma's country recipe.
My uncle ( a chemist) used to make soap. It was extremely cleansing, to the point my skin itched after a shower. While he knew his chemistry (he worked for Shell Oil) he really didn't have an idea about what made a great bar of soap. If he couldn't get it right, that would suggest that good soap making is more than mixing ingredients.
