Labeling soap as Natural or 100% Natural

[aab1]

I have questions about labeling soap as either Natural or 100% Natural.

Firstly, can I label soap either Natural or 100% Natural even though it's made with lye which isn't natural?

Secondly, can I label soap either Natural or 100% Natural if I use oxides as coloring?

Lastly, can I label soap either Natural or 100% Natural if it contains blue ultramarine?

Thanks

 

[paillo]

Oxides are synthetically manufactured, as is ultramarine. So no, you could not advertise them as natural, and certainly not 100 percent natural.

Here's a helpful bit of info from a fun blog: http://spottedhipposoap.blogspot.com/2010/09/are-micas-and-oxides-natural.html:

"So… are the iron oxides used to color cosmetics and soap mined from the earth, and are they as safe as any natural colorant?

No. Due to high levels of toxic contaminants such as arsenic, mercury, lead and selenium found in naturally occurring iron oxides, the iron oxides used in cosmetics and soap have been manufactured in labs since the 1970’s. The purpose of this was to make these colors safer by manufacturing a product with fewer toxins. As a result, iron oxides may contain fewer toxins, but they are certainly not natural."

 

[sistrum]

Since there is no legal definition for "natural" as far as I know I suppose you could if you wanted to. Many people do. But in my case I don't. Like you said the lye we use isn't natural nor are oxides or ultramarines and most the oils are so processed I really don't consider them natural either. I even have a problem calling distilled water natural.

I wish there were definite guidelines so when a person wanted to say "natural" or read "natural" everyone could be on the same page.

 

[Crazy8]

I feel that when people hear or see "natural" that they automatically think "oh that means its all made with just plants and junk". Well OK that might be what runs through my head but you get what I'm saying. I had seen a video where a lady was making soap in front of a class, and I think a student even asked if soap was all natural, and she said "well you cant have soap without lye, so no its not all natural." I mean if we REALLY were making a true all natural SAFE soap it would probably use natural colorants from roots, something natural to take the place of lye, probably no FO or EO, probably go as far as using ONLY organic plant oils, oh and water from a river, lake, or ocean. Id like to see how well that works...lol this would be a true hippy soap.

If you're OK with spending only 1/2 the cost on non-organic food, drink water that contains fluoride, and breath the air inside AND outside your house, then I guess I don't see what harm a little lye can do in a saop, which is far less than the chemicals used in soaps that you find on the shelf. Thats just me though.

 

[judymoody]

I'm with sistrum. Lye, oxides, and ultramarines are not natural. Legally, you can claim your soap is natural as it lacks a clear definition. But why make dubious claims in the first place?

Why not "hand-crafted" instead?

 

[Crazy8]

I'm with sistrum. Lye, oxides, and ultramarines are not natural. Legally, you can claim your soap is natural as it lacks a clear definition. But why make dubious claims in the first place?

Why not "hand-crafted" instead?

I would also lean more towards the "hand-crafted" or even "homemade". Though I wonder if you could claim "made with natural oils", "natural exfoliants", or even "natural preservatives" assuming that all of these were in fact natural. Could even say that tallow is natural since it comes right from the animal and noting is added to it to make it tallow. man these kinds of things get weird...lol

 

[DonnaC]

Such an interesting topic! My view is this. Soap doesn't grow on trees nor can you find it in the wild. So as an industry, it would be a bit misleading to ever refer to soap as 100% natural. Since ALL soap has been made with lye, and if we say lye were the disqualifier, there would be no such thing as the term 'natural soap'. But, since we know that there is no lye left in a bar of soap after it has saponified, then lye is no longer a factor. So then, lye doesn't count. I think oxides are a matter of opinion in that they come from nature, but must undergo processing to remove all the harmful bits. Essential oils would be natural as they are derived from natural sources (however, essential oils used improperly can be harmful). Fragrance oils are absolutely synthetic. Also, if something is not organic, can it be called natural? Since it's possible that pesticides have come into contact with ingredients used in soap, then what? And for those calling their products organic, how would this be verified? I'll stop now before I go way too off topic.

 

[dagmar88]

Also, if something is not organic, can it be called natural?

You can call any b&b product you want natural. It's just an empty term and says nothing about the quality or formulation of the product.

 

[TVivian]

I was looking at a popular soap makers site just this morning. They were advertising their soap as "vegan+organic" and I rolled my eyes a little..


Sent from my iPhone using Soap Making

 

[FGOriold]

Seeing the word natural (or 100% natural) on anything manufactured in any way is one of my biggest pet peeves. It means absolutely nothing as there are no legal guidelines for its use (unlike using the term organic) and it is just plain marketing. Reading an ingredient list gives far more information about a product than the marketing terms used to sell it.

 

[sistrum]

I don't agree with this website and how they determine things but here it is
http://naturalingredient.org/resources.htm



It seems the FDA does not consider mineral pigments natural but they also don't consider them to be "artificial ingredients" so according
This website you can take their pledge and post their logo on your site and say your soaps are "natural" as long as they don't have
TO MUCH non natural ingredients in them? IMO this is deceptive and misleading, but again, that's just me.

 

[Crazy8]

I don't agree with this website and how they determine things but here it is
http://naturalingredient.org/resources.htm



It seems the FDA does not consider mineral pigments natural but they also don't consider them to be "artificial ingredients" so according
This website you can take their pledge and post their logo on your site and say your soaps are "natural" as long as they don't have
TO MUCH non natural ingredients in them? IMO this is deceptive and misleading, but again, that's just me.

So whats "TO MUCH"? More than 50% of the ingredients being unnatural. Is that when it becomes to much? lol Sometimes I think the FDA is just as confused about things as anyone else and it doesn't help when they make it more confusing and vague.

 

[sistrum]

No,no, not the FDA the other place. They do say, I think it's 5 or 10% something like that. I was just being lazy and didn't want to go back and check. Lol

 

[Paintguru]

I hate the terms "natural" and "100% natural", and avoid them both all together.

 

[OliveOil2]

I have a good one, a popular goat milk soap making company lists on their label 'natural fats', it took me a couple of seconds, and I thought oh they use either lard or tallow, and want it to have more label appeal. I went back to the site a week or so later and now it says saponified natural fats, and then listed the other vegetable fats. I know that only a soap maker would think this, but I thought only your animal fats are saponified? I doubt that many of the visitors to that web site even think of natural fats as being animal, and many will not care, I just felt it was not being totally up front.

 

[pamielynn]

For me, when I hear "natural", I think minimally processed, small batch, ingredients that I understand. I KNOW what olive oil is (I even understand what Olea europaea (olive) fruit oil is). Not just in soapmaking, but in baked goods, as well. If I see "natural meats", I think the same thing (grass fed, cared for, local animals).

Natural is 100% a marketing term and I believe most people look on it much in the way that I do. How many of you have run into that customer who not only wants "natural" soap, but also "organic" soap, but wants it to smell like apples and melons? LOL. They want to know their soapmaker and see ingredients they understand.

I don't like to see MP stated as natural because of all the alcohol, but the only thing that truly aggravates me is the organic claim. "Made with organic ingredients" works, but I've only run across one soapmaker that honestly backs up their claim of being 70% organic; the rest - well, they'll argue that since no lye is leftover, their soap is still organic. Bah.

It's all perception -as is ALL marketing. You have to do what you feel is right, deep down inside. And be ready to be interrogated by another soapmaker at some point

 

[shunt2011]

All the oils are saponified by the lye except any superfat figured in to your recipe. I agree with everyone else regarding the Natural vs 100% Natural. I make soap, handcrafted beautiful soap, Period!!!

 

[Twiggy]

Just few days ago I saw a documentary about natural/ bio cosmetics. One of the scientists from the cosmetic industry said that true natural cosmetic is when all the ingredients come from nature and can go back to nature without doing any harm to it. The lye we can produce from wood ashes but then it would be quite difficult to know the amount and right concentration of it. So that’s the question to chemists here, is the soap natural? Would it be harmless to environment when dumped to the ground or water?

For me natural soap means without unnecessary synthetic component. NaOH is necessary tho… I consider my soaps as natural, but according to what I wrote above maybe I’m completely wrong!

 

[Crazy8]

Well in regards to the lye, the lye made from wood ash is KOH or Potassium Hydroxide and I believe even referred to as "potash". Not to be confused with NaOH which is Sodium Hydroxide. NaOH is not something that is naturally occurring based on my understanding. So based on this info, KOH being derived from water and wood ash, there is no reason that it couldn't return back to the earth. After all the only ingredients here is water and ash.

 

[Twiggy]

Well in regards to the lye, the lye made from wood ash is KOH or Potassium Hydroxide and I believe even referred to as "potash". Not to be confused with NaOH which is Sodium Hydroxide. NaOH is not something that is naturally occurring based on my understanding. So based on this info, KOH being derived from water and wood ash, there is no reason that it couldn't return back to the earth. After all the only ingredients here is water and ash.

Thanks, I didn’t know that wood ash lay is KOH. Lesson learned! But even then, saponification will combine fats and NaOH or KOH, and produce an amalgam of various soap salts. Will that be natural?