# Laser Printing on Soap



## treestumps (Apr 10, 2021)

Hi all! 

I am looking to find some help with laser printing on soap. I am looking to have it printed on the actual soap. I'll include some images of what I am looking to recreate!


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## jcandleattic (Apr 10, 2021)

What you probably want is a laser cutter or laser engraving machine, not a printer.
This is the least expensive one I've seen that will do a 3" by 3" design.


			https://www.amazon.com/WAINLUX-Engraving-Machine-Portable-Engraver/dp/B08Q3S7TD7/ref=sr_1_18?dchild=1&keywords=Laser+Cutter+Machine&qid=1618073202&sr=8-18
		


ETA: I have no idea if it would work or not, but worth looking into


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## KimW (Apr 10, 2021)

The things I'm introduced to and learn on this forum!  Fascinating.


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## AliOop (Apr 10, 2021)

That machine looks amazing! If it can put a laser design on macarons, seems like it should work on soap.


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## jcandleattic (Apr 10, 2021)

AliOop said:


> That machine looks amazing! If it can put a laser design on macarons, seems like it should work on soap.


Exactly what I was thinking.


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## msunnerstood (Apr 10, 2021)

Ive actually been checking in to this very thing. I have a woodworking friend with a laser printer who is going to test it on soap for me.


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## AliOop (Apr 10, 2021)

Great, another expensive soap-related "tool" (toy?) that I want...


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## ResolvableOwl (Apr 10, 2021)

Our local fab lab has a laser cutter, but they are (rightly) super anxious about abuse/wrong materials/exhaust fumes. Even if they weren't closed due to the pandemic, they would never allow something like soap to be placed under the beam.

Have you asked a locksmith/key service? Some use a laser engraver to label locking system keys or for decoration.


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## Creative1 (Apr 11, 2021)

I have a 3D printer that also does laser printing (not laser cutting, tho)  I also have bars of soap.  Maybe I'll give this a test try!  I just haven't quite learned how to clean up the image so it burns as different intensities to make an interesting image.  I'm wondering if it would just burn the fat that is left in the soap.  I have tried printing on cork and paper. Should be interesting  I'll ask the folks on the Mega Pro 3D printer group I belong to and see if any of them have tried this.


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## Professor Bernardo (Apr 11, 2021)

I believe the heat from the laser beam will merely melt and puddle the soap, not creating smooth, sharp lines in the soap.
In addition, the potential for nasty fumes in another item to consider.


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## ResolvableOwl (Apr 11, 2021)

Laser cutters don't “burn” material, they literally vapourise it. Look at some laser-cut acrylic, no trace of charring. Wood is an exception since the wood vapours are flammable and decompose into similar molecule fragments as with smouldering, that's why it smokes and smells like fire, but it isn't. Soap is probably somewhere in between. At short enough laser pulses (“low intensity”), the soap should vapourise just a bit and leave little fumes wafting around that could burn/turn black.



Creative1 said:


> I have a 3D printer that also does laser printing


Never heard of that, but it sounds probably fun! Definitely worth a try, particularly when you have one.


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## Professor Bernardo (Apr 11, 2021)

ResolvableOwl said:


> Laser cutters don't “burn” material, they literally vapourise it. Look at some laser-cut acrylic, no trace of charring. Wood is an exception since the wood vapours are flammable and decompose into similar molecule fragments as with smouldering, that's why it smokes and smells like fire, but it isn't. Soap is probably somewhere in between. At short enough laser pulses (“low intensity”), the soap should vapourise just a bit and leave little fumes wafting around that could burn/turn black.
> 
> 
> Never heard of that, but it sounds probably fun! Definitely worth a try, particularly when you have one.


IT was just me thinking out loud via the interweb...


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## TheGecko (Apr 11, 2021)

That's not printing...it's a rubber stamp with white ink.


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## Zany_in_CO (Apr 12, 2021)

TheGecko said:


> That's not printing...it's a rubber stamp with white ink.


Ya know? I was wondering if it was a stamp too. I can't imagine laser printing directly on soap.


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## ResolvableOwl (Apr 12, 2021)

Laser Engraving Soap with an Epilog Laser System
					

Laser engrave soap with custom designs with a laser system from Epilog.




					www.epiloglaser.ca
				




The original photos probably being stamps is a bad excuse for not trying to laser engrave soaps.


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## romangoat (Apr 15, 2021)

The original photos are laser engraved, not stamped. I ran across this creator on Instagram a couple weeks back, and also became really interested in the idea. 

She tries to keep it a bit secretive now as to how she does her labels, it seems, but if you go back far enough and look at enough comments you can see where she has told people it is etched on. She also says printed sometimes, but I would assume she uses the same laser engraver that she uses for her apothecary jars, because the labels are more or less identical. 

Either way, I would also love to figure out how to do this. It would cut down on so much packaging.


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## paradisi (Apr 16, 2021)

I wonder what the FDA would have to say about disappearing contact and ingredients information?


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## Misschief (Apr 16, 2021)

paradisi said:


> I wonder what the FDA would have to say about disappearing contact and ingredients information?


When soaps are labelled, how many people keep the labels? Usually, they're removed and thrown into the garbage. What's the difference, really?



romangoat said:


> The original photos are laser engraved, not stamped. I ran across this creator on Instagram a couple weeks back, and also became really interested in the idea.
> 
> She tries to keep it a bit secretive now as to how she does her labels, it seems, but if you go back far enough and look at enough comments you can see where she has told people it is etched on. She also says printed sometimes, but I would assume she uses the same laser engraver that she uses for her apothecary jars, because the labels are more or less identical.
> 
> Either way, I would also love to figure out how to do this. It would cut down on so much packaging.



We have a laser engraver at work and I asked my boss about engraving soap. He told me to bring along a bar and he'd be willing to try it. As for doing it on all your soaps, I would think it would be a time consuming and potentially expensive process, unless you have your own laser engraver. I can't see bringing all my soaps to work to have them engraved. A stamp would be cheaper.


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## Babyshoes (Apr 16, 2021)

Misschief said:


> When soaps are labelled, how many people keep the labels? Usually, they're removed and thrown into the garbage. What's the difference, really?
> 
> 
> 
> We have a laser engraver at work and I asked my boss about engraving soap. He told me to bring along a bar and he'd be willing to try it. As for doing it on all your soaps, I would think it would be a time consuming and potentially expensive process, unless you have your own laser engraver. I can't see bringing all my soaps to work to have them engraved. A stamp would be cheaper.


 
Still fascinating to see if it works though. Someone selling small quantities of exclusive, high end soap, who happened to have access to one might decide to make it a feature.


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## earlene (Apr 16, 2021)

paradisi said:


> I wonder what the FDA would have to say about disappearing contact and ingredients information?





Misschief said:


> When soaps are labelled, how many people keep the labels? Usually, they're removed and thrown into the garbage. What's the difference, really?
> 
> 
> 
> We have a laser engraver at work and I asked my boss about engraving soap. He told me to bring along a bar and he'd be willing to try it. As for doing it on all your soaps, I would think it would be a time consuming and potentially expensive process, unless you have your own laser engraver. I can't see bringing all my soaps to work to have them engraved. A stamp would be cheaper.


Well, in the US labels on commodities are are required & regulated by the FTC, regardless of & in addition to what the FDA regulates, so both apply.  So all of that information will still be required, including type size & so forth.

So the difference is, the law requires the seller to do the required labeling; what the consumer does with the label after purchase is no of no legal concern.

Reference: *16 CFR § 500*
(CFR = Code of Federal Regulations)

More detailed information can be found in the act and here: 16 CFR Part 500 - REGULATIONS UNDER SECTION 4 OF THE FAIR PACKAGING AND LABELING ACT
and here: 15 U.S. Code Chapter 39 - FAIR PACKAGING AND LABELING PROGRAM

This is not to say that laser printing or engraving some of the information directly onto each bar of soap is prohibited; it is not; but all other requirements must be met, and if the laser printer can do all that, fine.  If not, additional labeling is still required.

*ETA:* My references are US specific, not addressing any other country's labeling laws.


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## paradisi (Apr 16, 2021)

It goes to traceability and incident reporting.  Most labeling the FDA deals with is able to be saved if the consumer wishes or needs to. Hence the question what the FDA would think.


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## dibbles (Apr 16, 2021)

I must be the oddball here, but I really don't like the look of this. I can see using it as a surface design feature of the soap, but I don't care for the 'label' look.


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## Tara_H (Apr 16, 2021)

dibbles said:


> I must be the oddball here, but I really don't like the look of this. I can see using it as a surface design feature of the soap, but I don't care for the 'label' look.


I appreciate the aspect of it which leads to less packaging waste, but I agree that I don't think it adds to the soap itself.

At least it (presumably) would wash off easily...


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## ImpKit (Apr 16, 2021)

So the fatal flaw to this type of labeling, for me, is demonstrated on the first bar. I, personally, have to struggle to make out the information at the bottom (the weight and such) because it's printed / engraved in a light color on top of a light colored soap. That makes the soap somewhat inaccessible to people with vision problems I'm thinking. It might not even pass labeling standards if you can't, honestly, read it at like, 12" away. And it would be worse on back labels with tinier fonts for ingredients.

Also, I like the idea of being able to take the label off and appreciate the design of the bar before using it.


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## earlene (Apr 16, 2021)

paradisi said:


> It goes to traceability and incident reporting.  Most labeling the FDA deals with is able to be saved if the consumer wishes or needs to. Hence the question what the FDA would think.


Good point. It's hard to contact the seller if you don't eve have the option to save the label, although IF the consumer wanted to they could photograph the 'label' prior to use, but I don't think that's a reasonable justification for not having a printed label.


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## ResolvableOwl (Apr 17, 2021)

Encode the contact information into a QR code modelled into the soap bar via soap dough!  

On a serious note, this issue arises in any situation where soaps are sold open/unwrapped. Idk, is it a thing to give away a business card with address and/or ingredients along with the soap? Then every customer could decide by themselves if they want to produce a piece of cardboard waste with each purchase, or not.


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## earlene (Apr 18, 2021)

ResolvableOwl said:


> Encode the contact information into a QR code modelled into the soap bar via soap dough!
> 
> On a serious note, this issue arises in any situation where soaps are sold open/unwrapped. Idk, is it a thing to give away a business card with address and/or ingredients along with the soap? Then every customer could decide by themselves if they want to produce a piece of cardboard waste with each purchase, or not.


I believe it depends completely on where it is being sold.  In a physical store, where the owner is purchasing wholesale from the maker, handing out a card for every purchase is an unreliable expectation.  In a Farmer's Market (Fair, or private booths) type setting or when selling online, where the maker is the seller, of course that would work. But that also depends on the regulations of the country/region where the soap is being sold.  If the regs require full specific packaging for certain sizes of products, then handing out a card may not meet those requirements.  Example:  We (USA) have type-size (for printed labels & ingredients lists) requirements that can be included for small sized products, where an extra page or insert or attachment is allowed for cosmetics or drugs. Not all soaps in the US are deemed cosmetics or drugs, but some are.  How many differences are there for other countries?  I don't even know, but there are many.


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## tinadfabbro (Jan 3, 2022)

msunnerstood said:


> Ive actually been checking in to this very thing. I have a woodworking friend with a laser printer who is going to test it on soap for me.



Hello! Were you able to test it, how did it turn out?  

Tina


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## msunnerstood (Jan 8, 2022)

tinadfabbro said:


> Hello! Were you able to test it, how did it turn out?
> 
> Tina


It did not. She was able to sort of do it but the results werent pretty. She said it melted the edges and so they didnt look like uniform lines.


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