Soapers Not Using Chelators.

[Johnez]

I've gotten: Do you use fresh goat milk? (I bought it fresh from the store) Does your soap contain lye? (Not anymore) When I mentioned to a friend that I use TD in my soap, I got a lecture on using metals and chemicals in my soap. (I just shook my head and walked away)

I love the TD one. I wonder if they pulled all their teeth out and replaced their bones with "all natural" wood. Calcium *is* a metal after all. Maybe it's "heavy" metal they have issue with, just don't wear your Judas Priest or Metallica shirts around em if that's the case.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

When I mentioned to a friend that I use TD in my soap, I got a lecture on using metals and chemicals in my soap. (I just shook my head and walked away)

SODIUM!!!11

 

[lenarenee]

@TheGecko. Curious; did you mean to use the angry face? Are you angry at our water conditions?

 

[TheGecko]

@TheGecko. Curious; did you mean to use the angry face? Are you angry at our water conditions?

All fixed. Was in a hurry.

 

[lenarenee]

All fixed. Was in a hurry.

Not a problem...just couldn't think of why that would make someone angry so I figured it was a mistake. But now I realize that someone could take that to mean that ALL people would be irresponsible. Going to reword it a little.

 

[SoapLover1]

Just wanted to chime in to The Gecko. There are Rules & Regulations on Labeling. You must list ALL ingredients in that Specific Soap. You can Not list things as, “ May Contain”! It may be easier but it’s incorrect.

 

[Megan]

I suspect this is the reason right here. Home/hobby soapers want the absolute best and understand the reasons behind DOS and the tradeoffs made with using certain ingredients. However, consumers these days are hyper aware of chemicals and anything foreign sounding. "Chemicals" signal that your product is not pure or *needs* the chemicals. Interesting times.

This is a factor for sure. I had someone mention they were "trying to get away from chemicals" in their products and I was like but I use sodium gluconate (which means nothing to them but I'm like it's made from corn syrup and it's super biodegradeable!). I use fragrance oils as well though so I wasn't going to argue with this person over the absurdity of the "chemical free" movement. She wasn't my target market.

 

[DeeAnna]

@Peachy Clean Soap -- I use ROE, rosemary oleoresin extract, as my antioxidant.

@SoapLover1 -- My personal opinion is exactly same as yours, but our opinion is only that -- opinion.

In the USA, plain soap as defined by the FDA does NOT require an ingredients list at all. If you do provide an ingredients list, it is lawful to provide a list that is incomplete or says "may contain" or "saponified fats of".

You can discuss the wisdom of providing a complete and correct ingredients list, but don't insist the law requires all ingredients to be listed for plain soap, because the law does not require this.

An excellent resource for understanding the US rules for labeling is Marie Gale. Or go direct to the FDA and CPSC and read the regulations there.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

@Peachy Clean Soap -- I use ROE, rosemary oleoresin extract, as my antioxidant.

@SoapLover1 -- My personal opinion is exactly same as yours, but our opinion is only that -- opinion.

In the USA, plain soap as defined by the FDA does NOT require an ingredients list at all. If you do provide an ingredients list, it is lawful to provide a list that is incomplete or says "may contain" or "saponified fats of".

You can discuss the wisdom of providing a complete and correct ingredients list, but don't insist the law requires all ingredients to be listed for plain soap, because the law does not require this.

An excellent resource for understanding the US rules for labeling is Marie Gale. Or go direct to the FDA and CPSC and read the regulations there.

Now that you mentioned "rosemary oleoresin" RO you've jogged my memory' thats right!
goodness i've forgotten about RO, in fact I ordered RO & never received it, I was sent another 8 gallons of PO instead of RO making my now #3 - 8 gallon's containers of PO, I wanted to assure it stayed fresh by adding RO.
I did freeze two of the containers though, I'm gonna order some this morning. I haven't ever used it before & remembered thinking prior to ordering, it was kinda costly for such a small amount.
Thanks ahh million appreciate your help.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I honestly never learned about chelated soap before I read this forum. I went over to my sister in laws the other day. She loves to use my soap as bathroom decoration. She pulls out some 8 year old boxes of my soap. Out of curiosity I pulled them out too look at them. They had lost all their scent but there wasn't any dos on either of them.

Thats just wonderful' you created a perfect balanced Bar Soap

 

[TheGecko]

Just wanted to chime in to The Gecko. There are Rules & Regulations on Labeling. You must list ALL ingredients in that Specific Soap. You can Not list things as, “ May Contain”! It may be easier but it’s incorrect.

As noted by @DeeAnna...no I don't. I may not know everything there is to know about soap making (hello fatty acids), but I have done extensive research on the legalities and requirements of making and selling soap in the US; not only on a federal level, but also as it applies to my state, county and city. My soap labels meet all requirements right down to the size of the font.

Now my labels for my Lotion Bars and Bath Salts are more extensive, but then again, they fall under Cosmetic rules as opposed to True Soap rules.

 

[Bubble Agent]

Just wanted to chime in to The Gecko. There are Rules & Regulations on Labeling. You must list ALL ingredients in that Specific Soap. You can Not list things as, “ May Contain”! It may be easier but it’s incorrect.

Are you perhaps thinking of the cosmetic label regulations in the EU/UK/EEA? We who live here have to abide exactly by what you are saying. But after reading about the rules and regs of America you are way more free when it comes to making soap, and the labeling.

(But we also have to get safety assessments also, but that is not the topic here)

 

[Cat&Oak]

Thats just wonderful' you created a perfect balanced Bar Soap

Thanks Peachy this particular recipe was too cleansing in my opinion so I reworked it so who knows how long my current recipe would last.

 

[paradisi]

Just as an fyi, colorants, even mineral ones, can be allergens. I know a person who's allergic to titanium dioxide, for example.

 

[cmzaha]

We have some stupidly hard water here. Plumbers are expensive. We're also always in some level of drought. I consider it irresponsible of myself to NOT use a chelator. My hope is that it improves rinse-ability and saves water, plus prevents scrum building up in the pipes.

I lived in a house with old plumbing in an area with hard water, so adding in chelators and cutting superfat to 2% cut my plumbing at least 50%. When I eventually added SG to my EDTA my plumbing bills went down even more. When I used just Citric acid it help but not as much as EDTA at 0.5% but the addition of Sodium Gluconate at 0.5% really made a difference. When I move to Winnemucca NV I will most likely up my SG since the well water is really hard if I do not go with a water softner.

I've gotten: Do you use fresh goat milk? (I bought it fresh from the store) Does your soap contain lye? (Not anymore) When I mentioned to a friend that I use TD in my soap, I got a lecture on using metals and chemicals in my soap. (I just shook my head and walked away)

The only question I really had was my use of Palm Oil from a doctor. After I listened to his rant I gave him my opinion of buying and using palm oil, the fact that it is the only income some villagers have to feed their families, he walked away but came back later and purchased several bars of soap. He became a regular customer for a few years until I stopped that particular market.

 

[maryloucb]

I don't use chelators and I think it's perfectly valid that people don't want to add things such as TD or any artificial colorants or fragrances. We are all different and want different things out of our soaps.

 

[Trinbago27]

Question…does using distilled water address this issue?

 

[AliOop]

Question…does using distilled water address this issue?

It helps, but doesn't fully address the issue. You still have to deal with the water that is being used to wash with the soap. If that water is hard, you will need chelators to assist with lathering, avoid soap scum, and limit DOS.

 

[DeeAnna]

Question…does using distilled water address this issue?

Using distilled or reverse osmosis water to make your soap is helpful, but it's not a surefire way to extend the shelf life. Metal contamination can come from many sources, not just water.

edit: If you're talking about using distilled water to make your soap thinking that will help with soap scum, nope, that won't work. See AliOop's comment.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I've never added chelators or ROE to my soap. I am tempted to add ROE but have not found any reason to do so thus far.
I do sell, and have regular customers now, plus I use all the soap myself and some of it is over a year old and seem to have no problem with DOS. I have had three batches go dossy in my three years of soaping and they seemed to go dossy early in their lives, rather than later. To this day I don't know why it has happened because they haven't been treated any differently to my other soaps.