Using sea glass in soap

[Elizabeth Driver]

I saw a local soap maker advertising sea glass soap, that is topped with a real piece of sea glass, that she advises you need to remove before using.....We’re in Canada. Just looking for others opinions on this kind of practice - I think it’s asking for trouble to put any kind of glass in a skin care product, myself....

 

[earlene]

No, I wouldn't do that. Excessively dangerous. The same effect could be obtained with a sliver of a clear tinted M&P on top and would be totally safe. Why anyone would risk adding glass to soap is unfathomable, unless it's some kind of sick Halloween joke.

 

[Elizabeth Driver]

No, I wouldn't do that. Excessively dangerous. The same effect could be obtained with a sliver of a clear tinted M&P on top and would be totally safe. Why anyone would risk adding glass to soap is unfathomable, unless it's some kind of sick Halloween joke.

Well....I did let this person know it could be dangerous....she was very offended and told me to mind my own business....and is advertising them
For sale. I think practices like this is bad for all soap makers, ouch !

 

[earlene]

I suppose an argument could be made that smooth sea glass doesn't pose much of a risk. But I really would not put any type of glass on soap. My experience with sea glass is limited, but my imagination runs to dropping the soap on a hard tile floor just at the right angle to cause it to break or crack, exposing a sharp edge, then someone getting cut in some way.

 

[Misschief]

Realistically, is a piece of smooth sea glass any more dangerous than a dried anise pod? Or a slice of dried orange? Or, for that matter, coarse Himalayan sea salt? I shudder when I see soap makers using a lot of botannicals (not talking about flower petals here); some may be easier to remove than others but I don't want an anise pod in my bath soap - they're HARD and SHARP and, when embedded in the soap, not easily removed! I'd rather see a piece of sea glass that I'm advised to remove; the smoothness of the sea glass would be much easier to remove than dried botannicals embedded in the soap. Just my thoughts.

 

[earlene]

I agree with you on the dried botanicals, Misschief. I don't like them either. They all tend to be too scratchy for me.

As much as I appreciate the looks of a pretty soap with botanical embellishments, that doesn't mean I would ever use some of them. It's sad, too, because they often do look so nice. But IMO, why buy something that just sits around and can't ever be used (by me)? Someday a guest, my granddaughter, for example, might just choose to pick up that item and use it and I would feel so bad if she cut her skin using a pretty soap I kept around just to look at?

 

[Kateri]

I’m not sure what the point is, when you could certainly make sea glass embeds out of soap that you wouldn’t have to remove. I did just order a soap that has a real tumbled rock on top that you’re advised to remove before using. I don’t think the piece of real sea glass is going to be much more dangerous than the rock, since you’ll be removing it before use. But why not just make it from soap and save customers the step of removing it?

 

[Misschief]

Well....I did let this person know it could be dangerous....she was very offended and told me to mind my own business....and is advertising them
For sale. I think practices like this is bad for all soap makers, ouch !

Just as an aside, your comment about this soapmaker's attitude makes me wonder if this is the same maker who told my daughter that I don't know anything about soapmaking because I make syndet shampoo bars and not "real" (lye based) shampoo bars. My daughter lives in Nanaimo.

 

[GemstonePony]

As long as it is true, ocean-tumbled sea glass, it shouldn't have easily-dislodged shards or sharp edges. As long as it isn't placed too deep, it should come out cleanly and safely... In theory. I feel like it's risky, but I understand the appeal, sort of? I might not be the best person to ask, since I don't like any not-soap decorations in or on my soap. I also don't trust people to always read and follow directions, but that could also be a foible on my part.

 

[shunt2011]

I see soap makers putting rocks, big sal chunks and all kinds of stuff on their soaps. If it works for them so be it. It doesn’t concern me. I don’t make or buy soap with stuff on them.

 

[Soapdragon]

A big problem with gemstones and crystals generally is that they are mined, usually with detrimental effects to ecosystems as well as exploitation of workers. For a mere trinket or superstitious token, it is not a logical degradation of the habitats upon which we all depend to survive. This presumably wouldn't apply to seaglass if it is genuine salvaged ocean litter...?

 

[BattleGnome]

I dont think you’ve specified, is this COLD PROCESS soap made with glass or M&P with an embed? Was ACTIVE LYE anywhere near this glass? I’d run. I’d run hard. Can you report them to someone?

lye etches glass and can cause it to shatter. Ignoring the instructions to remove the glass before use, what sorts of shards reacted with the lye to leave sharp bits in soap I use on my sensitive bits. That lady is begging for a lawsuit (even if your country is less lawsuit happy than mine some poor child is going to end up in the hospital)

 

[earlene]

Good Points, BattleGnome.

 

[Elizabeth Driver]

As long as it is true, ocean-tumbled sea glass, it shouldn't have easily-dislodged shards or sharp edges. As long as it isn't placed too deep, it should come out cleanly and safely... In theory. I feel like it's risky, but I understand the appeal, sort of? I might not be the best person to ask, since I don't like any not-soap decorations in or on my soap. I also don't trust people to always read and follow directions, but that could also be a foible on my part.

I just am surprised, how would the soap maker report this to Health Canada - as part of the soap recipe, the risk of someone improperly using it , seems it would not be approved as an additive...? I also believe customers are at risk of forgetting your instructions....

I dont think you’ve specified, is this COLD PROCESS soap made with glass or M&P with an embed? Was ACTIVE LYE anywhere near this glass? I’d run. I’d run hard. Can you report them to someone?

lye etches glass and can cause it to shatter. Ignoring the instructions to remove the glass before use, what sorts of shards reacted with the lye to leave sharp bits in soap I use on my sensitive bits. That lady is begging for a lawsuit (even if your country is less lawsuit happy than mine some poor child is going to end up in the hospital)

They are CP soaps, and I am assuming the soap is placed in the soap ....and sets as it cures ..I don’t know it seems to cross the line of customer safety, or it just makes me feel that everyone suffers when regulations for safety aren’t followed....but maybe there aren’t regulations....

 

[earlene]

Oh, yes, Canada has regulations. Use your search engine. As I recall they are not very difficult to find. But other Canadian members will probably come along to guide you where to look.

ETA: Here's a place to start: Regulatory information for cosmetics - Canada.ca . Soap is regulated as a cosmetic in Canada.

 

[cmzaha]

As long as it is true, ocean-tumbled sea glass, it shouldn't have easily-dislodged shards or sharp edges. As long as it isn't placed too deep, it should come out cleanly and safely... In theory. I feel like it's risky, but I understand the appeal, sort of? I might not be the best person to ask, since I don't like any not-soap decorations in or on my soap. I also don't trust people to always read and follow directions, but that could also be a foible on my part.

First I would never trust anything to not break, and I hate any type of decorations on soaps. A pretty M&P decoration is okay but those never sold for me except during holidays.

As for trusting a customer to read instruction Do Not, and here is a fine example. When we were still making Marshmallow Soaps we had them included in a sample box, this was when companies were advertising by letting you send products for their sample boxes, our marshmallow soap squares were fully labeled do not eat on all sides and labeled soap. Now, mind you this was a cosmetic sampler box. Of course, we get a call from an irate mother who is going to sue us because her 2 yr old son ate the soap and gave it back all over the back of her seat in the car. She had opened the box while driving saw the word Marshmallow and handed it to him to eat. My daughter told her to try and sue us, but before she tried she better read the label and pay attention to what she gives her son to eat. Big Clue it came out of a cosmetic sample box.

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

I do a birthstone line every year with real stones on top of the soap. They are tumbled stones that I glue on the tops with melt and pour and of course advise customers to remove before they use the bar. My customer's like the novelty of getting their birth stone with their soap. Of course some birthstones I can't actually put real diamonds or pearls so I do an approximation. I don't see why sea glass would be any different. It's polished like the stones I use.