Labeling Your Handmade Soaps
Thursday, May 31st, 2007If you’re selling your handmade soap, whether it’s made from scratch or done with the melt and pour method, you are required to provide lots of information to customers on a product label. Besides being required, it’s also just plain smart. The last thing you want is to sacrifice your home-based business by having to pay for legal fees when someone has an allergic reaction to your product and decides to sue. With clearly stated ingredients and recommended usage right on the product, you’re covering all of your bases.
In the United States the FDA is responsible for regulating all soap and bath/body products. They have pages and pages of information available on the web, and I strongly recommend reading them, printing them out for future reference, and abiding by their advice. If you’re not in the US, check your country’s government website for the right department. Soap, lip balm, and any other products you’re making for bath and body all fall under the heading of “cosmetics.”
Here are some handy links to the FDA’s pages:
