Nice site peaches, lots of lovely stuff    Is there a good market for this (dental soap I mean - obviously there is otherwise you wouldn't be asking for it to be made)

Oops, just noticed upthread that you did indeed say there was a market for this - sorry peaches

I thought toothpaste had the same rules as other cosmetics - i.e. ingredients under 1% can be listed in any order at the end, (after the other ingredients in descending order) but do have to be listed.

Right...TESTING TESTING....I have just downed a glass of wine (for encouragement) and am now going to clean my teeth with soap. To be precise, a peppermint and rosemary soap made with only the ingredients that peaches listed.

OMG

Anyone want to join me?

No?

 OK, my good deed for the day, back in a bit...

would it be really cruel to use my OH's toothbrush instead of mine?

I won't deny that toothpaste has lots of nasties in it, but I just couldn't bring myself to clean my teeth with soap.  Even doing a zap test on plain unscented soap is unpleasant to me.  

No, Nicki.  Not cruel at all.  

I wouldn't consider that cruel at all N, in fact I think it is rather kind of you to be giving his toothbrush a nice little clean for him.  You are a good wife.   :mwaha:

OK, I did it...with my toothbrush!

It was realy not too bad. While I cleaned my teeth it foamed up exactly like toothpaste does, but tasted of soap.  I couln't taste any of the peppermint EO at all so maybe dantal soap has a higher amount of EO in it?
As I brushed I had a memory flash of biting into a bar of soap when I was little and heard a voice in my head with an american accent yelling "filthy child! Go and scrub your mouth out with soap!" I have NO idea where that came from!
I spat and rinsed..and rinsed again and still tasted soap but my teeth did feel clean and smooth (not that they felt particulary dirty and bumpy before hand).
I would be happy to clean my teeth again with soap IF it didn't leave a soapy afertaste in my mouth afterwards.
So....Peaches? Can you taste the peppermint in your soap? And what sort of aftertaste does it leave?

Now I want somebody else to try!

Well done Nicki and thanks for that.  Hmmm.....  I may have to give it a whirl.  I'm just feeling a bit... well, you know.  I need some time on this.  Although, I don't have any soap that fits the ingredient description.

Chick



chick



CHICKEN!!!!

I'd give it a go - but like Helen I don't have any soap which meets the requirement.

With the no superfatting it would have to be well-cured wouldn't it?

Yep, you got me.  Oh and 

 :mwaha:

Elaine you are right - I got confused with the US regs which I've been researching, they drive me mad as they are not all the same. For better or worse the US is not as strict as the EU.
Well cured? My soapmaker leaves it for a month - is that well cured?
She only adds 3% peppermint oil but is going to try 5% next time as it's not minty enough. It doesn't taste soapy either, just sort of 'clean'.
A couple of times in the begining (with a different supplier) I used too much and must have burned my gums because it hurt like hell for about 4 days, needless to say I'm more stingy with the amount now!
Is this something to do with it being alkaline? (Although it felt like acid!)

That sounds like "lye heavy" - if there's nil superfatting then calculations have to be spot on or the soap left to cure for longer - 4 weeks is sort of average for Cold Process - maybe your current supplier makes Hot Process and leaves it for 4 weeks.

I don't know whether anyone would in the UK would have a Safety Assessment/Certificate for more than 3% Essential Oil in CP or HP soap.

Also if it's to be sold as specifically as Dental Soap then a new assessment may well be required.

Hi Elaine, that's exactly what I'm looking for - one of you lovely soapy ladies to make the soap and get it assessed.  Anyone up for the challenge?

Well have tried it too......and the sensation is a little wierd.  I used a very old peppermint one, and it tasted ok - not unpleasant.  (But I guess I'm used to the taste of soap by now ).  

Like Nicki, I was quite impressed with the foam produced on the brush and I made sure I only used a little.  Clean sensation in the mouth afterwards so it seems to work ok.

Peaches - I'd be interested in seeing the recipe to try a test batch to see if it's worth going for assessment.  But you need to be aware that this will take a while since the batch will need to cure before the formulation can be checked out.  You need to also understand that assessment for an isolated recipe could be quite costly (probably why everyone is thinking twice about trying this).  I'll be sending some formulations off to the lab in the next month or so, so that's why I'm willing to give it a go.  

Please PM me if you're interested...