Selling Soap or Lotion You Made at Home

Nobody approves it first

You can make soap or lotion at home and sell it without anyone signing off first. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says cosmetics do not need its approval before they go on sale. The one exception is a color additive.

That does not mean there are no rules. It means the rules land on you, not on a checker. The FDA says the people who make and sell cosmetics are the ones who have to make sure they are safe.

Work out what you are making

This is the step most people skip. The law sorts what you make into three groups, and each group has different rules.

True soap. Fats or oils mixed with an alkali such as lye, sold only as soap. The soap block above has the exact test.

A cosmetic. The law's definition covers things you put on your body for cleansing, beautifying, or making yourself more attractive. Lotion is in this group. So is a cleansing bar made mostly from detergent, even if you call it soap.

A drug. Anything you say treats a skin problem or kills germs. That claim alone can move it here.

The words on your label decide a lot of this. Write moisturizing on a true soap and it can become a cosmetic. Write that it clears acne and it can become a drug. This page does not cover the drug rules. If you want to make a claim like that, stop and look into it with an adult first.

If it is true soap

True soap is not looked after by the FDA. It is looked after by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). In its own words, the CPSC "does not have specific requirements for soaps".

There is one big exception. Soap made mainly for children aged 12 or under counts as a children's product. The CPSC says it must carry a permanent tracking label. It must also be tested for lead by an outside lab the CPSC accepts. If you are making bars for little kids, this is the rule that matters.

If it is a cosmetic

Now the FDA rules apply. These are the label rules I found in the law itself.

1. An ingredient list. Every ingredient, from the most to the least. The rule says "descending order of predominance". Fragrance can be listed as fragrance. The letters must be at least one sixteenth of an inch tall.
2. A way to reach you. An address, a phone number, or a way to contact you online, which can be a website. This is so people can tell you if something went wrong.
3. The weight, if it is a bar. A cleansing bar that is a cosmetic must show its weight in pounds and ounces.

That list is not complete. The soap rule says the weight is needed "among others", which tells you there are more. Treat these three as the start, not the whole job.

What the small seller rule does not switch off

The small seller rule in the last block is real, and it helps. It only switches off two sections. Others still apply to you.

You have to be able to show it is safe. The law says the responsible person must have "adequate substantiation of safety" and keep records of it. The responsible person is the one whose name is on the label. If your name is on it, that is you.

Serious reactions get reported. If someone tells you about a serious reaction, the law says you report it to the FDA within 15 business days, with a copy of the label. Small sellers keep those records for three years.

Where this gets less clear

The federal law is written about products sold across state lines. The FDA's own page says so. What that means for a table at a school fair is not something I could find a plain answer to. Your state or town may have rules of its own as well.

So I would treat the federal label rules as the minimum, wherever you sell. For your town and state, the page on the four things people call a licence shows where to look.

Before you sell the first one

Read your own label out loud. Ask what each word claims the product does.

If a word says it heals, treats or kills germs, cut it. If it says moisturizing or smells nice, add the full label. If it is plain soap sold as plain soap, keep it that way.