Can you send bar soap in the mail? US, UK, CA, AU Rules

One of the first questions asked when considering soap order fulfillment is…

“Can you send bar soap in the mail?” The answer is Yes, you can send solid true soap bars, through the US, UK, CA, AU, and many other postal services. * “Free lye” refers to extra lye that was not neutralized during the saponification process and therefore qualifies as a hazardous material.

The following information was thoroughly researched for using the various postal services for mailing soap into and within:

• The United States
• Canada
• The United Kingdom
• Australia

Specific regulations and exceptions are broken out by country about halfway through this article. First however, are general guidelines you should know about mailing soap anywhere.

Heads Up:

Canada passed a postal regulation on February 10, 2020 stating that “… Canada Post will not deliver any items that emit an odour of any kind.” Source: Canada Post/Postes Canada Website

Quick Reference Webpage

The USPS also has a reference page connecting to other country’s mailing policies. You can find that here: Postal Explorer Index of Countries and Localities

Soap Defined for Mailing Purposes

Before we move forward, we need to discuss the definition of “soap”. With regard to shipping, we need to limit our interpretation of soap as being “true soap” in solid bar form. That is, soap with no chemical detergents, cosmetics, or medicinal claims.

If your soap does not meet these parameters, check with your postal service regarding the ability to send through the mail. And, as always, check with your local mail service if ever in doubt about anything.

There are several other things to be aware of before shipping your soap. You want ensure you do not inadvertently break the law anywhere – especially when shipping internationally.

Here are the common considerations for most countries. This applies to import, export, and shipping within national borders (i.e. local).

Restrictions and Considerations when Mailing Soap

Animal and Plant Materials

Shipment of animal and plant materials is highly restricted in many nations. While most regulations were put in place to restrict potential interference with the national or regional ecosystems, interpretations of the law can vary by the one interpreting it.

But there is more to it. The fats and oils we use in soap making are almost always considered a food source (lard, coconut oil, olive oil, etc.). Nearly all countries have bans and restrictions on how to use their postal services to transport food items.

Keep in mind, unsaponified fats and oils are simply fats and oils. They can attract animals and insects, go rancid, cause terrible smells, and raise health concerns if allowed to go unchecked. I guarantee you that no postal worker wants to deal with that!

As a maker of soap, this presents a potential “fine line” in some cases, regarding mailing.

Technically, any soap containing excessive unsaponified fats and oils can be considered animal and plant products. This is especially true when shipping vast quantities. One bar of soap developing a small dreaded orange spot from rancid 3% superfatted oil is not nearly the issue that a case of soap with 20% superfatted rancid oil will cause.

Flammability and Combustibility

There are restrictions on sending hand sanitizer, alcohol wipes, and similar products with flammable or combustible properties. While this is sometimes allowed under special consideration, when properly labeled and sent only via ground service, it is restrictive.

Most nations have temporarily expanded upon the capabilities for using the postal service due to COVD-19. However, this is the exception and hopefully will not be needed for long.

For any products with these properties it is far less complicated to use a private shipping service such as UPS or DHL. You still need to disclose any dangerous substances, however part of the fees you pay typical already include a premium for such things.

Packaging Considerations

This is less of an issue when shipping domestically (within the country’s borders). However, you should be aware of the following general guidelines. All countries have their specific considerations. Here are a few of the ones most likely to affect you.

When Mailing Internationally…

• Do not uses cardboard cartons previously used for meat, fruits, vegetables, eggs, or dairy
• Avoid using wooden boxes or crates
• Do not use straw or any grasses or dried plant material for packing

Postal Size and Weight Restrictions

This will not apply to you if you are just shipping a few bars or even a few loaves of soap. However, if you are looking for the least expensive way to ship large quantities, keep reading.

There are restrictions on the physical size and weight of packages in nearly every postal service on the planet. In most cases you could ship 150 or more 4 oz bars of soap before you hit those limits.

Trade Relations, Embargos and Geographically Based Restrictions

It should be obvious not to conduct commerce within a country your nation does not conduct legal trade with. However, some things are not so obvious.

Embargoes are not always based on politics. There are also health considerations. In this time of Coronavirus, we are more acutely aware than ever that germs travel with packages.

Even if you allowed to conduct commerce with a nation, that does not mean your package won’t sit in a customs warehouse under quarantine for some time.

Another thing to consider is the path that your soap takes to reach its destination. If your soap so much as travels through a country that is prohibited from trade in your target destination, your soap will not be allowed in.

Substances Banned from Mailing

Some nations have bans on product type and components. My best advice is just use common sense and be respectful of local customs and regulations. If ever in doubt – don’t do it.

In general, don’t send anything that can mess with an ecosystem or transmit insects or diseases. That’s a little vague so we will break it down into tangible items commonly associated with soap.

1. Straw – Often used in “rustic” packaging and baskets
2. Dried Plant Matter – Sometimes used in packaging but often used to add flourish to soap. Make sure your botanical embeds and toppers are allowed before you ship them. Remember that any seeds can cause an environmental nightmare when introduced to a new land.
3. Wood – Used in soap boxes and crates should be fumigated and certified free of harmful insects, pathogens, etc.

Cultural and Religious Considerations

For example: I have friends oversees in areas where alcohol and any swine-animal components are not permitted. Although I specialize in making beer and wine soap, I do not send these to this region. I also do not send lard-based soap.

I know that most (probably never all) of the alcohol has been removed from the beer in my soap. But why cause an international incident over a technicality? Imagine this conversation with a local government official who feels like you sent the product with total disregard for their regulation…

Local Official – “It says ‘Beer Soap’ made with ‘Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer’ right on the label.”

You, or worse your gift recipient – “Yes. It is beer soap. Kind of. But it’s not. You see I remove all alcohol from the beer before making the soap.”

Local Official – “So there is absolutely no alcohol in this ‘beer’ soap?

You or your friend – “Yes. Well, no. Not really. You see, in the United States it is considered ‘alcohol free’ if enough alcohol is removed. But’s it probably not completely free of any alcohol.

Local Official – “So there probably is some alcoholic beer in this package, but you’re not certain…”

I think you get the picture.

Why bring about all this drama?

Postal Limitations Based on Origin of Labor

This will not apply to 99.9% of those reading this, however for that 0.1% – some countries do not allow the mailing of goods made by certain labor practices. In Australia, for example, products made by prisoners cannot be shipped via Australian Post.

Soap Mailing Regulations Country Specific – Listed Alphabetically

We covered a lot of general considerations. Here are some of the big ones to be concerned with based upon country receiving the goods. Please note that perfumes and aftershave are generally prohibited from import to all of the following via postal services.

Note: All countries require the return shipping address on all parcels sent into the country.

Mailing Soap into Australia

1. Any shipment that is from, or travelled through, Somalia, Egypt or Bangladesh cannot enter into Australia.
2. Do not send soap in wooden boxes or crates unless they have been fumigated by a certified service and are accompanies by a certificate of fumigation.
3. Cardboard boxes exposed to fruits, vegetables or meats cannot be used.
4. Do not use straw or any dried plant material for packaging or otherwise.
5. Do not mail goods made within prisons.

Australian postal regulations can be found here: Australian Post Sending Guidelines

Mailing Soap Within Australia

• Australian Post provides a comprehensive guide that can be found here: Dangerous Goods

Mailing Soap into and Within Canada

True soap does not appear to meet any of the criteria making it a prohibited or controlled substance. But there is a catch – and it’s only a few months old…

However, seal your soaps if they are scented!

On February 10,2020 Canada adopted a new policy stating that it “will not deliver any items that emit an odour of any kind.”

Reference: Section 1.2 Canada Post ABC’s of Mailing

• Link to main policy page: Canada Post Restriction on Scented Items Mailed
• Please use the following link to see Canada Post/Poste Canada guidelines regarding all items prohibited from mail.

Mailing Soap into the United Kingdom

1. Do not mail commercial goods, into the UK, originating from foreign prisons.
2. Any item that is perishable within 48 hours cannot be mailed into the UK.
3. Items that have the potential to leak/melt must be sealed in strong leak-proof packaging.
4. Consider this for melt and pour soap bars depending on season of shipment and origin.
5. Dry ice and frozen water cannot be mailed into the UK.
   1. I mention this because these are sometimes used in regionally for shipping melt and pour soap in extreme heat conditions.

Mailing Soap Within the United Kingdom

1. Items perishable within 48 hours cannot be mailed within the UK.
2. Any item with the potential to leak (melt) must be sealed in strong leak-proof packaging.
3. Perfumes (fragrances) can be mailed in limited quantities with other restrictions. Call 0345 600 0606 for specific information.

• When uncertain, please contact Royal Mail online or call 0345 600 0606
• Royal Post guidelines can be found here: Royal Post Guidelines

Mailing Soap in the United States

US postal regulations prohibit the mailing of hazardous materials. A long as your soap is fully saponified when you mail it, there should be no free lye and therefore it is not hazardous.

Shipment of perishable matter has some flexibility at the discretion and responsibility of the sender, as follows…

“Perishable matter is anything that can deteriorate in the mail and thereby lose value, create a health hazard, or cause an obnoxious odor, nuisance, or disturbance, under ordinary mailing conditions. Mailable perishable matter may be sent at the mailer’s own risk when it is packaged as required and when it can be delivered within appropriate and reasonable time limits to prevent deterioration”

Source: USPS Publication 52 – Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail

Now that you know you can send soap through the mail, there is another question…

How Should You Package Your Soap for Mailing?

As a general rule, I do the following for each type…

Cold Process & Hot Process Soaps:

1. Wrap bars in paper or light cardstock belly bands (as labels), or
2. Place soap in box made of medium-weight cardstock with label affixed

Melt & Pour Soaps

1. Wrap bar in heat-activated shrink wrap
2. Place paper label on wrapped bar
3. Wrap in second layer of shrink wrap

All Soap Types – After Individually Wrapping as Above:

1. Pack the individually wrapped or boxed bars in 200# crush resistant corrugated cardboard shipping boxes
2. Use bubble wrap or bubble “pillows” to minimize movement within shipping box
3. Tape seams closed to avoid letting moisture or humidity inside the box
4. If there is enough room in the shipping box, try to wrap any exposed bars in small-bubble bubble wrap and tape it close like a jacket. This will help prevent the bar from getting scuffed if it moves about inside the shipping box.

And for the final question…

Should You Send Soap Through the Mail?

Just because you can do something doesn’t always mean you should. Case in point, melt and pour soap has a relatively low melting point. Leaving it in an enclosed vehicle on an eighty-degree day can warp the bars because the inside of the car is considerably hotter than the air outside. Especially is the Sun is beating in through the windshield and windows.

Your Summer is My Winter

Also remember that seasons occur in different months depending on were you are on the globe. This makes a difference. For example:

Let’s say I ship a bar of soap from my shop in Richmond, Virginia to a cattle ranch in Queensland, Australia — in January. In Virginia it is probably about 40 degrees Fahrenheit outside (4.4 degrees Celsius). When that bar arrives in Queensland, it is likely 40 degrees Celsius outside (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

Cold Process or Melt and Pour? Type Matters.

In most parts of the United States it makes little difference if you are sending cold process, hot process, or melt and pour soap through the mail for seven or eight months out of the year. However, when you start getting into the summer months or just exceptionally hot days in states such as Florida, Arizona, Texas, etc. – you need to be careful with melt and pour soap.

This is an even greater concern in Australia, as this nation hosts 14 of the top 15 hottest places on the planet. It was beat out only by Botswana. If you are mailing within Queensland, be especially cautious as the mercury has been known to climb to 47.7 degrees Celsius in recent years. That’s just under 118 degrees Fahrenheit.

The inside of a mail transport can get as hot as an oven in some places. Although the saponified oils of cold process soap will typically be fine – excessive oils left from super-fatting can melt right out of the bar making it look like Swiss Cheese.

Heads’ Up

Most glycerin soap bases, also known as melt and pour soap, has a melting point starting at around 120 degrees Fahrenheit. As you probably know, a car sitting can a parking lot in the hot sun can reach internal temperatures exceeding 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

What you may not consider is that mailboxes can also reach these internal temperatures under the right conditions. Take for example a typical steel mailbox sitting on a post at the end of a driveway. If that mailbox is closed it is basically and oven slow cooking whatever is in it. If that happens to be a bar of melt and pour soap your customer is likely to reach into a hot soapy mess.

>>> Get the Inside Advantage

Of course, before you mail the soap you have to sell it. Take a look around this site for ideas on how to promote and sell your soap. This is a good one to start with: How Do I Sell My Homemade Soap?

If you are not quite there and want to make sure you will be profitable, check out this post… How to Price Soap Like A Pro!

It is also right on this site and will show you how to price your soap for maximum value and profit. There is also a free soap cost calculator you can download from the page. If nothing else, grab that.

Happy Soaping!