Vegan Forum

Since there hasn't been a new topic in a while...

I was just wondering, when you use a public restroom, do you use the soap they have there? I mean, you can't be sure if its tested on animals or not, so sometimes I wonder what you would decide to do...

I hadn't really thought about it! It's a good point. I guess you could find out what your local council's policy is? I'm sure they must have a website. In my county they're supposed to be committed to "going green."

One of my friends (who is a little more hygeine-conscious and organised than me) always carries a small packet of soap leaves and hand towels in her handbag. I have a small trial bar of soap in a plastic travel case (somebody got it free with a gift set...) which I take to work, and a small bottle of hand sanitizer in my desk. Soaps tend to dry out my skin, and I don't always trust the public conveniences...

You should be aware that some soaps contain animal products: there's a list here.

Tallow (hard animal fat) is commonly used in soaps. Gelatine (from animal bones, skin and hide), elastin (from meat), squalene (from liver of shark), urea (waste nitrogen), honey (bee food) or propolis (bee glue) may be used in the general production of toiletries and cosmetics.

There's quite a few veggie soaps around though : Lush and Weleda do them, and there's smaller companies like Green People and Dr Hadwen Trust. These can be expensive, but I found that some supermarket budget lines are vegan, oddly enough! I'm afraid all my information's for the UK though

Wow, I was totally blind to that possibility. I like to use veggie soaps at home but never gave a second thought about the soaps that I use when I'm out and about.

Really? I'm always unusually watchful in public places...since I started using all-vegan products I've been so sensitive to whether or not public restrooms or even my own friends' houses' restrooms have soaps that aren't tested on animals/don't contain animal ingredients. And I'm crazy about reading the ingredients on everything I eat. Never used to be, but now that I see all of the junk that I used to eat that had animal ingredients [[besides dairy and eggs]] in them I'm so picky.

Ah, yes, I get pretty crazy about food as well I started becoming interested in preservatives, flavour enhancers, sugar, etc. in food before I became vegan even... Now I'm a restaurant's worst nightmare: I can usually taste if they've used a jar of sauce instead of cooking something from scratch

I've only recently started thinking about clothes and cosmetics and stuff though. I know a few non-vegans who are picky about bubble bath and shampoo, because some of them contain formaldehyde and other sinister-looking chemicals not stuff you want floating in your bath water...

I think for practical reasons it's not that important, avoiding products derived from animals, especially food, is much more important, because vast majority of animals are suffering in food factories. And when we'll reduce these numbers people will become more compassionate towards all animals.

I think we really need to be practical here rather than be smelly... Unless you want o bring along a vegan soap in your bag everywhere you go...

meign wrote:I think we really need to be practical here rather than be smelly... Unless you want o bring along a vegan soap in your bag everywhere you go...

Yep. Let's wash the hands first, then ask whether the soap is vegan or not.

RandyK wrote:

meign wrote:I think we really need to be practical here rather than be smelly... Unless you want o bring along a vegan soap in your bag everywhere you go...

Yep. Let's wash the hands first, then ask whether the soap is vegan or not.

I just read this posts and I smile a while... Can we do anything after knowing that the soap isn't vegan? We've already used it... lol