Les Maîtres Savonniers

As a (certified) soap maker, you produce cosmetic products that come into contact with the skin during production and use. For this reason, the European Union has compiled a series of legal regulations regarding the production process and sale of soap products. These are put forward in the European Cosmetics Directive. European legislation and regulation applies to the entire cosmetics industry - from lipstick and hair dye to shower gel and bath pearls. It doesn't matter whether a few soap products are produced per week, or thousands of jars or bottles are churned out every day. The point is to ensure that a safe product is manufactured in a controlled, hygienic environment and that the origin of all its ingredients can be traced.
With the Gildewerk Soap Quality System, we make this easy for you.

On this page, we would like to explain how the Gildewerk Soap Quality System can be of value to you. Gildewerk Soap Quality System BV is the company that guarantees the quality of your products and provides them with the Les Maîtres Savonniers hallmark.

The Gildewerk Soap Quality System takes over most of the tasks related to the European Cosmetics Directive. As an institution, you can subscribe to this quality system. You'll be released from an enormous amount of supervision and administration, and you'll be able to guarantee your employees, distributors and customers that your working methods and products conform to European guidelines. For the record, the Gildewerk Soap Quality System only guarantees the quality and safety of soap products manufactured using Gildewerk ingredients.

When you start with the professional making of soap (products), you must notify the authorities so that compliance with cosmetics legislation can be monitored. Registration with national registration centres might also be mandatory. Such registration is arranged for Gildewerk Soap Quality System subscribers by Gildewerk Quality Systems BV.

Soap products are manufactured using various ingredients sourced from various producers. Every producer is responsible for his own products. Eventually, all the ingredients come together in the production process. As a soap maker, you are compelled to record certain details about your soap products in a product record. This involves the qualitative and quantitative composition of the ingredients used. To guarantee reducibility, every ingredient has its own unique code (lot/batch number). The final product also receives a unique number. With the help of the Gildewerk Soap Quality System, this registration can quickly and easily be processed.

Gildewerk Soap Quality Systems BV keeps product records for Gildewerk Soap Quality System subscribers. Initially, a bacteriological analysis of all the soap products which you manufacture must be performed. This applies to extruder soap, moulded soap, liquid soap, bath salts, etc. Gildewerk Quality Systems BV monitors random samples of your products for the qualitative assessment of the final product.

Gildewerk supplies ingredients that are animal-friendly guaranteed. This means that the ingredients are not tested on animals (anymore). Dutch institutions that purchase all their ingredients from Gildewerk are permitted to display the animal-friendly logo.

Operating according to GMP does not only set production process hygiene demands, but also sets working method demands. Organisation and hygiene form the basis for efficient practical production. If your production space and -methods conform to the regulations, you'll receive a certificate proving GMP from Gildewerk Quality Systems BV.

To be able to make use of the Gildewerk Soap Quality System, the person responsible for the soap making operation (manager/enterpriser) must have completed Gildewerk Quality Systems BV's basic soap making course. This certification must be kept up to date through part-time training. The soap maker's employees must be able to prove (by medical certificate) that they do not have any infectious diseases. Employees with wounds on uncovered parts of their bodies may not take part in the production process. All employees taking part in the soap production process must wear protective clothing, including overalls, gloves and hairnets. If employees are affected by colds and/or excessive saliva production, they must also wear a facemask. The same applies to everyone entering or visiting the production area. Protective clothing may not be worn outside the production department and must be washed at least once a week.

The institution subscribing to the Gildewerk Soap Quality System must guarantee compliance with these guidelines.

Your soap making area must be partitioned from other areas/workplaces. The production area must also have its own water supply and must be easily cleanable. Infestation with vermin, such as mice and insects must be avoided at all times.

Floors:	smooth and easily cleanable (linoleum, marmoleum or similar)
Work surfaces/cupboards/shelves:	with synthetic covering or in stainless steel
Walls/ceiling:	smooth, not peeling
Windows:	with fly netting

Cupboards, racks and shelves must be positioned in such a way that the dry, clean, cool (frost-free) and orderly storage of ingredients is guaranteed.

Before soap production is started, everyone present must wash their hands and don protective clothing. People who leave the production area must remove their protective clothing and replace it when returning. After visiting the toilet, hands must be washed with soap and water. Any equipment and aids essential for production must be washed with hot water and dried with a clean cloth after every use. If possible, equipment must be dismantled to do this. All cleaning aids must be washed or discarded after use. Eating, drinking or smoking is not permitted in the soap making area.

Soap products are manufactured according to the recipe book and are suitably packaged immediately after production. During the production process, the products must regularly be monitored for shape, colour, fragrance and consistency. Products that must rest or dry before being packaged must be covered with clean, dry cloths. If doubts exist about quality/hygiene, the entire lot must be placed in a sealed and clearly marked container to prevent it being confused with approved products. In such cases, contact Gildewerk Quality Systems BV immediately.

All your products must be clearly marked, clean and undamaged when they go into storage. During production, two reference samples of at least 10g are drawn from every batch/lot. These marked samples are stored in suitable sealed packaging for a period of four years. At least twice a year, Gildewerk Quality Systems BV requires samples for periodic bacteriological research. These are samples of at least 5g which are clearly marked and sent in well-sealed packaging.

All final products display information about their composition and shelf-life so that customers can inform themselves before purchasing the products. These details protect or warn him/her against possible allergic reactions. On durable packaging, this information must appear indelibly on a waterproof label. On bar- or moulded soap packaging, a simple paper label or insert will suffice. The information contained must be clear and legible.

According to legislation, cosmetic product labels/inserts must contain the following details:

• Product name: description of the product (soap, shampoo, bath salt, etc.);
• Function of the product (unless the product name makes this clear);
• Name and address of the producer of the final product. Gildewerk Soap Quality Systems subscribers must include the 'Les Maîtres Savonniers' trade name. This will indicate to the control authority where the product record can be found;
• Volume: the Volume of the product must be mentioned on the packaging/label (ml or g);
• Batch or code number: every cosmetics product is provided with a batch- or code number. One hundred litres of shampoo, for instance, which is manufactured in the same production cycle, is decanted into one hundred shampoo bottles. These one hundred bottles of shampoo are given a unique, identical batch number. If doubts about the quality/safety of a product arise at a later stage, the numbers can be used to determine whether the whole batch is affected;
• Declaration of ingredients: since 1996, it has been mandatory to declare the ingredients of cosmetic products. All ingredients used in production must appear on the packaging. To maintain consistency, standardised terms called INCI names are used. INCI is short for International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredients. The aim of mentioning the ingredients is to inform consumers about the composition of the product. This can be important information to consumers who are over-sensitive or allergic to certain substances. By checking the ingredients, a customer can determine whether a product is suitable for him or her.
• Shelf-life: most cosmetic products have long, but not unlimited, shelf-lives, especially once they have been taken into use. There is a best-before symbol on the label to inform users about this. This symbol indicates the minimum shelf-life after a product has been opened.