43 Non-Food Items That Don’t Need Passover Certification {Updated}

43 Non-Food Items That Don't Need Passover Certification

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Updated 3/23/17

I received three emails last week from readers asking about deals on Kosher for Passover personal care items.  At first, I was just going to email them back and say, “Hey, good news! Those products don’t require a hechsher — not even on Pesach. So go to town!”

But then I realized that if three people were emailing me about hechsherim on non-food items, then a lot more of you probably have the same question. And voila! This post was born!

Save, pin, or print this post — so you can easily access it when you’re at the store and wondering “Does this product require Passover certification?” Pay special attention #16 — this is a big one that people assume they have to buy with a hechsher.

Non-Food Items You Can Use on Passover Without Certification

Disclaimer: This information was found in the OU’s 2017 Passover Guide. I am not a Rabbi, nor a Rebbetzin — nor do I play one on the Internet. As always, please consult with your local rabbi if you have any questions.

  1. Aluminum foil
  2. Aluminum foil baking pans
  3. Baby ointment
  4. Bags — paper or plastic
  5. Body wash
  6. Candles
  7. Carpet cleaners
  8. Charcoal
  9. Conditioner
  10. Copper or metal cleaner
  11. Cosmetics (except lipsticks/lipbalm, see OU Guide for more information)
  12. Cupcake holders
  13. Cups (paper, plastic or styrofoam)
  14. Deodorant
  15. Detergent
  16. Dishwashing Detergent
  17. Drain openers
  18. Furniture polish
  19. Glass cleaner
  20. Hair gels, sprays and mousse
  21. Hair removers and treatments
  22. Isopropyl alcohol
  23. Jewelry polish
  24. Laundry detergent
  25. Lotion
  26. Napkins (paper)
  27. Oven cleaner
  28. Paper towels
  29. Perfume
  30. Plastic containers
  31. Plates (paper, plastic or styrofoam)
  32. Scouring pads and powders
  33. Shampoo
  34. Shaving cream and gel
  35. Shaving lotion
  36. Silver polish
  37. Skin cream
  38. Soaps
  39. Suntan lotion
  40. Talcum powder (100% talc)
  41. Toilet bowl cleaner
  42. Tub cleaner
  43. Water filters

Talk with your local rabbi about oral hygiene products like toothpaste and mouthwash, as well as lip stick and lip balm. There is a disagreement as to whether these require certification – year-round and for Passover.

Comments

  1. Many people don’t use paper plates on Pesach

    • Mara Strom says

      I know – but per the OU, disposable plates are perfectly permissible. Definitely ask your LOR if your community has a chumrah about this.

  2. Well, in Israel, I think every single one of these items can be purchased with a special Pesach hechsher. Including rolls of packaging tape. Badatz, I kid you not…!

  3. For all the Facebook questioners, the reason non food items may need pesach certification is because you can’t own chametz on pesach, not just not eat it. No conspiracy theories necessary.

  4. Stash Empress says

    Couple of comments — the reason many don’t use paper plates on Pesach is because of the starch used in the processing — which will then transfer to your food — which is of course safe and edible, so of course then if its chometz or kitniyus.. well.. there ya go… whereas plastic dishes do not have the same starch issues. So its not just “crazyness” — its real halachic concerns. Another comment — what we consider nonedible items — such as soaps & cosmetic products & etc. — nowadays with the whole “green” and “natural” and “organic” movement — you have soaps & scrubs & face powder & so on that are made of actual edible oatmeal for example, and since they’re all natural & nontoxic & so on — are — technically edible — and chometzdik! The halacha doesn’t mean something is chometz only if YOU would choose to eat it — so technically — those items ARE chometzdik and hence not allowed to be owned & used on Pesach. Which is why we have R. Blumenkrantz’s book that we comb through yearly to see which brands/products are alright w/o a hechsher & which particular brands do have chometz/kitniyus issues. (Generally, anything that is 100% synthetic in origin, eg. cleaning items, cosmetic products, soaps, etc., is fine. Its when you get into organic products that you have issues.)

    • There’s a machlokes if that’s an issue or not! That’s why many kashrus agencies like the CRC say all those products ARE fine for pesach. Yes, even soap with oatmeal in it because it’s not in a state that a dog would consume. So while there are people (like R’ Blumenkranz) who hold you have to sell all that. Many (even our Chareidi Israeli posek) say it’s NOT an issue.

      Except for oral care items. Also things like hairspray and spray deodorant where the alcohol can in theory be extracted many people also hold to sell those items. The OU list didn’t specify but I definitely know that many hold those few specific items are an issue.

    • It should be s real halachic concern about the use of plastic plates.
      “If you destroy the Earth no one will be able to repair it” Bereishit
      So how many throw away plastic plates do YOU use?

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