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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.
- Aluminum foil
- Aluminum foil baking pans
- Baby ointment
- Bags — paper or plastic
- Body wash
- Candles
- Carpet cleaners
- Charcoal
- Conditioner
- Copper or metal cleaner
- Cosmetics (except lipsticks/lipbalm, see OU Guide for more information)
- Cupcake holders
- Cups (paper, plastic or styrofoam)
- Deodorant
- Detergent
- Dishwashing Detergent
- Drain openers
- Furniture polish
- Glass cleaner
- Hair gels, sprays and mousse
- Hair removers and treatments
- Isopropyl alcohol
- Jewelry polish
- Laundry detergent
- Lotion
- Napkins (paper)
- Oven cleaner
- Paper towels
- Perfume
- Plastic containers
- Plates (paper, plastic or styrofoam)
- Scouring pads and powders
- Shampoo
- Shaving cream and gel
- Shaving lotion
- Silver polish
- Skin cream
- Soaps
- Suntan lotion
- Talcum powder (100% talc)
- Toilet bowl cleaner
- Tub cleaner
- 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.
Many people don’t use paper plates on Pesach
I know – but per the OU, disposable plates are perfectly permissible. Definitely ask your LOR if your community has a chumrah about this.
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…!
Thank G-d the packaging tape is Badatz! 😉
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.
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?