Fels-Naptha is a brand of bar laundry soap used for pre-treating stains on clothing and as a home remedy for exposure to poison ivy and other skin irritants. Fels-Naptha is manufactured by and is a trademark of the Dial Corporation.

Use

The soap comes packaged in paper similar to bar body soap and is most often found in the laundry section of a supermarket or grocery store. It is used in the pre-treatment of stains by rubbing the dampened product on a soiled area prior to laundering, and is claimed by the manufacturer to be most effective in removing chocolate, baby formula, perspiration, and make-up.

The original Fels-Naptha, developed by Philadelphia manufacturer Joseph Fels

Joseph Fels

Joseph Fels was an American soap manufacturer, millionaire, and philanthropist.Born of German immigrants in Halifax County, Virginia, Fels moved with his family to Baltimore in 1866; by 1876 he'd assumed control of a soap manufacturing company based in Philadelphia, and brought two of his brothers...

 around 1893, was used as a home remedy

Home remedy

A home remedy is a treatment to cure a disease or ailment that employs certain spices, vegetables, or other common items. Home remedies may or may not have medicinal properties that treat or cure the disease or ailment in question, as they are typically passed along by laypersons...

 in the treatment of contact dermatitis caused by exposure to poison ivy

Poison ivy

Toxicodendron radicans, better known as poison ivy , is a poisonous North American plant that is well known for its production of urushiol, a clear liquid compound found within the sap of the plant that causes an itching rash in most people who touch it...

, poison oak

Poison oak

Poison oak may refer to* Toxicodendron diversilobum, grows on West Coast of North America* Toxicodendron pubescens, grows in the Eastern United Statesdamnnnnn tissss is terribleee...

, and other oil-transmitted organic skin-irritants. Washing the skin directly with the soap helps break up the oils that carry the toxin. However, in its own caution use sheet, Dial Corp. stated that Fels-Naptha is a skin irritant and not to be used directly on skin. Grated and added to a wash cycle, about 1/16th a bar's worth of Fels-Naptha per load, is said to eliminate residual resins that can remain in clothes up to a year, according to the manufacturer.

Health Considerations

Fels-Naptha used to contain Stoddard solvent, a skin and eye irritant

Irritation

Irritation or exacerbation, in biology and physiology, is a state of inflammation or painful reaction to allergy or cell-lining damage. A stimulus or agent which induces the state of irritation is an irritant...

. According to the ingredients list on the Fels-Naptha website, Stoddard solvent is no longer included in the soap.

According to the "Chronic Health Effects" section of the National Institutes of Health's MSDS for the original formulation of Fels-Naptha:

Chronic toxicity testing has not been conducted on this product. However, the following effects have been reported on one of the product's components. Stoddard solvent: Repeated or prolonged exposure to high concentrations has resulted in upper respiratory tract irritation, central and peripheral nervous system effects, and possibly hematopoetic, liver and kidney effects.

Stoddard solvent is another name for mineral spirits, which are, like petroleum distillates, a mixture of multiple chemicals made from petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

. Exposure to Stoddard solvent in the air can affect your nervous system and cause dizziness, headaches, or a prolonged reaction time. It can also cause eye, skin, or throat irritation.