Hygiene is a right, not a privilege.
Imagine having to choose between eating and staying clean. For 5.3 million adults in the UK, this is a daily reality. Hygiene poverty isn’t about cleanliness, or even mental and physical wellbeing - hygiene poverty blocks opportunities and limits life chances - going without shampoo, toothpaste, laundry detergent causes suffering on a day-to-day basis. It’s time for a change.
Soap is taxed at 20% but lobsters are VAT-free. It's time for change.
Currently, soap - and other essential hygiene products - are subject to a 20% VAT rate, treating them as non-essential items. Yet, luxury goods like lobsters, gold bars or works of art are tax-free. Taxing soap disproportionately affects low-income individuals and families, making it harder for them to maintain basic hygiene and pushing them to make difficult choices between putting food on the table or staying clean. It’s unfair and unjust. We demand the UK Government remove VAT on soap -because basic hygiene should never be a luxury.
Sign the Petition
Sign the #StopTheSoapTax petition and help us make soap accessible for everyone.
We need 10,000 signatures to get a response from the Government and 100,000 signatures for our petition to be considered for debate in Parliament.
Share with your contacts and help us end hygiene poverty. Help us spread the word!
This is not just a petition, it's a protest
With 5.3 million adults in the UK forced to choose between eating and staying clean, this is not just a petition – it's a protest.
Join our fight and help us bring attention to this silent crisis that has devastating consequences for millions of families across the UK. No one should have to choose between putting food on the table or washing their hands.
Please use our template to write to your own MP and help us bring this silent crisis to their attention.
Simply copy and paste the text into your email, insert your name and send an email to your MP. You can also post it.
Click here to find your MP here if you're unsure who yours is.
Fund the fight
The Edible Soap
To shine a light into one of the UK's most overlooked yet devastating crises, we have launched The Edible Soap - a protest act designed to expose the impossible choices millions of people in hygiene poverty face.
The Edible Soap has been developed by the ethical skincare brand Goodwash. By presenting a soap you can wash with and eat, this campaign demands the nation's attention and calls for change.
The soap is not for sale, but you can donate £15 through The Good Wash's website, with all the proceeds going towards The Hygiene Bank to support those in hygiene poverty.
