Curing Times - How Long Will I know To Cure My Soap For

[thesea]

Hello all,

I'm new to the forums (and to soap making) so I apologize of this topic has been posted on (though I checked the last 5 pages and noticed nothing about curing).

I've noticed that with a lot of soap recipes, there are different times on how long to cure your soap for. What do the cure times depend on? I know the general rule or amount of time is anywhere from 3 - 8 weeks, but how will I know if its OK to use after 3 weeks or if I need to wait longer?

I've only made 2 batches so far (they've been sitting for a week so far) - and I'm not asking about this batch in particular (it's still very soft for use, as to be expected) but I guess my general question is, what determines the length of time needed in order for soap to officially cure for public use? Does it depend on the percentage of amount of lye used? If it's superfatted over a certain percentage? Or do I just have to wait it out and figure things out along the way?

Thanks all! :]

 

[krissy]

4 weeks is a good start. if it is a recipe high in OO then 6 weeks or longer.

 

[thesea]

Thanks for your reply. :]

What would be considered high? Anything over 40% of the recipe?

 

[nataly28]

I'm the new too waiting for soaps to cure!

I have my soap curing spread out on my living room! Does anybody have recommendations on good curing units, or shelves? Thank you!

 

[azimuth]

I put mine on a slotted cookie sheet in the linen closet, covered with a piece of wax paper, just because you don't want them touching the metal.

 

[Dennis]

I've gotta find some space. Either that or shower more. :roll: These are old pics and it's worse now. The soap pretty much fills up the top two book shelves due to creative stacking. Air circ is important, leave space. Where you store your soap depends on how tolerant others under your roof happen to be. My wife is a jewel.

 

[fiddletree]

ooops double post

 

[fiddletree]

Soap that needs to cure longer won't be as hard (if you push hard it will indent), will dissolve too quickly in water, and can feel a bit slimy when used. Sometimes I cut a small piece of soap off a bar and try it out. I like my soaps after a nice long (6-8 week minimum) cure, though. They get so much nicer!

How much water you use affects cure time, as with the oils. I let anything with over 50% OO cure longer, and I like a 35% lye concentration (this doesn't have to do with how much lye you use, but how much water the lye is dissolved in).

 

[carebear]

Watch out for metal racks. Aluminum is problematic, and chromed wire as well. Good quality stainless steel is fine, though. Otherwise you risk DOS where the soap touches the metal.

I use the craft plastic canvas to line any metal shelf.

 

[BakingNana]

I use a ribbed plastic shelf liner on my shelves. It's heavy duty, relatively inexpensive if you're covering a large area, and cleans up easily. If you have the luxury, using a dehumidifyer in the curing space helps cut a little bit off the cure time.

 

[kharmon320]

Plastic canvas (used in needlework or cross stitching) works well as a liner for a metal shelf. Still allows a lot of circulation to the bars, but they rest on plastic. I need to line all my shelves with this.

I love the chrome metal shelving units. Target sells one in particular that is a 5-tier narrow unit. You can adjust the height of shelves easily, etc. Sam's/Costco also carry same type of shelves, but just not the size I needed.

OP: I think you'll see a much better soap if you let it sit at least 4 weeks as already mentioned. It's amazing how much better they get with time. I made some mostly olive oil soaps about 4 months ago. They're still pushed to the very back. I'm trying to wait at least 6 months to use them.

 

[nagginwitch]

curing times

I have not figured out when the soap is safe to use. but I've cured my soaps in my incubators (I have 3 with 3-5 shelves each). I'll turn the temp down to about 90 degrees and the humidity will drop to 20%. But I've noticed that all the soap scents got blended. The strongest scent is vanilla and now everything that was in that cabinet smells like vanilla until you use it the first time.

Even curing like this I'll wait 5 or 6 weeks, I'm not using any olive oil.

here's my recipe.
15 oz coconut oil
4 oz castor oil
22 oz soybean oil
5.2 oz lye
15.4 oz goats milk

 

[IrishLass]

I use vinyl coated, stackable cookie cooling racks from Pampered Chef. I have several of them as a couple of family members used to sell Pampered Chef: http://www.pamperedchef.com/our_product ... oryCode=BK

I tuck the racks away in a corner of an seldom used room where it gets normal air ciculation. I don't need to use anything special like dehumidifiers or anything because I live in a very dry, desert climate. The ambiant temp in my house is 78 to 80 degreesF in the summer and 68 degressF in the winter.

I let my soaps cure for at least 4 weeks. That's when I consider them to be at their earliest best. More is better, though, especially with 100% Castile's. I like to cure those for at least 6 months to a year. I make a Castile-type (or Bastile) with 50% olive oil and it's fine at 4 to 6 weeks.

I have not figured out when the soap is safe to use.

Soap is safe to use as soon as it is tongue neutral when the 'zap test' is applied, but 'safe to use' is a lot different than 'optimal/best time to use'. I consider it the optimal/best time to use when it no longer zaps and when it is good and hard and mellow, and the lather has been allowed develop and mature to my liking. I'm not very particular. :wink:


IrishLass

 

[Tegan]

I use this: http://www.gardeners.com/Large-Orchard-Rack/FortheHarvest_Cat,38-524,default,cp.html

I was actually able to get one for under cost (including shipping) when they had a 20% off sale going. So so so nice....but might be a little too much curing rack for the beginner (I'm gonna need a second one soon!)

 

[erniemay]

I cure mine for a minimum of 4 weeks but normally 6+, it depends on whether any of my friends or family are needing any. As they are curing I regularly get one out from the batch every few days and give it a squeeze to check how it is getting on. I've no idea whether this gives me any helpful info about how well they are curing but I can usually feel a difference as time goes on, particularly over the first couple of weeks. They are cured on a small shelf and rest on grease proof paper, but then I don't have too many yet so they don't take up that much space.

 

[Anich]

I've noticed that there's an unpleasant smell in the soaps that still have not cured enough. That smell is quite overpowering and disgusting after -not during - washing hands with "too fresh" soap. For some reason the smell comes after drying hands and not when handling the soap.

I'm not exactly sure what this smell is, but it seems to be a great indicator of the curing of the soap I usually take the soap to use when there's no unpleasant smell left at all and it seems to work just fine. Just wondering what is this smell and why does it disappear after 4-6 weeks?

 

[saltydog]

I use this: http://www.gardeners.com/Large-Orchard-Rack/FortheHarvest_Cat,38-524,default,cp.html

I was actually able to get one for under cost (including shipping) when they had a 20% off sale going. So so so nice....but might be a little too much curing rack for the beginner (I'm gonna need a second one soon!)

Tegan this rack is frickin' fantastic! Didn't know such a thing existed. Very very cool.