Cutting cured soap?

[Lovely Lucille]

Does anybody have any experience with cutting already cured soap. It's a hard bar, but I have a sale for 13- !/2 bars of soap and I need to cut 7 bars in half. Is this possible to get a clean cut on already cured bars? Can someone help me?

 

[KiwiMoose]

I cut mine quite often after they have well cured. I used a sharp (thin blade) kitchen knife and stand it in a tall pitcher of boiling water until it's very hot. Then cut. Your soap may be harder/more brittle than mine so test one first.

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

I have put brittle soap into a warm oven, roughly 100 to 120°F, for about 20 minutes to soften soap before cutting. I haven’t needed to do that with most cured soap, but if you find the soap is brittle, the warm oven may help. If you’re in a warm climate, maybe you could just leave it out on a table in the sun to warm up?

 

[Ephemerella]

I have cut cured bars that were several months old without issue. Again, depending on yours there may be risk of cracking and/or shatter. But, I will say that I have experienced warping after cutting if the way I cut makes the bar less thick — the freshly exposed side dries rapidly and the bar will curl slightly.

 

[DeeAnna]

I've cut well-cured soap without problems, although the soap I make isn't super brittle -- lard is nice that way. I agree with Ephemerella that the split bars tend to warp.