Removing glycerin from soap

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Alanatt

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Hi all,
I came across an old article about removing glycerin from soap to get a longer lasting bar as the glycerin is responsible for the 'mushyness' if left in humid conditions or too much water, but why would we want to remove the glycerin otherwise? and the process seemed a bit archaic. Does anyone have any info on this topic???
 
Personally, there is no reason to make handmade soap if want to remove the glycerin. That's the biggest reason I started making soap as the glycerin is a humectant and makes my skin feel 100 times better than store bought soaps. Many remove the glycerin for other products. I always have plenty of soap and don't experience any mushiness even when super humid. As long as it's properly drained after use.
 
No reason whatsoever in my opinion. Not all soap recipes are prone to humidity intolerance. I have some that sweat more than others; some that never sweat. It's all about the recipe as far as I can tell since they all live in the same environmental conditions. I have no desire to remove glycerin from soap since it is actually beneficial to my skin to keep it in the soap.

There are things one can do to store soap in less humid conditions (several threads here about how to store soap after the cure address the humidity concern.)
 
...removing glycerin from soap to get a longer lasting bar as the glycerin is responsible for the 'mushyness' if left in humid conditions or too much water, but why would we want to remove the glycerin otherwise?...

Not sure where you've come up with the idea that removing the glycerin is the solution to preventing mush. Soap is a salt of fatty acids and sodium hydroxide and soap is soluble in water. It's going to dissolve in water whether the soap contains glycerin or not.

The choice of fatty acids and the way the bars are produced are more important factors that affect the tendency of soap to become mushy. But there's no way you can entirely eliminate mush if you want soap to function as a cleanser.

Any solid cleanser, whether real soap or a synthetic detergent cleanser or a blend of both, will get mushy if it is not allowed to dry out between uses. Buy a bar of commercial soap (usually contains no glycerin) or any syndet cleanser and leave it in a puddle of water. You will learn these products get mushy too. Removing or reducing the glycerin might slow the uptake of water into the bar somewhat, but it is not the ultimate solution for the problem of mush.

Glycerin is removed in most commercial soaps because they're made with a "boiled" process that uses an excess of water and lye during the saponification step. Historically, the glycerin in this excess water was recovered and purified because it was a valuable commodity that increased the soap maker's profits, not because the soap was improved by the removal of the glycerin.

If you want to remove the glycerin in soap made with a hot process or cold process method, it can be done, but it's truly an optional step that doesn't necessarily improve the soap.
 
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I mean, if I want a bar that last as long as a comercial bar, is as hard as a comercial bar and has no glycerin like comercial bars, i would just keep buying comercial bars. There are some things that you gotta accept you aint gonna get with handmade soaps, just as there are things that comercial soaps dont have.
 
I'm not complaining about the mushiness or the glycerin. I was doing some research and came across the process and the claim. Just wanted to know if anyone knew anything about it. I love my soaps the way they are lol
 
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