Soap in Freezer

[Obsidian]

I have a bar of soap that is close to 30 years old and its just fine and dandy. Its a terrible harsh soap but its not rancid in the least. Even though I have soap in the freezer, it generally shouldn't be needed.

My first castile batch developed slight DOS at 2 months so I put half in the freezer to see if it would stop the spread. Not sure I really needed to as the bars I kept in the closet only developed a couple more spots the last year. I have other bars made with short life shelf oils so I out them in the freezer too, just to be on the safe side.

 

[Ellacho]

One of my friends who also makes soap lives in humid summer weather. To prevent soap from sweating, she wraps every single soap with special paper and keeps it in the refrigerator. When weather cools down, she lets her soap out from refrigerator.

 

[Susie]

I live in humid weather year round, and I leave mine open to air at room temperature year round. No DOS yet.

 

[neeners]

I lived in the Caribbean in the forest, so everything is prone to mold. all the soaps I made were kept in my curing room (just a storage closet) and I've had no problems in the 10 months I was soaping there.....

 

[DiddlyO]

I'm still to find out if it helps or not, but I've been wrapping mine with a small packet of desiccant. It gets humid here too.

 

[Spice]

I'm sure it depends on the % superfat and the oil. Some oils have a shelf life of 4-6 months and if you leave behind 5-7% and used a substantial amount in the recipe I'd be very surprised if it lasted nearly as long as a cocoa butter / coconut oil type bar. I'd also imagine if you used only 3-6% of an unstable oil at a 3-5% superfat, that bar would have a great shelf life. But I have not had experience with short shelf life oils yet. I'm only guessing.



I'd be very interested in the details on what makes some oils go rancid much quicker than others. Wheat germ has very high vitamin E content (a natural antioxidant) but only lasts about 1 year.

I just did a quick google search and found this: "A study of the unsaponifiable fraction of wheat germ oil with special reference to vitamin E". I don't have time to read it right now, but it might shed some light on the subject.

This is getting kind of off topic. But, these are some fun subjects to think about.

I fed the kids and looked over that first linked article. Most of it is boring and doesn't answer much and/or is over my head. But I found something that is much more interesting! "What determines the shelf life of fats and oils?"

Thanks for all that info, I have read it and it's great, especially, the what determines the shelf life of fats and oils.

 

[Spice]

I am so grateful for this forum, thank you all for all your replies. Some really good opinions/info. I havent froze any soap, just refig it, what I can tell it can be done.