Curing question

[Jen74]

I make my soap using palm oil, and palm kernel oil. I usually do a hot process. Is 4 weeks a good cure time? I usually cure them for 5 to 6 weeks, but recently ran out and my current batch has cured for about only 4 weeks now. Is 4 weeks long enough for my soap?

 

[Rsapienza]

You are really the only one that can answer that question. Test out a bar and see. Evaluate performance and longevity. Some say that HP actually should cure longer than CP due to the higher water amount (in most cases).

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Exactly. Unlike the question "is my soap safe to use?" which is the same for everyone (it's either safe or it isn't) the cure question is more "is my soap ready to use?" which is something that depends on each person.

Ultimately, the longer the cure the better the soap. But with most soaps the benefits to waiting 53 weeks instead of 50 weeks are negligible, whereas waiting 6 weeks instead of 3 weeks is certainly noticeable.

In your case here, you'll only use a couple of bars between now and the 6 week cure you usually do, so most bars will get the usual cure time. Only a couple of bars won't cure as long. This is a great chance to compare the 4 week bar to a 6 week bar and see if the extra time is worth it for you