curing soap logs

[Stacey]

I read this incredibly inspiring soap PORN :wink: blog. Someone here on SMF posted the link a while back. (Sorry, I don't remember who posted it, I would so totally give you credit if I could!) I am so happy that I subscribed to it! WOW! Stunning stuff on here.

Anyway...reading over the update today, I came across a picture that made me curious. I'm a small town girl and haven't ever seen this "Lush" place that people talk about...but I understand that there are logs of soaps that can be cut to size for the customer.

Interesting concept.

...But then I seen this soaper's market display table:
(Scroll to the lower part of the page)

http://thesoapbar.blogspot.com/2011/09/ ... oap+Bar%29

Same concept, I guess. But that made me wonder a couple of things...
How does one cure that soap? I mean that's a huge log! How LONG would you have to cure that in order for it to be useful?

When you see the one kind of soap that is light colored in the middle but darkened on the edges...that makes me wonder about the cure. It's the one log that is in the lower center of the photograph.

Logic tells me that discoloration from like vanilla comes from exposure to the air, right? So...???...How? What? Please help me understand this. Does that mean that even though this log isn't completely discolored all the way through that it's still completely cured? Right?

I understand that curing means dehyrdration which makes a mild and harder bar and results in longer lasting soaps. Minimum cure time is 6 weeks for lots of soapers...but much longer would be better.

I'm not trying to question this soaper's process. She makes beautiful soaps and is clearly sucessful at it. I'm just trying to understand it.

Can you fully cure a log of soap in one piece like that? And slice it off as needed? Wouldn't it be kinda hard to cut?

Any insight you have to help this inquiring mind? :wink:
TIA!

 

[Soaplady22]

She obviously has a huge production going on, but frankly, they're not to my liking. Just me, I guess.

I've wondered for years now how you can cut a log that is nice and hard to make individual bars and not have it crumble or disfigure in other ways. But Lush does it - so I guess it can be done. Maybe the soap is cured but not rock hard. All depends on the oils, I suppose.

The log you mentioned, the two-tone one, is not vanilla discoloring or a partial gel log. It's a way of making the soap log itself. I've seen it on the web a few times, but I do not know how they do it. Interesting tho'. Something else for me to learn!!
But in the meantime I'll stick with my little bars - easier to work with.

 

[Stacey]

Oh. Really? I thought it was colored like that because it was freshly cut and hadn't really been exposed to the air. I say that because I've had some soaps look similar when freshly cut.

Now that you mention it, there are other logs that have that kind of coloration on the four sides. :roll: Sorry.

Well, even so...I'm still curious about the whole process of curing soaps in log form.

thanks soaplady22!

 

[nattynoo]

Both logs look like classic vanilla discolouration to me also.

 

[KylieO]

freaky................i was checking this out last night myself and had the exact questions. so, thanks for asking, cheers

 

[carebear]

First off, Lush is melt and pour soap - not the same as ours at all.

Second, you can cure soaps in a log and still have them cut-able. It depends on your recipe and how you are cutting them.

The "frame" coloration can be the result of an FO discoloring when exposed to light. Usually the full cut surface will end up the same color as the outside, but I've seen some that stay 2-shaded. Not sure how, though.

Or it could be constructed that way, but something tells me not. I cannot get a close enough look to be sure either way.

Curing achieves 2 things. Some of the water dissipates (improving lather and lastingness), and also the soap becomes milder.

 

[busymakinsoap!]

I love, love, love the whole idea of her stalls, and I bet her customers do too. Cutting the bars in front of people would create a buzz and the idea of 'freshness'

I have wondered about the length of time it takes to cure though - I know that my smaller slices of soap cure quicker than large, so a log must take forever.

*I have an Amber soap that does the exact same discolouring thing when I cut a bar in half - it doesnt mean its not cured.