Curing Soap

[Lotus]

Please tell me! How do you know your soap is done curing? I hear so many people say that "their soap took 6 weeks to cure." I figured 4 weeks was the going rate. What constitutes a cured bar of soap?

 

[Pepsi Girl]

Mother used to make me wash my mouth out with soap. I became an addict. It's her fault.

So did my Mom that's why I can't bring myself to do the zap test!

 

[Lotus]

So did my Mom that's why I can't bring myself to do the zap test!

Ha! I just brought myself to do the zap test on my soaps. All of them tested good. But, my last one I tested. . . ZAP, but I tried it before 24 hours. Another two hours, and it was good. Weirdly, it's not really that bad, it's more like just a sour flavor in your mouth, rather than the ZAP that you feel with a 9-volt battery.

Edited to add: it is the same flavor as the 9-volt battery, though, which is where I think they got the idea for the similarity in testing.

 

[melstan775]

In another soap group, they said, weigh your soaps. The water evaporates as the soap cures. When it's done, it doesn't lose any more water, so it is "done," and it will weigh the same for 4 days running. I every other day after week four. This is something I've only recently started doing, so try it out and see if it works for you for awhile. I think 4 weeks is the going rate because after a month the soap is aged enough - the elements have come together and it's fairly hard and the lather has matured some. Just speculation .

 

[Lotus]

In another soap group, they said, weigh your soaps. The water evaporates as the soap cures. When it's done, it doesn't lose any more water, so it is "done," and it will weigh the same for 4 days running. I every other day after week four. This is something I've only recently started doing, so try it out and see if it works for you for awhile. I think 4 weeks is the going rate because after a month the soap is aged enough - the elements have come together and it's fairly hard and the lather has matured some. Just speculation .

Thank you!!! This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!!!

 

[Birdie Wife]

I think it depends a bit on the conditions while curing and the soap recipe too. If you can maintain a warm room temp in your curing area then it should be done in 4 weeks for a standard bar, maybe double or even triple for a castile bar. As i understand it, curing is an ongoing process though and the longer you can leave it the better it gets. It's a bit of a balancing act!

 

[Lotus]

I think it depends a bit on the conditions while curing and the soap recipe too. If you can maintain a warm room temp in your curing area then it should be done in 4 weeks for a standard bar, maybe double or even triple for a castile bar. As i understand it, curing is an ongoing process though and the longer you can leave it the better it gets. It's a bit of a balancing act!

So for my bars that are still pretty soft around the edges, I can assume it will take a bit longer (they're a bit olive oil heavy)?

Edit: now I have another forum question.

 

[melstan775]

So for my bars that are still pretty soft around the edges, I can assume it will take a bit longer (they're a bit olive oil heavy)?

Edit: now I have another forum question.

How long have they been sitting?

 

[Lindy]

In another soap group, they said, weigh your soaps. The water evaporates as the soap cures. When it's done, it doesn't lose any more water, so it is "done," and it will weigh the same for 4 days running. I every other day after week four. This is something I've only recently started doing, so try it out and see if it works for you for awhile. I think 4 weeks is the going rate because after a month the soap is aged enough - the elements have come together and it's fairly hard and the lather has matured some. Just speculation .

They continue to lose water for over a year..... just not as fast as in the first couple of months...

 

[Donna]

I'm a six week gal. I have let some go at 4 weeks, but feel more comfortable at 6 weeks.
I don't sell, so that may be a factor. Not having deadlines give me more wiggle room.

 

[Lotus]

How long have they been sitting?

Only a couple of days. Believe me, I don't think they're done. But, hearing different people mention "knowing" that some of their soaps take longer to cure, made me wonder, how they know.

I've been making soaps for myself for years, but I've never actually attempted anything other than something basic. So, I'm SUCH a newbie about trying things different than just a basic bar of unscented soap.

In the past, I've made soaps off of other people's recipes. I'm just starting at making a bunch of my own recipes run through a lye calculator, rather than running other people's recipes through one. : )

Fun stuff.

 

[Lindy]

If you have only made soap using other people's recipes why do you feel you are now ready to start selling when you haven't even developed your own recipes? When you are asking questions like this it is really obvious you are not ready and your recipes and/or soaps aren't going to be stable. I see you have an Etsy account already. Do you have your insurance? Who is it through? Do you have your licenses and proper licenses? You are not ready.

 

[melstan775]

I think it depends a bit on the conditions while curing and the soap recipe too. If you can maintain a warm room temp in your curing area then it should be done in 4 weeks for a standard bar, maybe double or even triple for a castile bar. As i understand it, curing is an ongoing process though and the longer you can leave it the better it gets. It's a bit of a balancing act!

I'd wondered about that. Do you think a dehydrator has any effect on soap? Sure it will dehydrate faster since dehydrators do that, but does it also age the soaps. Just curious... hmmmm.


Lindy, would it suffice to say if the soaps are still losing water they are still curing? Soaps after a few months are not the same as soap after a few weeks, so how about after a year?

 

[Birdie Wife]

I'd wondered about that. Do you think a dehydrator has any effect on soap? Sure it will dehydrate faster since dehydrators do that, but does it also age the soaps?

I've heard you can use a dehumidifier to speed up a cure by about 30% as long ss the room is warm enough too. I'd like to try this once I've got enough soaps into my curing room to nake it worthwhile. I tried putting soaps in my food dehydrator once the lye had been absorbed but unfortunately they warped quite badly. I think curing needs to be slow enough that the water on the inside of the bar balances that on the outside. It's a bit like baking a cake! Mmm, cake

 

[DeeAnna]

"...I think curing needs to be slow enough that the water on the inside of the bar balances that on the outside...." Very good point, Birdie. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[soapguy]

I made a batch this Friday morning and did the zap test after cutting that evening. I tasted nothing but soap. I showered Saturday and used some of the leftover soap from cutting. I plan to hold off on the rest of the soaps for two weeks. I don't recommend anyone to do this, but hey, I'm still here and my skin didn't suffer any, at least not that I can tell.

 

[soapguy]

I've heard you can use a dehumidifier to speed up a cure by about 30% as long ss the room is warm enough too. I'd like to try this once I've got enough soaps into my curing room to nake it worthwhile. I tried putting soaps in my food dehydrator once the lye had been absorbed but unfortunately they warped quite badly. I think curing needs to be slow enough that the water on the inside of the bar balances that on the outside. It's a bit like baking a cake! Mmm, cake

I sometimes have set the oven on warm and put the soap box in it to speed up the process. I then checked it every every so often to make sure everything was ok and pulled it out after 8 hours. I guess it works because I have never waited 6 weeks to try a soap. On average, I prefer to get my PH down to 8.5 before I sell or give away my soaps. For personal use, I am a little more liberal.

 

[Serenity]

Kevin Dunn is Elliott Professor of Chemistry at Hampden-Sydney College and he has done a lot of scientific research into soap making. If you have a look at his article at http://cavemanchemistry.com/WaterDiscount-Dunn.pdf on the last page (pg 5), first para, he says "Most of the saponification
occurred in the first 24 hours for all of these soaps; most of them were continuing to lose moisture even after 60 days." The article explains the experiments he did to come to this conclusion.

This means that you could use your soap before 4 weeks if you really wanted to, but it will be much milder and harder if allowed to cure for at least 4 weeks. I've tried some of my soaps before 4 weeks, in my absolute impatience and excitement, and they were fine. I don't think you would use it on your face though. Of course you wouldn't sell soap that was less than 4 weeks old.

60 days, that Dr Dunn refers to, is 8 1/2 weeks but I don't think you need to wait that long, but of course, the longer the better. I have some soaps that are a few years old and they are rock hard so they will last longer in the shower. If it's just for personal use I would give it 4 weeks minimum then after that it's up to you.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[Lindy]

As Kevin Dunn states - saponification is usually complete within 24 hours, however there are exceptions and those are when you are preventing gel, that will slow it down. The soap is safe to actually use once it quits zapping, but the older the soap is the nicer it becomes.

There are a lot of opinions as to when a soap has completed its cure. Some believe that Castile must cure for a year, where others feel it is fine after 8 weeks. I can tell you from experience Castille is rock hard within a couple of weeks. I sure wouldn't want to try and cut it after that. When we talk about non-Castille it ranges from 21 days to 6 weeks. This is all personal preference in my opinion. I cure my non-castille bars for 3 weeks and then package for sale. In 4+ years of selling I've not had a problem. Now there are exceptions. Hemp soaps sure for 6 weeks because they are just soooo soft.

Melstan I am of the opinion that soap continues to cure for about a year. It continues to become milder with better lather...

 

[bodhi]

Please tell me! How do you know your soap is done curing? I hear so many people say that "their soap took 6 weeks to cure." I figured 4 weeks was the going rate. What constitutes a cured bar of soap?

It varies considerably by recipe. IME after 4-6 weeks you may have a bar of soap that will last a couple weeks and wont zap, but they are no where near done curing in that short of time.