Does soap go bad?

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

lookatme

Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Messages
9
Reaction score
1
How long does the typical homemade soap last? I have a bunch I made a few years back and I'm wondering if they're still ok?
 
After a while I've noticed mine loses its scent. I don't know if the soap itself is still good, but i usually like to use it while it still has a fragrance.
 
It all depends on the soap recipe, Some soaps, particularily fatty soaps will not keep long. but most soaps have a pretty long shelf life. If they are lye soap they will probably have lye odor. If they haven't developed a fatty smell or a lye odor they should be fine.
 
A fatty smell would be caused by oils going rancid, or by too much oils. Also some oils go ranceid sooner than others.
 
Are you going to put any type of food in them? I would say that food soaps ought to last about two years. I make mine in very small batches. Happy soaping!
 
The higher the lye discount, the less time the soap needs to go rancid for me. I try not to go above 6%.
 
I agree with Zee....my 4-5% soaps last a lot longer than my 8% lye discount soaps.

But, I'm going to play with some sodium citrate and some BHT in my next batches....they're both wicked antioxidants. :)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top