How long do you normally wait before Zap testing a batch?

[tmar22]

Any specific time frame that you should zap test in and when to do it?

 

[Saponomancer]

I usually test for zap after 24 hours, and if anything is still zappy, the end of the week, but there are no real 'rules' about it, just before you actually use it or give it away is good.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Hot process - before I mould up. Cold process - depends on the soap, but usually after 24 hours, up to 48 or so

 

[cmzaha]

72 hrs for cp, if it has not gelled. Ungelled soap will very easily stay zappy for 72 hrs

 

[Susie]

I normally gel my soaps, so I zap test when I cut. 18-24 hours.

 

[navigator9]

I wait about 72 hours for ungelled soaps. As Carolyn mentioned, it usually takes about that long for ungelled soaps not to be zappy. And I'll always check before trying to unmold, because in my experience, if it's still zappy, it will be to soft to unmold without denting it.

 

[Obsidian]

I wait a week or more, I see no need to do it right away. When I first started soaping, I would zap test when I cut and almost always got zapped so now I wait.
There is a difference between getting zapped with young soap and soap that is lye heavy due to a mistake. Why test a young soap that has a higher risk of zapping instead of just waiting a few extra days?

 

[DeeAnna]

Unless I have a specific reason to zap test right away, I usually wait until I feel like testing. (How's that for scientific precision?) There's no real reason to zap test right away unless you're learning and curious or if you have reason to believe there might be a concern. I so seldom have an unexpected problem with my soaps being lye heavy that I don't worry too much about it anymore. A zap test is just a double check for me, not a live-or-die thing.

 

[topofmurrayhill]

Any specific time frame that you should zap test in and when to do it?

Keep in mind if you wait too long you may not get the zap, which personally I find terribly disappointing. Gotta have my zap.

 

[Arimara]

If I soap with a loaf mold, I zap test after I cut the soap whenever the soap is hard enough to cut. With cavity molds, the same principle- when the soap is solid to the touch.

 

[IrishLass]

I pretty much take the same attitude as Obsidian and DeeAnna. It's as rare as hen's teeth for me to zap-test before at least a week has gone by.

Keep in mind if you wait too long you may not get the zap, which personally I find terribly disappointing. Gotta have my zap.

IrishLass

 

[topofmurrayhill]

I pretty much take the same attitude as Obsidian and DeeAnna. It's as rare as hen's teeth for me to zap-test before at least a week has gone by.

Heh, that was a joke but in reality I only occasionally zap test bar soap at all. My main recipes are mild in a short time, and if something went wrong it would probably be pretty apparent before even using it. So I only test if for some reason the result is somehow questionable.

I zap test mostly when it's helpful for the timing of something, which pertains to methods other than CP. -A