Packaging Question - Soap Sweat

[MeadowflyFarm]

Hi there!
I am having trouble with packaging my soaps. I make all-natural, cold-process goat milk soap with fresh goat milk.

Now that the weather has become warmer, my soaps have started "sweating" quite a bit. Is that normal? If not, what can I do about it? I superfat at 3% and use Bramble Berry's lye calculator, then discount the milk by 20%. Ph is perfect.

I've been wrapping my soaps in brown paper and sticking labels to the paper. However, the soap "sweat" moistens the paper, making it look really bad. If soap "sweat" is just something that I need to deal with, what do you recommend for packaging? I'm fine with using sticker labels or hang tag labels. I do not want to use plastic to keep a more natural look to my packaging and allow the soaps to continue to dry.

I tried waxed paper as well as a muslin bag, but the "sweat" showed on those, too.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
Thank you!!

 

[debinnnc]

I've had problerms with that too. The only thing you can do is to keep it sealed. I use shrink wrap. I want to keep things as natural as possible, so I got some naturally based shrink wrap from clearbagsonline.com. If you want to stick with the paper wrappers, you can use4 shrink wrap under it or just display on and keep the rest sealed in a plastic container under the table. Hope this helps!

 

[Parke Co. Grapevine]

Yes, in humid weather, the soap will sweat. As a salt, it attracts moisture from the air. Here in Indiana, our summer weather is very humid, so this has been a challenge for me, too. We have been making and selling our soap for a few years (more this past year) and have tried the same things you described and was frustrated. I have seen some soapmakers in my area wrap their soaps in oversized pieces/strips of muslin or other cotton fabric, *then* wrap with heavy paper label. IMO, this is bordering on excessive labor and cost, just for soap-wrapping.

I also like to cut my recyled papers into sheets that will run through the printer, to print the label directly on. Looks really nice, but most of the time, the papers were not compatible with my printer.

About two years ago, my husband spied a box packaging-filler paper at his place of work that was a nice brown and was waxed, pretty heavy waxed, on one side. Room size pieces of this paper was discarded on a regular basis. He started snagging it to bring home to me! He no longer works there, but we still have rolls and rolls of this paper and we still have connections with that warehouse. Anyway ... it works perfect for running through my printer. My daughters and I do spend some time cutting this paper into sheets for the printer, but our customers LOVE love love these labels ... so it's worth it. I have templates I keep for the various recipes and try to choose a font that agrees with the type/name of that soap. After printing, I cut into strips with a craft cutter. My daughters help me wrap around the soaps, and fasten with just a bit of scotch tape.

The waxed side against the soap really helps prevent the package/label from getting messy from 'sweat' and humidity (for the most part. after a few months in the label, it can start to look a bit ragged.) The wax also, I think, helps to contain the fragrance more than cloth or plain paper wrap.

I've had customers tell me that guests to their home or the recipient of my soap as a gift just rave over our packaging. Sorry I cannot give you a definite name or maker of this type of box-packaging wax-paper . . . maybe if you asked around at warehouse or factory locations in your area?

I also store our soaps in paper bags or boxes, in the coolest, darkest, dryest room at home, between events - to hold the fragrance in, while absorbing humidity. And, I do not package/label *all* the soaps of a batch right away. I will package a few, for the current event or retail order. The rest I leave stored 'naked.' Retail locations are usually air-conditioned, but I do not leave a large amount of stock at a retail location - I visit and refill stock often instead of leaving a large stock.

 

[Ruthie]

Parke Co Grapevine, your packaging sounds great. Could you show us a photo? What sort of business was this where hubby worked?

 

[Bicycle808]

Maybe something like this? (All the waxed stuff I found online was waxed on both sides, or else there was no pricing info.)
http://www.uline.com/BL_1957/Poly-Coated-Kraft

Personally, I use this stuff:
http://www.papermart.com/Product Pages/Product.aspx?GroupID=4593&SubGroupID=4596

It hasn't gone soggy on me yet; I tend to wrap soap up for pre-orders, or in smaller amounts based on what I expect to sell on a given weekend. TBH, I'm not sure how it holds up long-term, but I've yet to hear any complaints about the packaging.

 

[roseb]

How about using freezer paper with the coated side on the soap. It has a nice natural look to it and a crisp feel. Don't know if the labels will stick to it though.

 

[MeadowflyFarm]

still trying to find something...

Thanks for all the info, guys!

I'll look into your suggestions.

Parke Co. Grapevine - if you are storing your soaps unwrapped and they get sweaty, do you wash them quickly before wrapping or do you wipe them off?

Has anyone tried tuck-end Kraft boxes? Does the box show the sweat, either inside or out?

I'm really liking the look of some jute drawstring bags, but they leave little jute fibers on the soap after you take them out of the bag. Do you think customers would be bothered by seeing these little fibers on their soap?

Thanks again!

 

[Parke Co. Grapevine]

The soaps don't really get sweaty, that I notice, when stored in heavy paper bags or boxes. If they are sweaty, say before a summer event, I may wipe them off with paper-towel or a cloth (not a linty one) or sit them in front of a fan! before wrapping them up in a label. I have not tried any brand-name boxes but have seen them done by others. Ya know . . . this is all reminding me that in *air-conditioning* the sweat is not a problem. Like, in the crafter's mall downtown. At our outside farmer's market, it is a weekly challenge.

IMO, I think my customers would not like the jute bags, or burlap or anything like that, because it would leave little bits in the soap.

I think the freezer wrap paper is a good idea, the closet thing to what I am doing, using a commercial purchased paper. It would be white, but you could do anything fancy you wanted with the stick-on label. Only one side is waxed, the other side is bare paper and would receive the labels. (I use freezer wrap for it's original purpose, and stick labels on my freezer packages sometimes.) Not sure how it would run through a printer, but you could try, if you wanted to design your own nifty label templates to print on the paper side. OK, I will try to post some pics here of my labels ... (hahahha) Well it's not working. I am so challenged, I cannot remember how in the world I posted my introduction photos and avatar. I'll try something different - Don't know if this will work or not.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/1017650_465821346844144_758770566_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/559955_416621485097464_1625324890_n.jpg