Storing the soap ingredients

[PerthMobility]

I have made this post elsewhere but it might be of interest to more than just the followers of the other thread. Perhaps the community might provide their advice on how to keep the ingredients fresh for as long as possible and avoid spoiled soap due to oils and butters that have gone "off"?

QUOTE: An aromatherapist has just joined our team and she gave us some very valuable information yesterday on both storing oils and making sure your supplier stores theirs properly. It seems that UV must be avoided at all costs especially with EO's while butters, fats and EO's are far better stored in a 'fridge.

She told us the story of a visit she made to a wholesaler and found boxes of EO's out in the midday sun.

We intend to try freezing some samples and later thawing to check if there has been any change.UNQUOTE

 

[dixiedragon]

IMO, keeping ingredients dry and clean is also very important. If you keep your ingredients in a fridge, make sure to seal them up in a ziplock bag. My stuff is in a cool basement. My oils have lasted for YEARS. However, my molds, etc, tend to accumulate dust and since I don't enjoy washing molds before AND after each soap making session, I now keep all of my molds in large, clean Rubbermaid type tubs. I order stuff from soaper's choice, which means I get my shea butter in 10-lb chunks. I break that into several gallon-ziplocs and keep all but 1 in the freezer.

 

[Susie]

I am a hobby soaper only, so I try not to buy very large quantities.

I store my EO/FOs in an opaque, latch-able Rubbermaid tub on a rolling cart with the rest of my soaping equipment and supplies in an extra room. I can then just roll that cart to the kitchen when needed. My non-cooking oils are also on that cart, but I only keep small amounts of those that can be used in a reasonable period of time. If I have to buy more, I will keep extras in the freezer. My cooking/soaping oils such as lard, OO, and CO I keep in the kitchen under the sink. I do use those to cook with, also, so it keeps my stock rotating.