Surface for Drying/Curing and Storing Soap

[Lumbini]

I have Ikea wood shelving. The shelves are slatted so I line the shelves with parchment paper. They are 6ft (ish) tall by 30" x 18" and go together really easy if you have an Ikea you can get to. Plus they are way cheap.

We do have an IKEA here and I have been looking at their wood shelving. I am currently using a small IKEA wooden bookshelf and I line it with Grip shelf liner and put the soap on top of that. But I had the smell of the base and essential oils seep into the liner and the wooden shelf, and it did not smell good after a while. Has that happened to you? May be I should use parchment paper or wax paper as suggested?

That is why I was wondering what everyone else was doing. Currently I am lining another shelf with paper and plain paper towels and drying my soap. But the shelving unit still ends up smelling of the soap. I am thinking about getting a metal rack or drying them in cardboard boxes that I can recycle afterwards.

 

[Lucidcat2]

We do have an IKEA here and I have been looking at their wood shelving. I am currently using a small IKEA wooden bookshelf and I line it with Grip shelf liner and put the soap on top of that. But I had the smell of the base and essential oils seep into the liner and the wooden shelf, and it did not smell good after a while. Has that happened to you? May be I should use parchment paper or wax paper as suggested?

That is why I was wondering what everyone else was doing. Currently I am lining another shelf with paper and plain paper towels and drying my soap. But the shelving unit still ends up smelling of the soap. I am thinking about getting a metal rack or drying them in cardboard boxes that I can recycle afterwards.

That's good to know about the wooden shelving. I was thinking some wood shelves might be nicer looking than the paper towel lined cardboard boxes, but, maybe not so much.

 

[kazmi]

No marks but keep in mind the bars have been drying on a smaller coated rack for a week prior to being placed on these racks so they are fairly firm. I do polish all my bars with panty hose, the one item I insist my wife picks up for me, prior to wrapping.

Sorry, newbie questions: what does polishing with a panty hose do for the soap? and how do you do it? TIA

 

[LuvOurNewf]

Sorry, newbie questions: what does polishing with a panty hose do for the soap? and how do you do it? TIA

Makes them shine and gets rid of little imperfections and fingerprints that may get left behind. On our round bars it knocks off the raised edge.

Use it lightly just light sanding a piece of wood. It's something you don't have to do but we sell and it adds a little to the look of the finished bar.

 

[stargazer44]

I only use reusable items when I soap. No paper here at all. So when I un-mold, my loaves sit on a silicone sheet or flexible cutting mat. When I cut, they rest on the same mat for a day or so. Then I have some racks with mesh drawers I found at Ikea where they cure.

 

[nebetmiw]

4 shelf coated wire rack. It works great and I sometimes put papertowel down under soap to get leaking oils if I think it might be a problem so rack coating to not get burned off so to speak.

 

[Soapman Ryan]

Here's a couple shots of bars drying.

Nice setup. What do you use to round the bars edges?

 

[LuvOurNewf]

Nice setup. What do you use to round the bars edges?

On the regular and salt bars we bevel the edges with a beveler from
lotioncrafter.com

Our round Beer Bars are done with a nylon stocking as we polish.

 

[Cemetery]

I am new to this forum and to soap making. I hope I post this reply in the right spot. I was struggling to find an inexpensive way to dry my soaps that was also compact. I went to the local Home Depot and found the black plastic crates they use to hold the flats of flowers. They said that they just throw them away and I could take as many as I wanted.

They are great. They are slotted for air circulation and they will stack if you turn them 45 degrees. I would line them with freezer paper or parchment at first to prevent any lines on your product.

I also like the idea of recycling the product.