will soap always sweat in high humidity?

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Guspuppy

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Or will it stop once it's fully cured? I don't have a/c in my house and my curing soaps are all running with sweat. I just moved them to the basement, where I have a dehumdifier but it is still a good 60% down there even on the best of days, more when I forget to empty the bucket. I don't care for myself, but I want to give soaps out as gifts to family members. But if it is always going to sweat I might have to rethink that, or give to them with a warning.
 
In the most humid of summer weather here in Iowa, sometimes my unwrapped bars can feel dampish -- a kind of greasy/soapy slickness. Unless we're talking about salt bars, however, mine don't ever "run" with sweat. And at 60% humidity, I would expect my soap to feel quite dry. Perhaps the recipe makes a difference?
 
I live in high humidity, and mine don't ever run with sweat. My salt bars get beads of sweat, but never sweat to the point that it runs. I wonder if a simple fan moving air over them down there might fix the issue. I keep mine open to air until they are ready to go to someone else's house. But even when the windows are open, they do not sweat that badly.
 
I should clarify - the humidity in the room where they were sweating freely (only the salt bars really ran with it though, actual drips off the ends when I picked them up) is about 86% right now. I think they will dry again in the basement where it is only 60%. I was just wondering if after several months cure (most are less than 3 months old) the sweating would stop at high humidity. Some of the people I wanted to gift soaps to also do not have a/c. Several different recipes, but all but my shea butter recipe were at least very slick. (this was also the oldest soap of the lot) The salt bars were running though!
 
Well to some extent, it's not realistic to expect hand crafted soap to stay perfectly dry in high humidity. Glycerin is roughly 10% of the weight of a normal type of soap bar, and glycerin is hygroscopic (attracts water). On top of that, a bar of soap is formulated to dissolve in water and to have water dissolved within the bar, so it's rather the nature of the beast. If you want to minimize this, look at the idea of packaging your soap in a humidity resistant covering (shrink wrap works for me). I also think the formulation can have some effect -- the fatty acid profile and additives -- but I haven't spent a lot of time thinking and testing the options to make concrete suggestions.
 
My son loves salt bars. He lives in New Orleans, La. Home of the humidity. I send the salt bars to him as soon as they stop sweating every day here, with instructions to unpack and leave open to air until they stop sweating down there. Usually within 6 months, they are completely done sweating.

I live in the humid South too (frowny face) and have only done about a half dozen batches but it does seem to me that my brine bars sweat the most. The brine bars are 100% CO with 20% SF and the other soaps are more blanced 4-oil bars (25%CO, 5% castor oil, 35% OO and the balance in palm oil, with 3% SF). I can feel sweat on the brine bars but not the others.

Anyone know why this might be so?

Thanks! --Scooter
 
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