# Show us your airing cupboard



## kdm (Oct 1, 2021)

Does everyone have an airing cupboard which looks like this within their first week of soapmaking?


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## LynetteO (Oct 1, 2021)

@kdm  sorda


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## CpnDouchette (Oct 2, 2021)

I don't have an airing cupboard!!! <cries softly in a house with cardboard boxes of soap everywhere>


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## Johnez (Oct 2, 2021)

The soap unfortunately does not have a dedicated home right now. I've got some on top of the fridge and in the linen closet, and the shave soaps in the bathroom for easy use.


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## earlene (Oct 2, 2021)

Airing cupboards are not as common in some parts of the world as they may be in the UK.

I cure my soaps on trays lined with mesh, and they are stacked in a room of their own. Well, honestly, it's not a totally dedicated soap room, but my granddaughter's bedroom, but she rarely comes to stay, so it's as close as it gets to a room of their own.  No photos, though.


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## Susie (Oct 2, 2021)

I used to use whatever flat surface was available, then I had my husband's library, which is now my office. I don't know where I am going to put the next batch of soap, but I have ~100 bars left right now, so I have a bit before I have to solve that issue. I am on a soaping ban until we are at <24 bars.


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## Bubble Agent (Oct 2, 2021)

No cupboard but I have a soap room where I cure my soaps. I know you didn`t ask for advice, but thought I`d mention that my local store uses *THESE* crates for mushrooms (_UK link), _so maybe you can get a hold of some of these _if you need something as your collection of soaps grow?_ £0.50 a piece it seems, unless you can go to your local supermarket and ask them for empty ones? My local store is very happy that I take them off their hands, because it frees up space for them, and I don`t have to pay anything.

Easily stackable, but mind you, they are a bit flimsy as they are made specifically for mushrooms! So I don`t have more than 1 kg of soap in each crate (about 2 pounds) so they are not that sturdy if you fill it to the brim with soaps. I will get proper sturdy ones when I start to sell (they are a bit expensive here in Norway, so I don`t want to do it until I am selling)

But I have pushed the limit of 3 kg, however that has been ready cured soaps and shrinkwrapped going to my family, so they don`t need the space between like when they are curing. But then I have to lift it holding one hand below the thinnest part of the mesh (when I have filled them with a lot of soaps)

_Before use them for fresh soaps, I wash them with hot soapy water, wipe them dry, spray alcohol on them and then lay my soaps flat down on the mesh._


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## ResolvableOwl (Oct 2, 2021)

I know these wobbly champignon crates, but never thought to use them for soap? They're not great for anything of significant weight. But it might be an option to put a piece of cardboard on the bottom, to make it carry/distribute the weight of the soaps.


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## Peachy Clean Soap (Oct 2, 2021)

Bubble Agent said:


> No cupboard but I have a soap room where I cure my soaps. I know you didn`t ask for advice, but thought I`d mention that my local store uses *THESE* crates for mushrooms (_UK link), _so maybe you can get a hold of some of these _if you need something as your collection of soaps grow?_ £0.50 a piece it seems, unless you can go to your local supermarket and ask them for empty ones? My local store is very happy that I take them off their hands, because it frees up space for them, and I don`t have to pay anything.
> 
> Easily stackable, but mind you, they are a bit flimsy as they are made specifically for mushrooms! So I don`t have more than 1 kg of soap in each crate (about 2 pounds) so they are not that sturdy if you fill it to the brim with soaps. I will get proper sturdy ones when I start to sell (they are a bit expensive here in Norway, so I don`t want to do it until I am selling)
> 
> ...


I'm using something similar' but mine are real old. they work great.


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## kdm (Oct 2, 2021)

Bubble Agent said:


> my local store uses *THESE* crates for mushrooms (_UK link), _so maybe you can get a hold of some of these


Those are quite useful looking. they're about a 2.5 hour drive from here. (Don't worry, we sometimes buy veg in them!) Thanks!


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## Ford (Oct 2, 2021)

I use bread trays. They work good. But do get heavy. In the process of drawing up a rack to slide them into.


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## Bubble Agent (Oct 2, 2021)

ResolvableOwl said:


> I know these wobbly champignon crates, but never thought to use them for soap? They're not great for anything of significant weight. But it might be an option to put a *piece of cardboard on the bottom*, to make it carry/distribute the weight of the soaps.



I totally get what you are saying about cardboard might help for the sturdyness.

However I prefer to use them _as is_, simply because if I put carton/cardboard on the bottom I then have to keep lifting the crates up regurlarly (every 2-3 days) and turn the soaps as they cure. By resting them on the mesh alone I don`t have to do that, then I can simply check on them only once a week to see how they are (_ok, sniffing them, I admit it!!!_ ) 

I have used them for then years (not the same ones obviously, but change them whenever they get too worn out) I have never had an issue as long as I don`t go crazy and cram them full of soaps. 1 kilo (one batch per fragrance for my soapmaking as I have 16 variations) works like a charm! More and they struggle a bit... But, hey, free stuff...

And when they are worn out I can just put them in the plastic recycling bin we have all over the place here and go get me some new ones.



kdm said:


> Those are quite useful looking. they're about a 2.5 hour drive from here. (Don't worry, we sometimes buy veg in them!) Thanks!



Cool, and you`re welcome!


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## ScentimentallyYours (Oct 2, 2021)

Bubble Agent said:


> No cupboard but I have a soap room where I cure my soaps. I know you didn`t ask for advice, but thought I`d mention that my local store uses *THESE* crates for mushrooms (_UK link), _so maybe you can get a hold of some of these _if you need something as your collection of soaps grow?_ £0.50 a piece it seems, unless you can go to your local supermarket and ask them for empty ones? My local store is very happy that I take them off their hands, because it frees up space for them, and I don`t have to pay anything.
> 
> Easily stackable, but mind you, they are a bit flimsy as they are made specifically for mushrooms! So I don`t have more than 1 kg of soap in each crate (about 2 pounds) so they are not that sturdy if you fill it to the brim with soaps. I will get proper sturdy ones when I start to sell (they are a bit expensive here in Norway, so I don`t want to do it until I am selling)
> 
> ...


Those are similar to bread trays here in the US. My DH and I went out to dinner Thursday night, and walking back to the car, I saw exactly 3 of the bread trays outside the front door of a restaurant after closing. The bottom tray even had wheels. Unfortunately, DH felt it necessary to remind me that just because they were outside the door after closing didn’t mean they were there for the taking. I’m sure someone was supposed to pick them up? I need exactly 3 trays for my soap. Maybe the restaurant wants to give them to me and I should call?


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## Tara_H (Oct 3, 2021)

CpnDouchette said:


> I don't have an airing cupboard!!! <cries softly in a house with cardboard boxes of soap everywhere>


Something like this you mean?


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## Vicki C (Oct 3, 2021)

Ford said:


> I use bread trays. They work good. But do get heavy. In the process of drawing up a rack to slide them into.


If you watch FB marketplace bread racks sometimes come up in our area but I’m sure you know that. I loooooove mine. Having the casters is a huge plus.
Edited to say just realized you meant those plastic interlocking trays. I wonder if the would fit on a bread rack?


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## Whillow (Oct 3, 2021)

I use the bread trays as well. You can cram so many batches on them. However the weight pretty much makes them too difficult to be used as storage. I would love to one day get a tray rack where you can pull out each layer. **one can dream**


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## esterling (Oct 3, 2021)

I just bought this shelf yesterday!  Up until then, I was using plastic cases for scrap book paper spread out on the floor.  So much better!


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## kdm (Oct 3, 2021)

ScentimentallyYours said:


> Unfortunately, DH felt it necessary to remind me that just because they were outside the door after closing didn’t mean they were there for the taking.


I'm guessing "DH" is Dear Heart: the American euphemism for "PW". (UK) "Present Wife"?


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## Justcallmewillie (Oct 3, 2021)




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## Justcallmewillie (Oct 3, 2021)

Soap curing area is now filled with old soy candles and e liquid flavors. Pipe on top was used for round soap


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## ScentimentallyYours (Oct 3, 2021)

Tara_H said:


> Something like this you mean?
> View attachment 61369


Thank you for this picture, Tara. I am up against a wall for needing to organize all my soaping supplies at this point. My husband wants the kitchen table back, can you imagine that?  Are you putting soap in those boxes before or after they are cured?


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## ScentimentallyYours (Oct 3, 2021)

Vicki C said:


> If you watch FB marketplace bread racks sometimes come up in our area but I’m sure you know that. I loooooove mine. Having the casters is a huge plus.
> Edited to say just realized you meant those plastic interlocking trays. I wonder if the would fit on a bread rack?


Yes, I meant the interlocking plastic trays. If I had a place to put a bread rack, however, I might be looking at one of those down the road. I’m still in the hobbyist stage, Probably for the long-haul, so I don’t yet have a need for a whole baking rack full of soaps.


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## Whillow (Oct 3, 2021)

Justcallmewillie said:


> View attachment 61403


This is exactly what I want to be able to slide my trays in and out. What a great set up you have @Justcallmewillie


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## ScentimentallyYours (Oct 3, 2021)

kdm said:


> I'm guessing "DH" is Dear Heart: the American euphemism for "PW". (UK) "Present Wife"?


Actually it means dear husband. He does have a dear heart, too.


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## ResolvableOwl (Oct 3, 2021)

Still, he has weird priorities…



ScentimentallyYours said:


> My husband wants the kitchen table back


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## earlene (Oct 3, 2021)

esterling said:


> I just bought this shelf yesterday!  Up until then, I was using plastic cases for scrap book paper spread out on the floor.  So much better!


Are these high quality Stainless Steel shelving?  If not, I would recommend placing a liner on the metal as a buffer against DOS before stacking your soap on the shelves.  My racks like that came with plastic liners, but you can also use plastic crafter's mesh (like for needlepoint) or other types of lining that lifts the bar up off the metal and still allows for airflow.


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## Peachy Clean Soap (Oct 3, 2021)

ScentimentallyYours said:


> Thank you for this picture, Tara. I am up against a wall for needing to organize all my soaping supplies at this point. My husband wants the kitchen table back, can you imagine that?  Are you putting soap in those boxes before or after they are cured?





Tara_H said:


> Something like this you mean?
> View attachment 61369


Do you find your soap cures ok in the box's or is this for soap supplies?.


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## Bubble Agent (Oct 3, 2021)

ScentimentallyYours said:


> Those are similar to bread trays here in the US. My DH and I went out to dinner Thursday night, and walking back to the car, I saw exactly 3 of the bread trays outside the front door of a restaurant after closing. The bottom tray even had wheels. Unfortunately, DH felt it necessary to remind me that just because they were outside the door after closing didn’t mean they were there for the taking. I’m sure someone was supposed to pick them up? I need exactly 3 trays for my soap. Maybe the restaurant wants to give them to me and I should call?



You could give them a call?

It may also sit outside because the bakery that delivers bread to the restaurant you passed, may come back very early in the morning to pick the trays up, and come back later in the morning with trays filled with freshly baked bread before the restaurant opens for business. Bakers and restaurants work at different hours so they can overlap that way.  (my mom worked in a restaurant, that is how they did it)

How about also asking a bakery in your area? After all, if you ask, what is the worst that could happen? They could just say _no, sorry, we need`em._

And even if they can not give any to you right now, I would just leave my number with the manager and let them know that _if _they need to get rid of some at one point down the road, you are willing to take them off their hands! And then perhaps give them some soaps as a thank you for being willing to have you in mind. At least it would not hurt, and they would make the assosiation of you, your soaps and the trays.


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## Mistrael (Oct 3, 2021)

I'm going to show all y'alls pics to my husband and tell him to suck it up. 







This is 2 lightweight shoe racks, stacked, covered in muslin when I'm not arranging soaps or taking pics. Craft plastic mesh sheets keep soap off the wood and get washed between batches. My cured soaps go into those pressed paper snack bags & then into a very clean hay box in the linen cupboard. (Floor towels are dirty towels, don't tell my mother I took a picture of "her" linen cupboard. I think I hear 3 generations of grandmothers & great-grandmothers swooning & rolling in their graves.)






I was unable to make soap from December through May-ish b/c of moving house & feeling awful, so I am low on soaps and trying to make sure I have enough for holiday gifts and family use, especially if I go nonfunctional again this winter.


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## kdm (Oct 3, 2021)

Justcallmewillie said:


> View attachment 61403



Not a single bar of soap in sight! Nor an airing cupboard!


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## Bubble Agent (Oct 3, 2021)

Justcallmewillie said:


> Soap curing area is now filled with old soy candles and e liquid flavors. Pipe on top was used for round soap



Ok, so...old soy candles and liquid flavours are filling up your curing area, but no soaps? Where are they?


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## ResolvableOwl (Oct 3, 2021)

Liquid soap aficionados don't need no mundane makeshift like curing racks.


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## Tara_H (Oct 3, 2021)

ScentimentallyYours said:


> Thank you for this picture, Tara. I am up against a wall for needing to organize all my soaping supplies at this point. My husband wants the kitchen table back, can you imagine that?  Are you putting soap in those boxes before or after they are cured?


After cure - I also have (had) a soap mountain for curing purposes but it's significantly reduced these days since I no longer have 20+ soaps in the cure phase at once...

And yes, the kitchen table demands are shocking! I feel you on that


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## Bubble Agent (Oct 4, 2021)

ResolvableOwl said:


> Liquid soap aficionados don't need no mundane makeshift like curing racks.



That would explain it!


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## Cat&Oak (Oct 4, 2021)

I use these trays from Essential Depot. Holds 200 bars each!!!! Yeah that sounds exciting until you try to lift each tray and herniate your back in the process. In the future I think I will go the whole bakers rack idea.


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## SoapDaddy70 (Oct 4, 2021)

Right now I use bread trays and dishwasher racks and they work great but I have been eyeing this bad boy for awhile.








						Vegetable Storage Rack - Orchard Rack | $125+ Orders Ship Free
					

Our classic wood harvest rack stores crops such as winter squash, apples, onions and potatoes. Features slatted drawers to ensure good air circulation.




					www.gardeners.com


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## Quilter99755 (Oct 4, 2021)

I found this rack on craigslist a couple years back for $40. I bought cafeteria trays which I line with parchment paper and then shelf liners. They fit two to a shelf and usually one to two batches of soap per tray. Finding containers for the bottom racks were a tad harder to find. The big white one at the bottom holds things I don't use often but need if I am going to play with colors or swirls. The top blue one holds all my additives (charcoal, TO, chelators, powdered milks, etc). The middle one carries everything that I need to take into my kitchen to make soap...scale, gloves, mixer, mask, SB, etc. So it is just one trip from here to the kitchen, other than oils. All in one 30" corner of my quilting studio. I do have an old curtain that I throw over the top to keep out the dust that creeps in no matter how hard I try to keep it dust free.

I wish the trays fit just a tad better, but they don't drop off the rails or in anyway hit the layer of soap underneath them, so I'm good with that. And I can't use the full trays as I can barely hold them when they are empty, let alone if they were full of soap. I'm always looking for a better container to house my soaping gear, but finding the right size is almost impossible. Usually if they fit on the rails they are too big or get too heavy for me to carry. It's too tall for me to use the top two rails but I usually put extra trays up there when they are empty. 

Now if I could find the room for a small refrigerator...maybe a small chest freezer...I might as well wish to have a stove and sink in there while I'm wishing! LOL


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## Mobjack Bay (Oct 4, 2021)

SoapDaddy70 said:


> Right now I use bread trays and dishwasher racks and they work great but I have been eyeing this bad boy for awhile.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I was gifted that model of rack for my birthday a couple of years ago.  It’s very sturdy and holds a lot of soap.  I use paper towels to line the shelves and catch soap crumbs.


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## SoapDaddy70 (Oct 4, 2021)

Mobjack Bay said:


> I was gifted that model of rack for my birthday a couple of years ago.  It’s very sturdy and holds a lot of soap.  I use paper towels to line the shelves and catch soap crumbs.
> 
> View attachment 61441


Good to know someone on the forum actually has one of these. Makes it a little easier to make the purchase when I get around to it. Thanks for the feedback!


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## ScentimentallyYours (Oct 4, 2021)

ResolvableOwl said:


> Still, he has weird priorities…


No question about that! On his own initiative,  he decided to look up the trays online and discovered we can buy new ones for an affordable price. I must give him credit for that!


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## ScentimentallyYours (Oct 4, 2021)

Peachy Clean Soap said:


> Do you find your soap cures ok in the box's or is this for soap supplies?.


I need organizing for ALL of my soap supplies! Soaps are only one part, because  there are the base oils, the molds, the finishing equipment, more molds, essential oils, and a basement that is prone to flooding before it runs out the basement door.  I also have a huge amount of dichroic glass supplies as well as other crafting/sewing supplies.  I am utterly overwhelmed!


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## Susie (Oct 5, 2021)

kdm said:


> I'm guessing "DH" is Dear Heart: the American euphemism for "PW". (UK) "Present Wife"?



DH is typically (on this forum anyway) an abbreviation for Dear Husband. DD is Dear Daughter, DS Dear Son, etc.


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## esterling (Oct 5, 2021)

earlene said:


> Are these high quality Stainless Steel shelving?  If not, I would recommend placing a liner on the metal as a buffer against DOS before stacking your soap on the shelves.  My racks like that came with plastic liners, but you can also use plastic crafter's mesh (like for needlepoint) or other types of lining that lifts the bar up off the metal and still allows for airflow.


They may not be?  I’m not sure yet.  I was hoping to allow the soap to air from underneath as well but maybe a liner will turn out to be better?  Thank you for the suggestion.  I will keep an eye on it!


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## earlene (Oct 5, 2021)

esterling said:


> They may not be?  I’m not sure yet.  I was hoping to allow the soap to air from underneath as well but maybe a liner will turn out to be better?  Thank you for the suggestion.  I will keep an eye on it!



If you use plastic mesh as your liner, the soaps will have air flow beneath without touching metal.


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