# Does CP soap need to be wrapped?



## melissa826 (Jan 30, 2013)

For some reason I can't find anything on this... after it's done curing...does my CP soap need to be wrapped in plastic or anything? I've seen pictures with just like a paper label wrapped around it...but not totally wrapped up in plastic or anything...but will leaving it "open" harm it or weaken it or anything?


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## AlchemyandAshes (Jan 30, 2013)

It's fine to leave it unwrapped...CP needs to breathe, so to speak...as it cures, water will evaporate out of it, leaving a nice hard bar. Even after curing, a dry, cool, well ventilated area is the best place to store soap. Some folks shrink wrap their soaps and pierce tiny holes to allow it to breathe...but it isn't  necessary to wrap it. It does keep it from getting dusty and looks professional if you're selling or giving for gifts.


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## Marilyna (Jan 30, 2013)

Leaving it out in the air will allow all the fragrance to escape over time.  
I've always stored cured soap in rubbermaid containers with lids.  Works nicely and have had no problems.  I've also stored soap in cello bags over long periods of time (years) with no problems.  Some people say CP soap needs to have air to it, but I haven't found that to be true, however, it may depend on the recipe used.  I do discount my water.
I once wrapped a bar that was only a week old.  A year later it was fine and hard, just like any other bars.
So, I'm not sure where the belief that it needs to "breathe" comes from.  Maybe just something someone put in a book and it just gets repeated over and over on forums


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## Marilyna (Jan 30, 2013)

Shawnee, I'm sorry we must have been posting at the same time.  Didn't mean to purposely contradict your post.


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## Mandarin (Jan 30, 2013)

It is fine to leave it unwrapped, but I have also noticed that over time the scent escapes. Also, for sanitary reasons, customers overwhelmingly prefer wrapped soap. I get a kick out of this logic because the soap is going to ultimately get wet and "clean".


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## squigglz (Jan 30, 2013)

Right? I mean...it's _soap_, for heaven's sake. Give it a quick rinse and it's fine, and most folks I know wet their soap before using it anyway. 

Personally, I leave my HP soap unwrapped so it can cure and harden. I also don't wrap it after the cure. The only issue I've found with any of my soap is that my Blueberry Muffin smell from saveonscents.com did start to lose it's potency over the course of a couple of weeks.

Again though, that was over a few weeks, so it's probably an issue with the scent itself.

I'd say, if you're storing long-term (stock for sales or stockpiling soap so you never ever have to buy any again mwahahahahahahahahaa...ahem, sorry), then go ahead and wrap after a good, full cure. If you're selling pretty much immediately after the cure (like I do), don't bother unless your target market is fussed about it. My target market is not even close to being fussed about it, so I'm lucky there.


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## AlchemyandAshes (Jan 30, 2013)

Marilyna said:


> Shawnee, I'm sorry we must have been posting at the same time.  Didn't mean to purposely contradict your post.



Not a problem ;-) Different strokes...

I use cigar bands exclusively and have never had a customer complain about the lack of wrapping -  but it goes along with my more "organic" theme: less packaging = less waste. I have found my experience to the contrary of Mandarin's...customers like that they can see and smell the unwrapped soap! I'm sure someone has passed on my soaps at some point due to lack of wrapping (can't please everyone!), but no one has ever specifically commented on that.

I store my cured soaps in separate cardboard photo boxes to help retain scent, avoid fading of herbal colorants, stay organized, and avoid "cross contamination" of scents.


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## Scentapy (Jan 30, 2013)

Mandarin said:


> It is fine to leave it unwrapped, but I have also noticed that over time the scent escapes. Also, for sanitaryy reasons, customers overwhelmingly prefer wrapped soap. I get a kick out of this logic because the soap is going to ultimately get wet and "clean".


 
On another post today I mentioned that we buy fruit (apples, pears, plums, etc.) that are manhandled at the grocery store and all we do is rinse them and then EAT them.  That being said, I really don't think soap (of all things) being unwrapped is unsanitary.

I NOW use a cigar band style wrap for my soaps.  I used to package my soaps in Scrapbooking Archival Bags.  I supply a couple gift shops so I package and stock the shelves when the soaps are cured.  I was horrified to notice that some soaps got softer and almost all the soaps left a gunky residue on the bags.  Many of the soaps scent faded and the soap that was once white, turned yellow.  Granted... this could all be due to the fact that I packaged them right after the cure.  In any case, I am loving my new cigar band style packaging and all my customers also love the new look.


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## Gryfonmoon (Jan 30, 2013)

I like to wrap my soaps, otherwise cat fur inevitably sticks to it   (my cats projectile sheds on everything I hold dear)


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## Scentapy (Jan 30, 2013)

Gryfonmoon said:


> I like to wrap my soaps, otherwise cat fur inevitably sticks to it  (my cats projectile sheds on everything I hold dear)


 
Yea.. I don't think I would want fur on a bar of soap that I purchased.  I too have a cat but I keep my soaps in my basement and my cat is not allowed down there.


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## Gryfonmoon (Jan 30, 2013)

Scentapy said:


> Yea.. I don't think I would want fur on a bar of soap that I purchased.  I too have a cat but I keep my soaps in my basement and my cat is not allowed down there.



I have three cats in a one-bedroom. It's hard to separate them 100% of the time from stuff, but I manage most of the time. (By wrapping/boxing up cut soaps right away)


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## Genny (Jan 30, 2013)

Scentapy said:


> On another post today I mentioned that we buy fruit (apples, pears, plums, etc.) that are manhandled at the grocery store and all we do is rinse them and then EAT them.



I don't.  I wash mine with a little soap & water/vinegar mix, then I rinse in clean water. But I worked in a grocery store for 7 yrs, so I know what's going on with the produce (all the produce, even the organic stuff). 

Now, anything we grow ourselves, I just rinse off.


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## Scentapy (Jan 30, 2013)

Cat story:
So... I took a long break from making soap during my pregnancy....but I did make two batches over the summer.  The last one I made during the pregnancy was a SCARY disaster.  I blame the clumsiness that comes with pregnancy.  For some unknown reason, I was unscrewing the lid to my lye while walking to the table :Kitten Love:.  The darn bottle slipped out of my hands and fell to the floor, spilling lye all over the floor and my NAKED feet.  I saw the cat prancing towards my nightmarish mess so I had to scream for someone to come grab her (I was afraid to move, paralized by what had just happened).  Eeeeek.


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## Scentapy (Jan 31, 2013)

Genny said:


> I don't. I wash mine with a little soap & water/vinegar mix, then I rinse in clean water. But I worked in a grocery store for 7 yrs, so I know what's going on with the produce (all the produce, even the organic stuff).
> 
> Now, anything we grow ourselves, I just rinse off.


 Do you wash it with soap that was wrapped or unwrapped?


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## Scentapy (Jan 31, 2013)

Scentapy said:


> Cat story:
> So... I took a long break from making soap during my pregnancy....but I did make two batches over the summer. The last one I made during the pregnancy was a SCARY disaster. I blame the clumsiness that comes with pregnancy. For some unknown reason, I was unscrewing the lid to my lye while walking to the table :Kitten Love:. The darn bottle slipped out of my hands and fell to the floor, spilling lye all over the floor and my NAKED feet. I saw the cat prancing towards my nightmarish mess so I had to scream for someone to come grab her (I was afraid to move, paralized by what had just happened). Eeeeek.


 
I guess that wasn't really a "cat story" - more like a stupid mistake story but talking about keeping the cat(s) away from product made me remember that story.  My cat was rescued before he made it to my lye pile.  DH was not very thrilled w/ me.  At all.


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## Genny (Jan 31, 2013)

Scentapy said:


> Do you wash it with soap that was wrapped or unwrapped?



Usually unwrapped, because it's just my kitchen soap that's sitting by my sink.

But all this soap & it being self cleaning reminds me of an episode of Friends where Chandler finds out that Joey's been using his toothbrush.  When Joey finds out that this isn't okay, he asks why it's okay that they use the same soap. Chandler tells him that soap is self cleaning.
Joey's response, "Well next time you take a shower, think about the last thing I wash and the first thing you wash."


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## Scentapy (Jan 31, 2013)

HAHAHAAA!

Oh... and I was only kidding w/ the whole wrapped or unwrapped question


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## Genny (Jan 31, 2013)

Scentapy said:


> HAHAHAAA!
> 
> Oh... and I was only kidding w/ the whole wrapped or unwrapped question



I know, but I thought it would be strange just to tell the Friends story for some reason.  I felt like I had to add it to a related post, so as not to veer the post off into another dimension.


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## Scentapy (Jan 31, 2013)

Like I did with my lye spill / cat story.  

Well... Its late here on the East Coast and I gotta get up for work so... goodnight all!


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## 2lilboots (Jan 31, 2013)

Cat hair....the new exfoliant indgredient!  lol!


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## paillo (Jan 31, 2013)

ditto about the cats (and dog). i cure and then store mine in plastic bins with loose-fitting lids in a room where the animals are not allowed.


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## Genny (Jan 31, 2013)

2lilboots said:


> Cat hair....the new exfoliant indgredient!  lol!



I once received some soy melts in a clamshell package that right through the package you could see lots of small black hairs and dirt. :sick:
I'm going to assume they were dog and/or cat hairs since I found out that the maker has both.  I was too icked out so I threw them away.  I did let the person know. Although I have no idea how they wouldn't have noticed.  It was like there were hairballs in them. They offered to send me some soap as consolation, I politely declined.


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## MaitriBB (Jan 31, 2013)

I've only done some minor selling, but IMO customers buy my soaps based on the scent, not the appearance of the bar.  I tend to show people that they can just pop the cigar band off if they want to see what the bar looks like before they buy it, and very few of them do.  They just smell the soap and then buy their preferred one without looking at it further.  So I wouldn't shrink wrap my soap for fear that people wouldn't be able to smell it.


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## SpellboundSoaps (Feb 1, 2013)

*Need Vs Want*

As you've gathered it's kind of up to you, your preference, if you are selling them and then at that point the trend with you customers.

I have read about one lady who used shrink bands to wrap her soap because depending on how she positioned it, it left part open to breath and for people to smell but also had a film so there weren't finger prints on it.

There was another person who wrapped all their soaps but one from each as a "tester" but put it in an organza bag so that fingers wouldn't touch it, you could still smell it, still see all the wrapped ones and it looked pretty.

There's tons of ideas floating around you just need to pick one that works best for you and yours. To flat out answer your question; No it's doesn't _need_ to be wrapped but you could if you _want_ to.


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## hoegarden (Feb 1, 2013)

It's kind of a personal preference but I think the environment that you are living in that makes a difference as well.

I notice that my soap that are high in OO contents tend to go rancid if I did not wrap them. But will be totally fine if they are wrapped up nicely after curing for 1 month.

My country is a humid place, and I noticed that if I did not wrap my soaps, the glycerin in the soap will tend to attract the water from the air, meaning after the excess water in the soap evaporated, the glycerin attract water and trap them on the soap surface.


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## paillo (Feb 1, 2013)

The grossest soap I ever received (a trade at a market) was a really nicely packaged glycerine soap shrinkwrapped and tied with artsy knots.

got it home, opened it, and the smell of stale cigarette smoke about knocked me over. who in their right mind would smoke in their house and hope to sell soap? gross. i threw it out.


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## Genny (Feb 1, 2013)

paillo said:


> The grossest soap I ever received (a trade at a market) was a really nicely packaged glycerine soap shrinkwrapped and tied with artsy knots.
> 
> got it home, opened it, and the smell of stale cigarette smoke about knocked me over. who in their right mind would smoke in their house and hope to sell soap? gross. i threw it out.



Oh I hate that.


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## MaitriBB (Feb 1, 2013)

paillo said:


> The grossest soap I ever received (a trade at a market) was a really nicely packaged glycerine soap shrinkwrapped and tied with artsy knots.
> 
> got it home, opened it, and the smell of stale cigarette smoke about knocked me over. who in their right mind would smoke in their house and hope to sell soap? gross. i threw it out.


 
TBH I doubt that he/she even knew that it smelled like smoke.  Smokers often can't smell it on them or on their belongings.  I smoked for 15 years or so, and quit 10 years ago (yay me!)  After I quit, I found an old coat in the closet and it REEKED.  I never knew.  Now, when a smoker comes back from a smoke break at work, I can totally tell.


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