# How long does your soap last?



## Relax (Mar 10, 2015)

How long does your soap last?   I keep forgetting to document each time I use a bar to gauge how long it last. :crazy:  I will try to record the date when I start using a new bar.  I believe my HP bars last about one week when my husband and I both use the same bar and shower 1-2 times each day.  I've been making CP more often lately and will get to start using them next week! :smile:  I've only made one CP batch but that was almost a year ago.  Is this about average for HP soap and does CP last longer?  Maybe 4 - 6 oz bars, just guessing because I've never weighed mine but will start measuring all of them today to keep track. Thank you


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## Dorymae (Mar 10, 2015)

On average, a fully cured, 8 week old soap at 4.5oz is good for 2 people for 1 shower a day each, for 1 month.  I have some that last a little less and some that last a little longer but about 1 month is what I can expect.

Now if I don't wait 8 weeks and only wait 4 weeks it is significantly less, like maybe 2 weeks if I'm lucky.

I should note here we take short showers, think 5 mins from beginning to end. I imagine if you take 15 min showers with the soap in your hand the whole time you would not get as long of a life per bar.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Mar 10, 2015)

How long are you curing your hp soap for? It should last as long as a cp bar, just might need a longer cure than you are giving it.


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## Susie (Mar 10, 2015)

My 4 oz bars of well cured CP lasts me(only person using it) about 4 weeks-1 month.  Please note that I am the queen of the 3 minute shower.  Too many years being on call.


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## Relax (Mar 10, 2015)

Thanks everyone.  That's a long time!  When I first started making HP we would start using it around day two.  My husband likes to hold the bar in his hand the entire time, lol.  The last HP batch, we let it cure for four weeks but we are still only getting about a week per bar.  My CP will be four weeks old next week and we will start using it.  I'm hoping those last much longer.


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## Dorymae (Mar 10, 2015)

Hold out one bar and let it cure a full 8 weeks, I think you'll be amazed at the difference, I know I was!


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## Dahila (Mar 10, 2015)

For the last two months I use two bars at the time, and only 2/3 of each is gone, so it must be like 1 months each. I cure them 8 weeks and they last a long time. I like Susie take short showers due sensibility to clorine in water.  1-2 months fully cured CP Bar weight 100 grams


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## Chefmom (Mar 10, 2015)

I take long showers.  I use a nylon puff with my soaps and my 4 1/2 ouncers that have cured a minimum of 6 weeks (HP) last about 12-14 showers.


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## DeeAnna (Mar 10, 2015)

The recipe makes a big difference too. Many people look for a hard bar, and think that is the same as a long lived bar, but that's not necessarily true. While hardness has something to do with longevity, it's not the whole story. If you do Soapcalc, you can get the "long lived" number by doing this quick subtraction:

Long lived = Hardness - Cleansing

IMO, a soap recipe needs to be at least 25% palmitic acid + stearic acid to be reasonably long lived. Bear in mind that too much palmitic and stearic makes for a waxy, non-lathery bar, and that's not good either.

But how one uses the soap makes a big difference. Male users with a lot of hair who rub the bar directly on the skin, users who don't let the soap dry well between uses, teenagers who take endless showers, etc. will all cut down the life of any soap bar, however well made.


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## RhondaJ (Mar 10, 2015)

Mine last on average 3 to 4 weeks after a 4 week cure - this is with Hubby and myself using them at least 1 time a day. 

My recipes average between 25% and 30% palmitic acid + stearic acid

I just put 2 new bars in the shower yesterday and I'll be good for a couple months, so long in fact that I get tired of the soap long before it's gone lol


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## Relax (Mar 11, 2015)

I will let them cure longer.  I nice soaper gave my husband a free bar at the market last week.  He started using it maybe five days ago.  I just realized it has about a few more days left so at least I know my husband is part of the reason my bars go so fast :-/


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## DeeAnna (Mar 11, 2015)

I'm married to "a bear" who doesn't use a washcloth and loves to make lots of sudsy lather, so any bar of soap doesn't last long when scrubbed against his pelt. 

To make matters worse, he really likes pine tar soap. It's tough to make a hard, longlasting bar with any decent amount of PT.

Since I don't care to use PT soap, we have "his" and "hers" bars. With one shower for each of us per day, a bar of my normal bath soap might last me 6-8 weeks, but his PT bars only last about 3-4 weeks.


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## Obsidian (Mar 11, 2015)

I have about 8 bars in my shower so I really don't know how long one would last me but I would guess a month +. My hubby will go through a bar in 1.5-2 weeks and thats rubbing it directly on his hair body multiple times during a shower. He is a millwright and comes home covered in grease so he uses a lot of soap to get cleaned up.


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## shunt2011 (Mar 11, 2015)

Mine last between 4-6 weeks. My husbands lasts about 3 weeks.  He's a long shower taker and uses the bar without a scrubbie or cloth.


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## DeeAnna (Mar 11, 2015)

Hmmm. Sounds like using a lot of soap is another thing to add to the list of "interesting traits" of the male human -- in addition to the usual things like leaving the toilet seat up, etc, etc!


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## TRBeck (Mar 11, 2015)

DeeAnna said:


> Hmmm. Sounds like using a lot of soap is another thing to add to the list of "interesting traits" of the male human -- in addition to the usual things like leaving the toilet seat up, etc, etc!



Guilty. Of the soap thing, not the seat thing. My mom broke me of that pretty young.

My bars last me about 25-35 showers, but I use the bar without a cloth or other implements. My wife gets more showers/baths out of the bars. We do have his and hers bars, generally more than one of each going at a time to be honest. Right now I have sandalwood-rose, two different vetivers, a woody fern blend, and a lavender-patch bar in the mix, so how long each lasts will be much longer than 4-5 weeks


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