# Curing time, schmuring time!



## Screamapiller (May 14, 2012)

Hi,

I'm new to this forum, and to soap making, and have a question for everyone about curing soap. After saponification is finished, curing time is for drying out the moisture in the bar to make a harder, longer lasting bar, right?

What if you're impatient? Can you put the soap in a food dehydrated or with some kind of dehumidifier to speed up the process? Has anyone tried anything to speed up curing, and how did it go?

Trish


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## Genny (May 14, 2012)

I think it might be a matter of opinion.  But I find that my non-cured, but not zapping, soaps are harsher and more drying than my 4-6 week cured soaps.

I would think a dehydrator would melt the soap, especially soap that new.


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## Lilahblossom (May 14, 2012)

Are you talking about hot processed or CPOP? Because I would not use or allow anyone else to use the cp before it has cured. Years ago I learned that the hard way.


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## majstor (May 14, 2012)

Lilahblossom said:
			
		

> Years ago I learned that the hard way.



What happend?


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## sudbubblez (May 14, 2012)

People used food dehydrators with mixed results.  What seems the tried and true method is to put the soap on vinyl coated wire racks in a separate room with a dehumidifier and fans blowing on them.  Even on a flat surface with just a fan will help.  The dryer the air is and the more is moving across the soap the faster it will dry out.  If you use the food dehydrator when the fresh soap still has a lot of water in it, the rapid water loss will cause the soap to warp... sometimes very badly.  The warping is from uneven loss of water and the more water the bar has the more likely it is to warp.  There are a lot of variables involved, like the density of the soap itself and its ability to loose water easily from the center.... so no one can tell you if you will get those results or not.  Cant hurt to try it with one bar and see!

Soap also drops in pH during its cure.  There is no way to speed that up and different oils do it at different rates.

Also, if its CP soap that is still not fully saponified yet, the dehydrator would be a no-no initially.  A certain amount of liquid is needed for the lye to react.

I use racks and a dehumidifier as well as keep a fan pointed at my curing soap.  They do dry out faster.  I'm personally really curious to try a food dehydrator on soap that has already spent a few weeks drying out.

Maybe there is even a trick to using a dehydrator wihtout warping, like maybe using it in intervals... like one day on one day off... or a few hours a day then returning the soap to the racks.


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## IrishLass (May 14, 2012)

I've heard of mixed results with dehydrators, too.

In any case, there's more to curing than just water loss. The pH drops, as sudbubblez said, and as Genny said, the soap feels less harsh/drying. Also,  the lather gets better.

Through experimentation over time with my own batches, I've found my soap to be at it's earliest best (in terms of lather and 'skin feel') by 4 weeks. I've found it still improves some even after that, but 4 weeks is when my skin and lather-loving sensibilities like it well enough to use for the first time without complaining. 

Every soaper has his/her own personal 'earliest best' cure time based on their own skin-type and lathering preferences, and you'll have to experiment with your own soap to find your own 'earliest best', but on the whole, it seems the majority of soapers over the years have given a favorable 2-thumbs up to the 4 to 6 week mark. 

I cure my soap on stackable, silicone-coated metal cooling racks (actually, the kind of racks used for cooling cakes and cookies). My 'curing room' gets plenty of normal air circulation so fans are not needed, and I'm blessed to live in a very dry climate so a de-humidifier is not needed.

IrishLass


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## new12soap (May 15, 2012)

I, too, am far too impatient to wait for CP to cure, so I make hot process soap. It can be used immediately but is best after a much shorter cure time, say 2+ weeks. You can use a crock pot, a double boiler, or the oven.

Some people aren't crazy about the "rustic" look of HP, so they do cold process oven process like Lilahblossom mentioned. You make CP soap as usual, put it in the mold, then put the mold into a barely warm oven (the lowest setting possible) to force gel. This works with loaf and tray molds, just not plastic. Be sure you spritz the top with alcohol and/or cover the top to avoid ash.

I have not personally tried CPOP (yet, it's on my to-do list), but it is my understanding that you get the smooth creaminess of CP but can shorten the cure time by several weeks, down to say 4 weeks.


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## new12soap (May 15, 2012)

Try this link, and then the link it contains:

http://soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewto ... 875#283875


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## Screamapiller (May 15, 2012)

Thanks for the help, everyone!

I have a batch of soap that smells amazing, and isn't very 'zappy', even though it's pretty new. The pH isn't very high, so I thought it could do with a good drying then be ready to test.

But it sounds like the best bet is to wait.


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