DOS, any way to slow it down?

[Obsidian]

I just found my first DOS on a batch of castile and a salt bar that had a bit of OO that I used in the castile bars. I assume my OO was a bit old.
Is there anyway to slow the spread down? Can I freeze the bars? I cut the spots out for now but I really would hate to see all that soap wasted.

 

[savonierre]

You could try freezing it. I have never heard of a way to slow it down

 

[Obsidian]

I might as well try then, I really have nothing to loose. What really stinks is these bars aren't even 2 months old yet, I wish they would have cured longer before I had to start using them. I wonder if they will continue to cure in the freezer?
Oh well, it will teach me to pay more attention to the age of my oils and it was only a 2 lb batch.

 

[newbie]

A long time ago, someone posted an experiment done by someone regarding DOS. Not a huge experiment, but it was interesting nonetheless.

They used bars from the same batches. One bar was left out on the rack and one bar was placed in a drawstring muslin bag and kept on the rack. I think another was left on an less than Ideal spot, like in a warm place with some sunlight. There may have been another type of covering, but I remember those three. They watched the bars over a long time, at least a year. Over time, the one left out in less ideal circumstance developed DOS, relatively large amount. The one left out but in a decent place developed a few spots of DOS, The one in the muslin bag was perfect. They left the experiment go on and the uncovered ones got to be fairly bad, but the one in the muslin bag remained perfect. There is speculation about whether it's just decreasing the exposure to air and light after initial cure (they all cured for 4 weeks the same way), if there is something about the muslin, or if it is some air exposure but not sealed, etc...

HOwever, it did seem clear that keeping your soap in some sort of more closed environment significantly decreased the likelihood of DOS. SOme people put their soap in cardboard boxes for storage, some try covering with mulsin or cloth but most people don't leave their soap out on the rack for months or at least with move them to a different environment after 4-6 weeks.

I would bet Hazel remembers this experiment. I may have some of the details wrong, but I am certain that the muslin bag produced excellent results.

 

[Obsidian]

Thats interesting. I've been letting mine dry for 6-8 weeks before putting in paper bags and storing in the closest. Maybe I should put them away in the dark sooner. Bother of the ones that devoloped the DOS where on wire rack uncovered and exposed to minimal natural sunlight.

 

[rics]

I keep my soaps in a shoebox away from sunlight with a lot of silica gel (desiccant) pouches nearby (not touching the soap).. I still got DOS. I will give muslin bags a try...


Sent from my iPad using Soap Making

 

[judymoody]

A long time ago, someone posted an experiment done by someone regarding DOS. Not a huge experiment, but it was interesting nonetheless.

They used bars from the same batches. One bar was left out on the rack and one bar was placed in a drawstring muslin bag and kept on the rack. I think another was left on an less than Ideal spot, like in a warm place with some sunlight. There may have been another type of covering, but I remember those three. They watched the bars over a long time, at least a year. Over time, the one left out in less ideal circumstance developed DOS, relatively large amount. The one left out but in a decent place developed a few spots of DOS, The one in the muslin bag was perfect. They left the experiment go on and the uncovered ones got to be fairly bad, but the one in the muslin bag remained perfect. There is speculation about whether it's just decreasing the exposure to air and light after initial cure (they all cured for 4 weeks the same way), if there is something about the muslin, or if it is some air exposure but not sealed, etc...

HOwever, it did seem clear that keeping your soap in some sort of more closed environment significantly decreased the likelihood of DOS. SOme people put their soap in cardboard boxes for storage, some try covering with mulsin or cloth but most people don't leave their soap out on the rack for months or at least with move them to a different environment after 4-6 weeks.

I would bet Hazel remembers this experiment. I may have some of the details wrong, but I am certain that the muslin bag produced excellent results.

I remember that study as well; I think it might have been posted originally on a different forum. What you describes is consistent with hor I remember it.

 

[LovelyMalia]

I've done a few experiments with DOS unintentionally. I had a few batches that developed the spots on half of them that were put on a shelf (exposed to air) and the other half was put in a dark trunk, boxed up - those did not develop spots.

I also noticed that a lot of soft oils develop the DOS much much quicker regardless of where they are stored - anything with AKO, sunflower, avocado, etc seems to go bad quicker. Most of my soaps have lasted 6 months but there are a few that have only lasted between 3-4

 

[savonierre]

I shrink wrap my soap after 6 weeks and store it in baseball card type boxes. I do not get DOS..

 

[new12soap]

Thats interesting. I've been letting mine dry for 6-8 weeks before putting in paper bags and storing in the closest. Maybe I should put them away in the dark sooner. Bother of the ones that devoloped the DOS where on wire rack uncovered and exposed to minimal natural sunlight.

You should never put soap on any sort of metal or wire, for curing or for storage. That alone could be the culprit.

 

[Obsidian]

The wire is coated.

 

[sistrum]

If they were mine I would just do like you did and cut out the spot then keep an eye on it. Sometimes only one bar in a batch will develope dos.