Fast drying the moisture to protect the franance

[Lankan]

I made a small batch of CP soap in December with Rose fragrance oil. The soap smelled so good initially. However during the 4 weeks curing period, the fragrance slowly became very mild and almost disappeared. Through out the curing period I kept the soaps in pizza boxes including good amount of time left the boxes open.

I understand the curing period results in two key changes, completion of the saponification process and drying the moisture off the soap, thus becoming hard bars.

I'm thinking of keeping the soap bars dipped in dry rice soon after cutting the bars from the mold without exposing the soaps to the air directly. I know the rice is very good at absorbing moisture, Thus keeping the bars dipped in rice would reduce the moisture greatly while the saponification completing over the curing period. I think this might help to preserve the fragrance also to a greater extend.

I would like to have your view before actually trying this out on my next batch.

 

[shunt2011]

It’s a nice thought but the rice will also absorb the fragrance very likely. You may just need to add more fragrance. Some fade fairly quickly. I have a rose that lasts a long time but I use it at 6%.

 

[Lankan]

Why I thought this way is that by doing this we can avoid exposing the soap to air for lengthy period.

The other method I thought was putting the soap bars in a air cooler and running the air overnight..

I'll try both of these methods any update which one works well.

 

[artemis]

Why I thought this way is that by doing this we can avoid exposing the soap to air for lengthy period.

The other method I thought was putting the soap bars in a air cooler and running the air overnight..

I'll try both of these methods any update which one works well.

Why not try it with a few bars. Store some in rice, some in boxes. Take them out now and then to compare.

 

[Lankan]

Why not try it with a few bars. Store some in rice, some in boxes. Take them out now and then to compare.

Exactly that what I'm thinking of doing.

 

[Misschief]

There's more going on during the curing process than drying the soap. There are changes at a molecular level and having air circulating over them, or storing them in rice, won't affect that process.... in my very humble opinion. All you're doing is encouraging evaporation.

 

[Angela Zeigler]

I've been fighting this problem since I began soaping. I've tried to come up with ideas and it's become and obsession for me. I have and idea I plan to try next batch that I make. I have an endless supply of silica gel I recycle from work as I am always finding things I can repurpose and keep out of the landfill. (These are the little packs that come in almost everything we buy from shoes to beef jerky) the thing about these is they retain 40% of their weight in liquid. So my thoughts is to take some of these and add fragrance to them (this is what I'd do with them currently to place in bowls as an air freshener) and letting them cure in a box with a drying rack over the silica gel thinking this will some how help pull the water from the soap while keeping the fragrance some what in the air they cure in? It's a test I'm going to try out and while I'm not sure when I'm going to get time to soap again I can post on if it has any effect on the soap. I can tell you this does NOT work with bath bombs! But I wonder if the process would work with rice? I just know I love a strong fragrance and nothing is so disappointing as not smelling the scent after the cure. I'd say more turn out unscented than do retain the scent.

 

[cmzaha]

Unfortunately some fragrances just fade in cp soap and nothing really helps retain it. The best to do is read reviews about the fo on the seller's site. I do use a lovely rose from Peak which is Rose Bouquet that has wonderful scent retention. It really does have a lovely rose fragrance and I normally hate rose fragrance. I use most of my fragrances at 6% or 1.1 oz per lb of oils.

^^^ having scent in the air is not going to do anything for you soap, especially the inside of the soap. Scent has to be all through the bar to smell scent while using it. Sometimes fragrance will return after you use the soap a couple of times. One of the biggest key is using enough and reading reviews. There is just nothing one can do if a fragrance is a fading one

 

[shunt2011]

@Angela Zeigler I would be looking for other fragrances personally. Yes, some do not stick but I have at least 100+ that stick well over a year and some for years and years. Are you using enough? Where are you getting your fragrances?

 

[cmzaha]

I have a bar sitting on my desk that is 4.5 yrs old and the fragrance is almost as strong as it was when first made. It is a lot of trial and error, so I make small test batches.

 

[DeeAnna]

If a fragrance doesn't last through the 4-6 week cure period, it's not a fragrance that has lasting power when used in soap or there's not enough of the fragrance in the soap. Or both. I typically scent my soap at a high (but safe) percentage. If the scent doesn't last at that dosage, I don't keep adding more in the hope that something will change.

You can use rice or silica or whatever during the cure period if you like, but have you considered what will happen after that? When a soap is packaged, the scent continues to fade, some very slowly and some quickly. It's been my experience that the fast faders during cure will still be fast faders after cure.

A person can keep banging her head against that wall or she can walk around it and move on. I move on and look for better fragrances, because fighting with a particular fragrance (and most likely losing the battle) is so not worth the hassle.

 

[lucycat]

I have been soaping for 15 years. Fragrances that are sold today just are not the same as they were years ago. With the changes for IFRA and for phthalate free movement a lot of fragrances just are not as strong and don't seem to stick. Gone are the days when I soaped any new scent at .7 oz ppo and that was the right amount for most.

I sell at craft fairs and I need a scent to 1) smell good when you pick up the bar and 2) more importantly still smell good in the shower. Although doing things to keep the scent on the outside of the bar is nice when selling if it doesn't have a scent left in the shower then I won't get a repeat sale. Having soap with a scent in the shower means that the scent sticks through the bar.

We do ourselves a disservice when we review scents at seller's sites at a week or two. We need to be making sure we review at 6 months so that the companies weed out scents that are not good enough.

 

[shunt2011]

I so agree. I too sell. If my customers can’t smell it it won’t sell. Fragrance is what sells first, color second. Quality is what keeps them coming back. I’ve got many customers that have been coming back for 7-8 years. Of a scent doesn’t stick through cure and longer, it doesn’t get made again. I’ll put those bars out in the miss fit basket or shred for another soap.

That’s another reason it’s not a good idea to start selling until after a year or so. You need to know how your soap is after cure, 3 months, 6 months a year. Not every customer goes home and uses their soap.

I have customers that by 8-12 bars at a time or more once a year. They stock up until they see me again the following year. Many of the shows I do are 3 hours away from my home.

 

[lucycat]

You are so right about customers purchasing for 6 months to a year.

That is why I am stunned at the Brambleberry site where it seems that any negative comment replies are that the scent be tested to make sure it is there after a 6 week cure. I wonder if they even test for scent retention after 6 months or 1 year; and worse that may be the way it is at all fragrance sellers.

 

[Hendejm]

I use Kaolin Clay to help ground/retain the frangrance. I’m not sure it helps but I do it because I read somewhere that it helps!....talk about following blindly!