Help please!?

[Annie Martinez]

Hi! Im new to this site, i wanted see if any of you experienced people can help!☺

I recently got a dehumidifier to help my soap cure but now im noticing droplets of "water" on my soap, i went to touch one and it slid right out of my hand from the sweating!

Is this normal? I mean im assuming thats all the extra liquid being sucked out by the dehumidifier idk ive never had one or used it for soap, im fairly new, just wanna make sure its all good!

 

[Dawni]

It's normal if it's really humid where you are now.. I've been having the same issue. I'm not using a dehumidifier though..... I kinda thought that would lessen, if not eliminate the problem. Hopefully others who have used one will chime in.

There's a very recent thread, among many other older ones, with tips, using a dehumidifier being one of em, if you do a search on sweating.

Actually, based on what @earlene said somewhere else, it could be the soap drawing in water, instead of sweating it out, but she was talking about cured salt soap. Lemme get that link....

Edit: Here

 

[Annie Martinez]

Well i live in FL and i live on a second floor that heats up the place... Its pretty humid.

Some of the soaps were freshly cut this week (one in the picture) but theres one that has been cured already and it's sweating the most!

Ill take a look at the thread you sent and see what i can find. Thank you!

 

[dixiedragon]

It might be glycerin sweat. Rub it between your fingers. What does it smell like?

That is a lot of glycerin sweat, if that's what it is. Usually it beads up a bit, but then reabsorbs. I live in AL so we're pretty hot and humid too. Some FOs tend to sweat more than others.

 

[Annie Martinez]

It doesnt smell like anything.. Other than the fragrance from the soap itself. And yes they look like beads!

One of them doesn't have "beads" on it.. Thats the one i touched at first. Its just covered in moisture

 

[jcandleattic]

I recently got a dehumidifier to help my soap cure

Others gave advice on the sweating, but I just wanted to point out that curing is different than water evaporation. There is more to cure than just losing the water out of the soap.

 

[earlene]

One thing I have noticed with high humidity and soap sweating is that not all soaps sweat in high humidity, and some seem to take a lot longer to do so. I am convinced it is based on the recipe. For some reason (I don't really know the scientific reason, but there must be one) some recipes are more humidity resistant than others. When I return home (I am now traveling) I plan to start investigating which of my soap recipes tend to be humidity resistant and do a bit more testing of those soaps, as I prefer not to have to go through all the rigamarole of keeping soap dry during the summer months.

But I have also noticed that I can expect soaps high in salt to be among the soaps that have water beading up in humidity. So there is my first confirmation that recipe does matter. Even with a fan blowing at high speed right on top of a 1:1 salt to oils recipe soap, it still beads up even in a room with central AC (in Hawaii), so even a dehumidifier might not help in this situation. I also plan to test that out when I return home.

 

[Annie Martinez]

Whoa i see, thank you so much for the info.. I did see that not all my soaps are sweating so i guess the recipe does contribute to that.

I just got home from work and they're not sweating anymore but do look a bit dry... Crazy

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@Annie Martinez It looks like the beads of moisture are on your swirls. Was there anything different about the batter for the swirls?

@earlene - salt is hygroscopic (attracts water from the air). I would think that soap with a high salt content would have a tendency to attract water from the air.

 

[Annie Martinez]

@Mobjack Bay No, its the same batter i just split it up for the different colors.. Idk what going on i had some test bars unmolded today and they were super sweaty in the mold! The part exposed to the air (the top) was dry and ok though.. Im going to get a fan and put it towards the bars along with the dehumidifier to avoid the sweating. Hopefully that helps.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@Mobjack Bay No, its the same batter i just split it up for the different colors.. Idk what going on i had some test bars unmolded today and they were super sweaty in the mold! The part exposed to the air (the top) was dry and ok though.. Im going to get a fan and put it towards the bars along with the dehumidifier to avoid the sweating. Hopefully that helps.

I have limited experience, but the only other thing I can think of is temperature and especially since you’re seeing it inside the mold for a new soap loaf. The only time I’ve seen any kind of liquid drops on the outside of a bar was for a soap I had CPOP’d. Based on some research I did on the forum, I decided the oven temp may have been too warm. For CPOP, older posts often mention temps around 170F, while more recent posts seem to favor lower temps (140F) or just warming the oven and then turning it off when the mold goes in. I’ve also read about people having weird things happen in silicone molds that might be temp related. If your OPing, maybe you should stop, or if you’re not OPing, maybe you can try putting your mold in the refrigerator for a few hours to bring the temp down to see if that makes a difference.

 

[Kari Howie]

I don't know if y'all recall my stinking aloe vera soap batter debacle from the other day, but I am happy to report that it completely dissipated! Yay me! The cut bars actually smell like soft lavender with a hint of tea tree and chamomile. As soon as I figure out how to add media I'll post them.

 

[earlene]

@Annie Martinez It looks like the beads of moisture are on your swirls. Was there anything different about the batter for the swirls?

Interesting point about the beads on the pink, but not the black. If the black was colored with Activated Charcoal, I would suspect it is absorbing more of the liquid than the soap with the pink colorant, which I assume is a more likely a mica. But that is just a guess on my part since, I don't know what colorants were used.
(AC is sometimes part of the mixture in some black micas, so even if it is a mica, it may still contain some activated charcoal. As we all know AC is used to absorb toxins both in the medical field and in water filtering systems.)

@earlene - salt is hygroscopic (attracts water from the air). I would think that soap with a high salt content would have a tendency to attract water from the air.

Yes, it does, as demonstrated by the 'sweaty' salt bars.

But it's not the only ingredient in soap that can attract ambient water. Glycerin is another. That's why some MP soaps sweat a lot as well, the added glycerin.

 

[Nanette]

I have terrible problems with soap getting wet, sticky and water beads all over in the summer....its 100 degrees with 70% humidity......bleh. I moved all soaps into their own small room and installed a small ac in the window. It barely keeps up with the humidity but when on high cool max setting it does work. I shudder to think what the electric bill will be.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I have terrible problems with soap getting wet, sticky and water beads all over in the summer....its 100 degrees with 70% humidity......bleh. I moved all soaps into their own small room and installed a small ac in the window. It barely keeps up with the humidity but when on high cool max setting it does work. I shudder to think what the electric bill will be.

70% humidity in Arizona? I thought it was always bone dry there. It’s only 60% humidity in coastal Virginia today.

 

[Nanette]

Arizona is an interesting state, especially in monsoon season. Today the humidity is lower than the last two days..