How do you cure your soaps?... And for how long?

[Jackofhearts]

Hey all!
I'm looking to take an informal survey about curing.
I was wondering how everyone cures their soaps. I think this could be a great learning experience for us all!
I'll start:

I cute them for at least a month (to start, I'm still experimenting)

I put them on a paper grocery bag, flattened, and flip them every other day or so. Also, I run a space heater in the curing area since it's: A) very cold in New England right now and B) it makes the whole house smell awesome!

Anyone else?
Thanks!
Jack

 

[Obsidian]

I have a wire rack that I use for curing, the bars are layed on their sides and ignored for 4-6 weeks before I put them in a small paper bag then store in the closet. The rack is in a spare room out of direct light.

 

[Dahila]

Stainless rack from the oven or just wooden board covered with freezer paper and I flip them over every week or 4 days. I cure the soap for 8 weeks minimum)

 

[snappyllama]

For a couple of weeks, they sit out in my spare bedroom on paper towels. I rotate them very often. Then they go into an empty dresser drawer that's cracked open for at least three weeks before using. That room has slowly been taken over with soaping... the closet is a lost cause at this point.

 

[MorpheusPA]

I use the top of my Soap Storage Center (a cheap slatted wood bureau from a craft store, about $10) for 20 bars or so, and 1020 seedling flats (cleaned and sterilized) that have cracked for 40 bars each in my office atop the bookshelf, in the closet, and also in the guest bedroom.

Right now I have about 100 bars curing.

I cure for a minimum of one month, longer for high olive oil. Much longer for Castile. My Castile and Bastile bars for next Christmas are being finished now.

 

[TVivian]

I set them on a shelf lined with paper towels for 2 weeks, then they get lined up into lidded, corrugated cardboard boxes, each spaced so the bars don't touch each other for another two weeks or until it's ready to sell which may be weeks and weeks more.

 

[TJ]

I put them in a wood CD cabinet that I have taken over as my soap storage cabinet with the shelves lined with wax paper. Cure them for 4-6 weeks.

 

[TBandCW]

I leave soap on racks for 8 weeks.

 

[navigator9]

I made wooden frames and I stapled plastic screening material to them. I have an old wooden cabinet, and I nailed strips of wood for the frames to sit on. The cabinet holds ten of the frames, and because of the screening material, no turning is necessary. I cure them for 4-6 weeks.

And yes, it's verrrrry cold in New England right now!!! And snowing as I type. Again.

 

[IrishLass]

I cure mine on stackable cooling racks made by Pampered Chef. They are made of stainless steel, coated with silicone or something. I have lots of them because one of my family members used to be a consultant for them. Besides cooling my baked goodies, I find them to be perfect for the task of curing my soap. Just one rack alone can hold a total of 27 bars of my soap. (that's three of my 2.5 batches for me).

I cure my bars for at least 4 weeks in a spare room that has a year-round ambient temp ranging between 70F/21C to 80F/26C, although it's not unusual for me to leave my soap on my racks for longer than 4 weeks if they are not taking up any curing space for my new batches. Also- a helpful bonus is that I live in a desert climate where humidity is very low to non-existent for about all but 4 weeks out of the entire year.

Once cured, I store them naked in acid-free baseball-card storage boxes until I use them or gift them (I only wrap them right before I gift them). I love these kind of boxes. In the 800-count boxes, I can fit all of my 9 bars from each of my 2.5 lb. batches perfectly with just enough breathing space between each bar and all on all sides (except the bottom, of course). No wasted space at all. And in the 400-count box, I can fit each of my 1 lb. sample batches the same way. They stack nice and neat, too, and are re-usable.


IrishLass

 

[RhondaJ]

Mine are put on a shelf standing upright in the curing room with a fan turned on low keeping the air circulating for 4 weeks. After 4 weeks they're put into baseball card storage boxes with a small packet of silica gel and kept naked until it's time to wrap/label them.

 

[Seawolfe]

Mine are kept in stackable plastic mesh trays. I think they were made as mushroom trays, and I usually line with parchment or freezer paper. They are divided in 2 and one full tray holds a 5 lb batch or two 2 - 2.5 batches. I usually have 4-6 layers going, the bottom one holds scraps sorted by color and bags of LS paste. Soap bars stay there about a month or so, and then get paper cigar band labels and get put into cardboard shoe and boot boxes.

 

[HappyHomeSoapCo]

I also use the stackable wire baking racks. I have 3 stacks, that are 6 racks high. These are sitting in my guest room/soap room on top of a buffet counter which I store some of my supplies. I let my soap cure for 2-3 weeks in the open air, then I start beveling the edges and packaging. I usually have it completely packaged for sale around 4-5 weeks.

 

[Dorymae]

Stack em and rack em. 6-8 weeks to packaging.

 

[shunt2011]

Rack them at least 4 weeks then into baseball card storage boxes until I wrap them to sell

 

[navigator9]

I agree, baseball card boxes are the best. It's like they made them just for us soapmakers!

 

[McSpin]

Is there any negative to curing them on paper or cardboard? Just wondering if any of the remaining oils may be drawn into the paper.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I use the mould lining paper to cure them on. If you use a silicone mould, maybe try using the freezer paper just for a rack liner.

 

[CTAnton]

for curing I went to Costco and helped myself to the cardboard containers things like peppers come in...they stack beautifully if you get them relatively in good shape...there are small raised areas that interlock with one another and if they're bent you can always fiddle with them. Most of them have holes on the bottom so I line the boxes with leftover packing paper from a shipment I received..
As far as curing goes I feel like a vineyard owner...hoping every batch just gets better with time...I do go in once a week and flip them or rearrange them...with the winter we're having in the Northeast I don't see humidity being an issue...as far as staying power of various FO's I think most of them that are questionable in staying power have already faded by the time the 4 to 6 weeks are up...

 

[LBussy]

I am struggling with how these are stored in a baseball card box. Would anyone like to indulge me with a picture?