How do you store your CP during the curing process

[akseattle]

I have enclosed the whole thing with fiberglass screen because I was noticing a mouse problem.

@melinda48 ,
nice soaps, nice shelving , but seriously, mice like to nibble soap??

 

[melinda48]

Oh! You would be amazed! Yes, they like soap! No. They start out nibbling and move on to fine dining! My screen enclosure has solved the problem -thankfully. I did have to make sure the screening wrapped around the bottom as well as the top- it was a real project but it works great!

 

[KimLynn]

I set the bars on wire racks in a large closet that has good air flow.

I also have a large closet with its own HVAC vent; I cure bars in stackable wooden slatted boxes for airflow. Once cured, I either consolidate in a smaller ventilated container or package for distribution. I've never had any issues with DOS and only a few with soda ash.

 

[squidstings]

Mistakes aren't always the end.

My first batches were all improperly cured. In taking information I found 6 years ago literally, I over-controlled (in order to avoid almost full humidity swings 30% to 95% and back within the same day some times) to the point that My soap's didn't cure at all. I was corrected on here and can tell you that a few weeks later, both of the partial batches I had left have achieved what I believe to be an acceptable cure. Far firmer and more durable.

I basically make soap for me and the odd gift. 1-2kg batches

Now it'll be in a cardboard box, spaced a couple inches apart on a closet shelf with a towel over the opening.

Don't give up if you mess up. Look for a different way forward

 

[AliOop]

On my fourth batch of CP soap (which I did using single cavity molds instead of a loaf), I got pretty serious soda ash. I then read (or I asked and was told) that CP soap should not be exposed to air during the initial curing stage as that can result in soda ash. So, since then, I cover the loaf (or single cavity molds) with a big microwave splatter cover – which has little vent/ holes- then I cover it with towels and a blanket. After I cut it, I’ve been putting it in a wooden wine box- the lid is slightly open because the wood is warped. And I put the towels and blankets over the box.

For anyone having trouble with soda ash, I am one who recommends covering your soap for a few days after the initial cut. For me, a light covering of plastic wrap for 3-4 days, maybe a week at most, gives the soap more time to fully saponify, and really reduces the soda ash on my bars.

After those few days, I take off the plastic wrap and leave them spaced on racks with good air flow, so they don't take forever to cure. I apologize if anything I've said in the past seemed to suggest otherwise, i.e., that soaps should be protected from air exposure during the long-term curing process. That isn't what I do, or what I recommend at all. By way of background, I usually soap at room temp, and only mix to a stable emulsion. As a result, even with a high lye concentration, soda ash used to be a real problem for me. Just those few days of extra covering has eliminated that for me.

But if someone isn't having trouble with soda ash, there is no need for this process at all - just leave them spaced on well-ventilated racks to cure away from direct sunlight or contact with metal. Once the bars are cured, a fair number of folks do wrap them or store them in someplace with less air exposure, but that has more to do with preserving the scent, and not preventing soda ash.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I have the luxury of having enough space to be able to cure my soap on a wooden vegetable rack for 2-3 months. After that, I move the soap to large cardboard boxes. My workplace uses a certain catering chain that delivers sandwiches in large flat tray like boxes. At this point, everyone knows to save them for me. The boxes hold a lot of soap and stack well. I sometimes mix scent families during storage and have not had an issue with the scent carrying over from one type of soap to another.

 

[Kharamel]

Hello everyone. I need your opinions. I have a non working refrigerator that I’ve been thinking of repurposing into a soap curing cabinet since it has so many shelves in the fridge and freezer. With it being a closed environment, does this sound like a bad idea? By the way, the soaps will sit on plastic trays instead of being exposed to metal.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I have the luxury of having enough space to be able to cure my soap on a wooden vegetable rack for 2-3 months. After that, I move the soap to large cardboard boxes. My workplace uses a certain catering chain that delivers sandwiches in large flat tray like boxes. At this point, everyone knows to save them for me. The boxes hold a lot of soap and stack well. I sometimes mix scent families during storage and have not had an issue with the scent carrying over from one type of soap to another.

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Love your set up!

 

[bookworm42]

I'm looking to revamp my storage and curing rack. I've read that if your soap isn't on a rack that you should be rotating it.
Is this something you guys do? Just want to be sure before I start looking into options for curing "racks". I'm lazy and forgetful so if I don't have to rotate that's my preference .

 

[melinda48]

I use a baker’s rack I purchased at our local university’s surplus store. It came with plastic trays. Because we live near the woods, I have since enclosed with whole rack with fiberglass screening. The “door on the front is held on with Velcro screwed into the frame. It works beautifully! Plenty of airflow, safe from “critters” and makes my soaping studio smell great!

 

[bookworm42]

I use a baker’s rack I purchased at our local university’s surplus store. It came with plastic trays. Because we live near the woods, I have since enclosed with whole rack with fiberglass screening. The “door on the front is held on with Velcro screwed into the frame. It works beautifully! Plenty of airflow, safe from “critters” and makes my soaping studio smell great!

Do you rotate the soaps, as in move them so all edges are exposed to air at some point? Or do you place and leave?

 

[AliOop]

Hello everyone. I need your opinions. I have a non working refrigerator that I’ve been thinking of repurposing into a soap curing cabinet since it has so many shelves in the fridge and freezer. With it being a closed environment, does this sound like a bad idea? By the way, the soaps will sit on plastic trays instead of being exposed to metal.

I am so sorry that apparently all of us missed this question - it happens sometimes!

Your idea of repurposing a fridge into a soap curing cabinet is genius! However, I would remove the doors so that that the soaps get airflow.

@bookworm42 my soaps sit on a rack that is lined with some plastic shelf liner, which I guess means that the bottoms don't get the same airflow. I don't rotate them, and they cure just fine.