I plan on doing a lot of testing and practicing with small batches, so I'm going to end up with quite a bit of soap. I was just wondering how long I can store it for? For example, say I make a batch in March can I give it as a gift in December?
How long can I store CP soap?
- Thread starter Suchisam
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I think you give it the date which is on your oils. Like the expiry date on the oils will give you time of storage. But I would like someone more experienced to confirm or deny this. I really hope it could go even more.
Yeah I wonder if the oils are preserved longer in soap
because of the pH and all.
I don’t use the expiration date on my oils at all. After saponification - and especially with chelators added - soaps can last for years. Or they can go bad in months. It’s best to learn about which oils tend to hold up the longest without rancidity, and how to use chelators. Then plan accordingly and test test test.
Everytime after reading comments here I need to google something new... Chelators this time
You might want to read up on ROE as well, which protects against rancidity from a different angle than chelators. DeeAnna’s soapy stuff pages have the best info on both.
Great tip! Do you know maybe anything about adding rosemary CO2 extract?
I just read about using 2% citric acid to lye water on soapy stuff. Have you used that? I'll look into ROE as well. I actually already have citric acid from a failed attempt at making shower steamers lol
That is ROE by another name.
Yes, I have used citric acid, but it does require that you adjust the amount of NaOH. That's why I prefer sodium citrate, since no NaOH adjustment is needed. But CA works just fine if that's what you have. I have lots of that around as well for shower steamers and bath bombs.
Thanks for the info!That is ROE by another name.
Yes, I have used citric acid, but it does require that you adjust the amount of NaOH. That's why I prefer sodium citrate, since no NaOH adjustment is needed. But CA works just fine if that's what you have. I have lots of that around as well for shower steamers and bath bombs.
I'll just go ahead and impulse buy some sodium citrate on AmazonThat is ROE by another name.
Yes, I have used citric acid, but it does require that you adjust the amount of NaOH. That's why I prefer sodium citrate, since no NaOH adjustment is needed. But CA works just fine if that's what you have. I have lots of that around as well for shower steamers and bath bombs.
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
Thanks! Do you use sodium citrate along with the ROE?
I do use both, as they operate differently. ROE protects against rancidity as an antioxidant (keeping the oils from going rancid). Citrate protects against rancidity as a chelator that binds to metals that may touch the soap. For that reason, chelators also improve lathering in hard water - something that ROE does not do.
I add the ROE to my oils when I buy them, or when I mix them into a master batch, because ROE is dispersable in oil. Then I add sodium citrate to each batch when I make it, because it needs to be dissolved in water before adding to the soap.
I add the ROE to my oils when I buy them, or when I mix them into a master batch, because ROE is dispersable in oil. Then I add sodium citrate to each batch when I make it, because it needs to be dissolved in water before adding to the soap.
OK I see
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
Nope. I'm "Old School".
Even though I made soap for wholesale customers for 10 years I never felt the need for chelators. To my mind, it just adds to the bottom line profit margin. I think it's a personal preference thing and not necessary for basic soap in general. But that's just me. 
I don't use any ROE or chelators in my soap. It can easily last a year or two, but then sometimes (for no obvious reason - but I'm pointing the finger at my FOs) it just goes off/rancid/loses its fragrance/gets DOS. It can happen at 3 months, or 7 months, or even a year. I don't know how many batches I've made in the past three years, but I would estimate about 200 or more, and I can think of about 5 or 6 batches at most that have 'gone bad'.
My mum recently pulled out a bar of my first ever batch ( from Sept 2018) from the depths of her bathroom cabinet. It had DOS and I told her to chuck it out - She didn't seem to notice anything was wrong until I told her about it - lol.
My mum recently pulled out a bar of my first ever batch ( from Sept 2018) from the depths of her bathroom cabinet. It had DOS and I told her to chuck it out - She didn't seem to notice anything was wrong until I told her about it - lol.
