How long do you cure your CPOP soaps? HP?

[Guest]

How long do you cure your cold process/oven process soaps? I've tried some of mine right away- just the trimmings....nothing zaps....and it works well- soft and mild with lovely lather. The actual bars are still drying and getting harder.
When do you feel yours are ready to share?

What about HP? I'm using my HP soaps already and they are great. I haven't shared many yet though.

 

[Guest]

I cure any CP at least 6 weeks , some say 4 weeks but I find a definite difference for the better in the 2 extra weeks . HP at least 2 weeks some say 1 week . Soap only gets better as it ages like fine wine or cheese . If you like it new it will be that much better aged .

Kitn

 

[krissy]

juicy, you may also find that a recipe you love at one point in the cure you love even more after it has cured a bit, HP included. or the opposite might be true. i have a recipe that i loved from the get go but after the cure, i don't like it as much. you have to take the time to get to know your soaps personalities and flaws that can only become known through time. you have to wait things out and just see what happens. i was as gung-ho as you when i first started soaping and now i KNOW that my first batches should have been kept and watched because they are not the best and one even went DOS on me. :shock:
cure is very important and i do 4-6 weeks for CP and at least 2 but usually 4 on HP.

 

[TheSoapyEwe]

I make only HP and I agree with the at least 2 week wait, especially before sharing with others and to get more accurate feedback on your soaps.

 

[Guest]

Great- this is just the info I wanted. You guys are really helpful. Thanks so much!

So...do you consider soap as CP that has been oven processed at heat (170 F for at least an hour, then cooled in shut-off oven overnight) ....thus it needs a 6 week cure? Or would you consider it HP with a 2 week cure or something in between?

 

[Gramma Judy]

Are you doing OHP? Oven hot process - like CPHP only in the oven or do you mean soap is in the mold and put in oven to force gel? If it is to merely to force gel, then yes it needs to cure for 4-6 weeks. If it is the OHP, which by the way there is a great tute on Craft Server, if I am allowed to say this, it is HP and 2 week cure. HTH
BTW, you are making some great looking soaps.

 

[Guest]

Thank you Judy. You are very kind. Thanks for the info too. I've been doing mostly CP and then into the oven in the mold for an hour at 170F, then shut the oven off and let it sit there overnight. I thought it was similiar to HP for the curing time because of what I've read online, but it will be interesting to watch them cure and see what happens beside my crock pot HP and straight CP soaps.

It's so much fun learning!

 

[JenniferSews]

I use my CPOP right away. I know it will be nicer later, but I do CPOP because I just can't wait (well that and I'm super lazy.) I always check for zap first and haven't had anything come out zappy in the am yet. My skin is super sensitive too.

 

[Saltysteele]

my rosemary mint soap, the first i've made, is 4-5 weeks old now? i don't know for sure.

anyway, every week i take a different bar, and trim off the ends (made in bread loaf pan, so bars are very large and angled). it is to the point now, where there is just a few millimeters left that hasn't fully darkened. i've watched this, and it has been very cool to see the soap curing and to have a visual indicator how it is coming along in the drying process

so, long story, short, i agree with the experts (like they need my approval ) with 6 weeks or more.

that having been said, a thinner bar is going to dry quicker, although i'm not sure if curing and drying correlate in anyway, or not.

i have been using the end pieces as they dry, and they've worked great, with no noticeable change after they're visually dried.

 

[cdc]

So, My question is.....why?

I know everyone is quoting the common numbers...4-6 weeks....but, why? Where is the science to back this up?

I mean, some soap may need 3 weeks, or 10 weeks to harden or cure or mature to perfection....but that is going to depend alot on the recipe, conditions, etc, surely.

If we do HP soap, the soap is basically ready right away, so the heat is speeding up the process that uses up the lye, making the soap "safe" to use.

In CP soaping, the temp is lower, so it takes longer....but if the oven is used, the temps should be alot more like a HP soap, and so it make sense that the soap would be ready in HP times not CP times.

But, even in CP, whether you gel, insulate, etc.....there is so much variation in temperatures....the amount of time that it takes a bar to be "ready" really must be variable. Right?

I searched and searched and searched the internet for good scientific info to back up the commonly accepted claims behind the recipes, and did not find them. Makes sense though. It is all math and chemistry, and if you are messing with your variables.....your results will be different.

 

[bala]

CDC, I agree with you.
I have one question, how do you use oven?
What kind temperature and moisture in oven?
How do you make sure that nothing change inside of soap?

I have rainning season problem.

 

[soapqueen]

How long to cure soap

I asked a scientist who also makes soap this question, and he said that even with basic cold process soap (no oven involved), within 48 hours the lye reaction has exhausted itself. So there should be no danger in using it.
Other than that is the question of drying the bar to increase hardness. I presume that will depend to some extent on ambient temperatures and humidity, and even more so on whether the water was discounted in the first place.
I have always used my CP soaps myself within a few days, and have never had a problem. But I wait for 4 weeks before selling, mainly because I have read in so many places that this is necessary. But, I'm not actually convinced that it is from a safety point of view.
I do realise that some may see this as heresy, and am happy to be corrected.

 

[CiCi]

I start using my soaps a couple days after I make them. Once the soap has saponified, there is no lye left. The reason for the 4-6 week cure is basically so that the bar can harden and mellow out to a lovely lather. Even though it may lather well when you unmold it, the longer the cure, the better the lather. Months down the line, the lather will be insane. Old soaps are some of my best soaps.

Edited to add...I just saw the post above mine. It is almost saying the same thing.

 

[colleenestelle]

I really think the recommended curing time is for hardness, and not so much safety.

 

[Bigmoose]

I try to give my CP soaps 4+ weeks. The biggest reason is as they dry out they shrink and the labels become loose then. I try to let my HP soaps set at least 3 weeks.

Bruce

 

[lsg]

I cure my cp soaps for at least 4 weeks and my hp soaps for about 2 weeks.

 

[new12soap]

I am the oddball. I cure my CP minimum 6 weeks, and my HP minimum of 4 weeks... BUT! I really prefer to wait for 8 weeks, even with my HP I find a tremendous difference between 4 and 8 weeks in the mildness, lather, and overall quality of the soap. I have absolutely no science to back it up, but that is what happens IME

 

[max_ime]

I made soap for the 2nd time this week, I did HP (cooked it until gel and then added 12% super fat and stirred and poured) I used 45% coconut. I did not zap upon tongue testing so I thought it was safe to use but it's actually drying to skin, especially to face, it left my face dry and hot especially on the nose and forehead, this sensation persist after using the soap only once on my face 2 days ago. I wonder how that's possible? I licked the bars may times, different spots no zap at all. Yes coconut is a cleanser but I have 45% only + 12% super fat from hemp and jojoba. + I used dr Bronner for years and it's mostly coconut too and it's wonderful.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Even with HP, I wait 2 weeks to test and then another 2 weeks before anyone else gets to use them. I'd start another thread in the recipe feedback section or the CP section, with your full recipe, so people can give feedback on it.

 

[pamielynn]

I think all soaps should be cured out at LEAST 4 weeks, too. Especially HP - since usually you use more liquid in its production. I find it interesting that everyone wants to skip cure; I don't understand why. Properly made CP should be safe to use right away, just like HP; and sticking CP in the oven only forces gel - doesn't lessen the need for curing.

Let 'em cure, people! You will love your soapies even more than you do now