how long?

[memadeit]

After soap is made, how long is it good for? Not including scent. And what happens to the soap after three years after it is made or longer? shrinks??? Totally dries out???

 

[JessyV]

I find that though the scent might fade , soap gets better with age. I have use a soap that was cured for a year and it was wonderful! I don't know how a three year old soap might be...

 

[tamarajane]

I have some soap that my mama made when I was small, and it's still usable. (I'm 50! Shock to me too!) But it had no superfatting or special additives. I would think it would depend on the recipe of the soap- whether it had oils that were prone to DOS, rancidity, etc. Someone on here has some older soaps that are fine. Maybe they will chime in?

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Someone on this forum has a soap that is really, really old but they don't use it of course as it's a curiosity. :wink:

My oldest is about 18 months old, most is still fine but there are a few recipes that smell a bit rancid. Those I won't be making again. The goat milk soap is all fine even with an 8% lye discount (superfat). The goat milk and lard soap is especially good.

 

[memadeit]

basic recipie:

6.5 palm oil
6.5 coconut oil
7.5 olive oil
1.3 castor oil
3.0 lye
6.5 water

my mother has a habit of not wanting to use "pretty" soap. And for what I am planning on for next christmas, she will deffently want to "save" it.

(last time I was home, I had to hide her store bought soap just to get her to start using the "plain" soap.)

also, does storing soap in a hot room, attic for example tend to "melt" it?

 

[Adema]

I would think in a warm dry room the water would evaporate quicker but in a warm humid room it would maybe start sweating, I don't think they would melt though, I have soaps in various places in my home and I see no real difference in the ones I keep in my laundry room and the ones I keep in my living room.

Kveðja
María

 

[Deda]

I have some from 2002. It's fine, lathers great, almost no scent left.

 

[evatgirl73]

I have some soap that's over 18mo old (I received in a swap summer 2008, and it had presumably cured for at least a few weeks by then... so almost 2yrs old?) and they smell and look great! They were incorrectly stored as I didn't know better. First they lived in ziplocs and now they have lived in a cardboard box in my bathroom, wrapped in tissue paper. One of them smells very light, *but* it was almost scentless when I first received it.
I was hoarding it, but I'm using it now, LOL!
On the other hand, I have some from a different supplier (made with all EOs, coincidentally) that pretty much all have DOS after 6-8mo.