How to know when your soap has cured long enough

[lunchlady2009]

I apologize in advance if this has been asked before. I did many a search on here and never quite found a direct answer.

I made my first basic soap (OO, Lard, Sunflower, Canola) on Feb. 14. It's been 2 weeks and I'm absolutely going crazy! I want to test it to see how it turned out! I have 2 others I made last week. I'm wanting to make 2 more soap recipes, but I think I need to wait to see how my first one turned out!

My question is, is there a way to know when it's safe to use or do you just have to be patient and wait at least 4 weeks?

Thanks,
Rene'

PS What is the zap test I keep reading about?

 

[IanT]

I apologize in advance if this has been asked before. I did many a search on here and never quite found a direct answer.

I made my first basic soap (OO, Lard, Sunflower, Canola) on Feb. 14. It's been 2 weeks and I'm absolutely going crazy! I want to test it to see how it turned out! I have 2 others I made last week. I'm wanting to make 2 more soap recipes, but I think I need to wait to see how my first one turned out!

My question is, is there a way to know when it's safe to use or do you just have to be patient and wait at least 4 weeks?

Thanks,
Rene'

PS What is the zap test I keep reading about?

I usually let my soaps cure up for about 1 month before i give them to other people.... for myself... I start using it as soon as i cut it lol... so go ahead and take a shower with it and let us know how it feels!!! i usually take the imperfect bars and chop them down to smaller pieces to be used as MY 'testers'... Its safe to use as soon as its cool (this means the saponification process is over).. its just BETTER after a month because alot of the water will evaporate and the soap will mellow out.

the zap test:

wet your finger...rub on soap, place wet soapy finger on tongue... if you feel a 'zap' that means your soap could be lye heavy and dangerous to use.... resulting in a need to rebatch.

If not... your good to go!

 

[jcandleattic]

When I first started soaping this is what I did. I would take a bar and cut it into 4ths from the batch to use as my testers. I would use one of them that was only a couple of days old, mark my results, use one at a week, one at 4 weeks and one at 6 months and note the differences.
Soap really mellows out and gets more mild with age. the one I would use a couple days in from the one that was even only 4 weeks old felt like completely different soaps to me.
The sooner I used them, the drier my skin would feel.

I say, use it right away - as long as it's not a lye heavy batch which the zap test that ian described witll tell you then it won't hurt you... And you will see how your soap will perform.

 

[honor435]

I apologize in advance if this has been asked before. I did many a search on here and never quite found a direct answer.

I made my first basic soap (OO, Lard, Sunflower, Canola) on Feb. 14. It's been 2 weeks and I'm absolutely going crazy! I want to test it to see how it turned out! I have 2 others I made last week. I'm wanting to make 2 more soap recipes, but I think I need to wait to see how my first one turned out!

My question is, is there a way to know when it's safe to use or do you just have to be patient and wait at least 4 weeks?

Thanks,
Rene'

PS What is the zap test I keep reading about?

I bought some ph strips and test them, iam impatient also, i have used after 2 wks, but im told that they last longer if you cure for 4 wks. :cry:

 

[carebear]

it should be SAFE to use right out of the mold. give it a quick lick with your tongue and if it's not zappy (like licking the end of a 9 volt battery) then it's fine.

honor: pH strips - what precisely have they told you thus far? by nature soaps pH is as high as 10.5 or so...

 

[honor435]

it should be SAFE to use right out of the mold. give it a quick lick with your tongue and if it's not zappy (like licking the end of a 9 volt battery) then it's fine.

honor: pH strips - what precisely have they told you thus far? by nature soaps pH is as high as 10.5 or so...

the book i go by, "smart soapmaking" says that 7-10 is ok, if its higher let cure longer, mine tests between 9-10, one time, my first batch (threw away) never got hard, was crumbly, chalky showed very high ph, since then, never had a high ph.

 

[Jeremy]

I bought a bottle of Phenophaline right off the hop and find that most of my soap is safe to use within two days of unmolding. But it is very soft until at least week 4. Get the Pheno, it really is dummy proof, which works very well for me and my lack of patience. Also, the day I start licking soap is the day I stop making soap..lol

 

[lunchlady2009]

I bought a bottle of Phenophaline right off the hop and find that most of my soap is safe to use within two days of unmolding. But it is very soft until at least week 4. Get the Pheno, it really is dummy proof, which works very well for me and my lack of patience. Also, the day I start licking soap is the day I stop making soap..lol

ROFLMAO! I was wondering about licking soap, but hey, I use to put my tongue on the battery! Granted, I was a kid and I was dared!

If I use a lye calc and measure accurately, do I really need to worry about a soap being lye heavy? I know we are human and make mistakes, but just wondering.

Thanks for all the info!

 

[IanT]

no if you measure accurately/use a good soap calc you shouldnt have to worry about it... its always good to test it anyway,

When I first started soaping this is what I did. I would take a bar and cut it into 4ths from the batch to use as my testers. I would use one of them that was only a couple of days old, mark my results, use one at a week, one at 4 weeks and one at 6 months and note the differences.
Soap really mellows out and gets more mild with age. the one I would use a couple days in from the one that was even only 4 weeks old felt like completely different soaps to me.
The sooner I used them, the drier my skin would feel.

I say, use it right away - as long as it's not a lye heavy batch which the zap test that ian described witll tell you then it won't hurt you... And you will see how your soap will perform.

thats sort of what i do ... i think its the left over influence from doing research in college

 

[MikeInPdx]

I bought a bottle of Phenophaline right off the hop and find that most of my soap is safe to use within two days of unmolding. But it is very soft until at least week 4. Get the Pheno, it really is dummy proof, which works very well for me and my lack of patience. Also, the day I start licking soap is the day I stop making soap..lol

I promise you.....tongue testing a bar of handcrafted soap is not nearly the nasty experience as putting your tongue to a bar of the commercial stuff.

I was leary at first too, but it's really not that bad. No, it's not a taste treat, , but it isn't horrible either.