Long lasting soap?

[SudsyKat]

So, I know that longer cure times help to make a harder, longer lasting bar. I know that sodium lactate can help with making a hard bar, but I've heard that it doesn't really affect the "lasting" aspect of the soap. I've made an 80% salt bar that was pretty long lasting. I've tried many, many different combinations of oils and have not found any of them to be a standout in terms of lasting power. All of my bars last very well when dried completely between uses, but I know that most people don't want to go through the trouble of treating the soap a special way.

My question is, is there any ingredient or method that you've found to really help make a bar STAY hard and not dissolve quickly? I thought about just adding a little salt to every bar - would that help?

Thanks for the input!

 

[calico21]

I add about an 1 oz or 2 depending on recipe of steric acid. My bars are really hard in days, but still easy to cut and seem to last for ages in the shower. It will speed up things a bit so if you have a fast fo or eo be careful. And I use a whisk gently not a SB.

 

[carebear]

your 80% salt bar was only "pretty long lasting"? how long is that? mine last forever!

how long do you WANT yoru soap to last?

keep in mind commercial soaps last longer because they are drier, tightly compressed, and don't have the glycerin in them.

 

[SudsyKat]

Good point, Carebear - about the commercial soaps. I know I can't totally replicate that, but I don't want people to say, "yeah, her soap is nice, but it gets soft after you've used it a while." I guess what I would like is for my soaps to never get "mushy" on the outside and to never get "bendable". I would like for them to go through their life retaining their hardness. My salt bar did last very well. I was wondering if adding a small amount of salt would have a similar effect on soap.

 

[kelleyaynn]

What shape do you make your bars? Before I made my wooden slab mold, I used a plastic tray mold that was divided into 8 rectangular bars. Very rectangular. When they got thin (but still long) they would bend and break in half. Now that my bars are shorter and wider, they don't bend and break. Same soap, different shape.

 

[SudsyKat]

Thanks, Kelley. I noticed this as well. I have started to make my soaps all one standard size - much smaller and squarer (sort of) - they're 2 1/2 inches tall, by 3 1/2 inches wide by 1 inch thick. I figured that would help with the breakage, but thanks for confirming that! I was hoping that would be the case.

 

[ToniD]

I have to agree with the mold issue really making a difference. Most in my family like the individual oval molds I got from WSP for the very reason that the soap gets uniformly small, as opposed to having a thin middle section.

The down side is that they are harder to swirl and harder to pour into.

 

[PrairieCraft]

One of my colleagues told me yesterday that she would never buy my soaps because they would cost more and wouldn't last as long. This person is very blunt. It's hard not to be offended. Other people I have given soap to also hesitate when telling me it doesn't last long. I try to tell people to make sure it's in a well draining soap dish but don't think they take that too seriously. The people who mention this have never used handmade soaps before so I think that they think it's just mine that do this and that I'm doing something wrong. This is beyond frustrating especially since I will have a soap for sometimes 3 to 4 weeks with two people using it daily and have other people telling me it lasts forever. I just have to take a deep breath and explain the difference between my real soap and store bought stuff and then I get the blank look.... :roll: Some people will just not be getting any more free soaps. :evil:

 

[AmyW]

That's sad PrairieCraft! :x

I think I will put a little note on my wedding and other gift soaps to "place in an open soap dish that allows soap to dry between uses" or something.

 

[soapbuddy]

How about offering them an inexpensive wooden soap dish with drain holes along with the soap? For me, no one has even complained that my soaps hasn't lasted long enough.

 

[danny p]

What got me into making soap was some handmade soap I found at an antique shop in this little town called micanopy that's a village from the 1800s that's been restored to be a craft/antique tourist village. The soap was great but pricey so I wanted to re-create some of my own. Anyway that tender had these dishes with her soap with a disclaimer about the soap melting if not drained and dried. I'm going to buy a bunch of these for first time homemade soap users I know. They're cheap.
WWW.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50154599

 

[lsg]

I got soap savers identical to these at the Dollar Tree 2 for a dollar. They have holes in them for drainage, with prongs to hold the soap off the base. You can also turn them over as they are identical on both sides.

 

[AmyW]

Oooooo I like those danny p. I need to get more wedding stuff at Ikea anyway, I think I'll get those and add them to the gift.

 

[dubnica]

What got me into making soap was some handmade soap I found at an antique shop in this little town called micanopy that's a village from the 1800s that's been restored to be a craft/antique tourist village. The soap was great but pricey so I wanted to re-create some of my own. Anyway that tender had these dishes with her soap with a disclaimer about the soap melting if not drained and dried. I'm going to buy a bunch of these for first time homemade soap users I know. They're cheap.
WWW.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50154599

Yep, I bought 10-15 of these and given to my family and friends. They are great.

Some of my friends don't tell me anything about my soap or my lip balms. They don't ask for more, so that makes me think that they either don't use it or they don't like it. It is OK. Plenty of people like my stuff.

 

[newbie]

This would be a less aesthetically pleasing option, but I've used the plastic pan scrubbers, or the ones that are more eco-friendly (made at least in part with natural or recycled fibers), cut to fit the soap dish. They are cheap at the grocery store and cut readily. They are also more porous and have better drainage,at least for me, than soap dishes with holes in them. They work great. Might not be a great addition to wedding soap, however

like this but less expensive:
http://www.amazon.com/Pot-amp-Scrubber- ... B000KICPRS

 

[Dennis]

What got me into making soap was some handmade soap I found at an antique shop in this little town called micanopy that's a village from the 1800s that's been restored to be a craft/antique tourist village. The soap was great but pricey so I wanted to re-create some of my own. Anyway that tender had these dishes with her soap with a disclaimer about the soap melting if not drained and dried. I'm going to buy a bunch of these for first time homemade soap users I know. They're cheap.
WWW.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50154599

Micanopy was also the location for the Michael J Fox movie, "Doc Hollywood".
Nice little town off the beaten path and a good little movie.

 

[NewSoapGuy]

One of my colleagues told me yesterday that she would never buy my soaps because they would cost more and wouldn't last as long. This person is very blunt. It's hard not to be offended. Other people I have given soap to also hesitate when telling me it doesn't last long. I try to tell people to make sure it's in a well draining soap dish but don't think they take that too seriously. The people who mention this have never used handmade soaps before so I think that they think it's just mine that do this and that I'm doing something wrong. This is beyond frustrating especially since I will have a soap for sometimes 3 to 4 weeks with two people using it daily and have other people telling me it lasts forever. I just have to take a deep breath and explain the difference between my real soap and store bought stuff and then I get the blank look.... :roll: Some people will just not be getting any more free soaps. :evil:

I suspect that you have hit on the delicate zone which defines how much one might pay for something that they believe is better. If, in fact, this person doesn't feel that the difference in quality is worth the price differential (inclusive of the duration factor), you shouldn't be offended at all, that person is just expressing his/her individual preferences for soap properties and money. And if he doesn't feel that he would pay for your soap, that also means that he attaches little to no value to being gifted said soap as well, so you should definitely cut him off. Let him go back to the store bought soap which he prefers, as you are wasting your labor on someone who doesn't really appreciate it otherwise.

 

[PrairieCraft]

One of my colleagues told me yesterday that she would never buy my soaps because they would cost more and wouldn't last as long. This person is very blunt. It's hard not to be offended. Other people I have given soap to also hesitate when telling me it doesn't last long. I try to tell people to make sure it's in a well draining soap dish but don't think they take that too seriously. The people who mention this have never used handmade soaps before so I think that they think it's just mine that do this and that I'm doing something wrong. This is beyond frustrating especially since I will have a soap for sometimes 3 to 4 weeks with two people using it daily and have other people telling me it lasts forever. I just have to take a deep breath and explain the difference between my real soap and store bought stuff and then I get the blank look.... :roll: Some people will just not be getting any more free soaps. :evil:

I suspect that you have hit on the delicate zone which defines how much one might pay for something that they believe is better. If, in fact, this person doesn't feel that the difference in quality is worth the price differential (inclusive of the duration factor), you shouldn't be offended at all, that person is just expressing his/her individual preferences for soap properties and money. And if he doesn't feel that he would pay for your soap, that also means that he attaches little to no value to being gifted said soap as well, so you should definitely cut him off. Let him go back to the store bought soap which he prefers, as you are wasting your labor on someone who doesn't really appreciate it otherwise.

Well here is where the situation is offensive, she is always asking me for soap. She said that she would take the ones that I thought didn't turn out quite right. She has the money to spend, vacations all the time, luxury items, etc... So that is why I was offended, if she were struggling through life or had money problems I could see. But if you are going to ask me for soap all the time, obviously you like it. To then turn around and say that you would never buy it is weird to me. This came right after I gave her a half dozen bars. Of course, I'm looking for feedback and asked for constructive criticism but if you have the money and like the product why wouldn't you buy it? BTW, I have never asked her to pay for the soap. This person is in a similar line of work as me (I'm a LMT) charges by the hour and once told me that my prices are way higher than anyone elses (but they aren't by a long shot) and she charges more than I do per hour (for work that isn't as physically demanding). Some people! :roll:
She isn't being intentionally mean or nasty, I doubt she knows the things she has said are rude. She could have said that the soaps don't last long and let me explain why without throwing in the part about paying for them. So yeah, no more free soap. IDK what I'm going to say in a few weeks when she asks though. I am such a pushover.

 

[AmyW]

She isn't being intentionally mean or nasty, I doubt she knows the things she has said are rude. She could have said that the soaps don't last long and let me explain why without throwing in the part about paying for them. So yeah, no more free soap. IDK what I'm going to say in a few weeks when she asks though. I am such a pushover.

I'm becoming cynical in my old age (...lol) and don't give people that kind of benefit of the doubt anymore. I bet she knows just what games she's playing with you and enjoys it. I would thank her for testing your soaps for you, but now you'd got the recipe down just right and they're only for sale. Whether true or not.

 

[photoshadows]

[/quote]I'm becoming cynical in my old age (...lol) and don't give people that kind of benefit of the doubt anymore. I bet she knows just what games she's playing with you and enjoys it. I would thank her for testing your soaps for you, but now you'd got the recipe down just right and they're only for sale. Whether true or not.[/quote]

I think Amy's suggestion is a good one. Whether the rude woman knows what she's doing or not, I think it's perfectly valid to say you don't need feedback anymore, but would be willing to sell the soap to her if she'd like to keep using it. Who knows. Maybe she'll be paying you double in a month or so when she remembers how awful detergent soaps are