Slimy Soap

[butterflybrat]

I notice that my soap becomes rather "slimy" (for lack of a better word) with regular use. I have yet to buy a soap dish but I just want to know if this is a normal occurance with home made soaps? I just use the regular soap dish in our bathroom and there's probably 4 different people who use that bathroom

I know it might be a dumb question but the soaps I've bought at Lush doesn't become slimy or maybe I just don't notice it.

Thank you all for your help in clarifying my slimy soap situation.

Btw, all the soaps I've cured doesn't have any zap to it and also doesn't have any lye pockets. And I've cured them for nearly a month before I testing a bar.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Yes, it needs to be on a nice, draining-type soap dish. Handmade soap seems to draw moisture to it, so air circulating all around helps to dry it out. Some soaps are worse than others. :wink:

 

[Sunkawakan]

butterflybrat - it would help if we knew your recipies that you used. Soaps high in oo are known for being slimey but there are ways around it. If your soaps are not high in oo, then there might be another issue but we can't tell without the recipie.

 

[dagmar88]

It's probably a combo of too much moisture and glycerine.
Glycerine is a by product of soap & really good for your skin.
Commercial soapmakers tend to seperate the glycerine from their soaps to add it to other bath and body products.
Lush doesn't make soap from scratch; they use a melt and pour base; so what you make and what they sell is hardly comparable.
As sunkawakan said, batches that are high in olive oil tend to be rather slimy. With a really long cure, that does become better.
Your problem should be a lot less with a good draining soapdish

 

[carebear]

it can also be an issue in a high humidity environment - like a small bathroom which is constantly being used for showers. and in soaps that weren't given a good long cure

 

[IsItSoapYet?]

I like those little clear, mini-sized plastic soap holders that are spikey on both sides and they keep the soap up out of any accumulated water and surrounded by air. I have 3 in the shower so I can alternate bars and not have them melt into puddles of goo, and one in every soap dish in the house as well. They are tiny so they fit inside the soap dishes really nice. They come in a pack of two for a dollar at Bed Bath & Beyond. I buy them by the handful and I like to stick one in the gift bag when giving soaps as presents so people don't get frustrated with melting soap from sitting by the sink or directly on the shower ledge, etc.

Hope that helps you out!

 

[deighturp]

I saw a neat little soap dish attached to a really cool bar of soap selling at gift shop. The dish was not really a dish but looked like some sort of packaging material, about half inch thick and just a little bigger than the bar. It was really a good idea to keep the soap from turning to goo. Has any body ever seen this and do you know where to get it/make it?

 

[Cellador]

I saw a neat little soap dish attached to a really cool bar of soap selling at gift shop. The dish was not really a dish but looked like some sort of packaging material, about half inch thick and just a little bigger than the bar. It was really a good idea to keep the soap from turning to goo. Has any body ever seen this and do you know where to get it/make it?

Like this?

 

[shunt2011]

Like this?

This post is from 2009. Please start a new thread going forward.

 

[Cellador]

This post is from 2009. Please start a new thread going forward.

Oops, sorry! I just saw the post from today and didn't look any further into the thread.

 

[deighturp]

Yes, that is exactly what I saw, thanks! I thought it was packing material that had been re purposed material, but after googling it I see it isn't. Thanks Cellador, a lot.