Soap Curing Storage

[Bigun]

Right now the top of my fridge is getting on my wife's nerves. Where/how do you store your soap to cure?

 

[tracycarlin1966]

Right now the top of my fridge is getting on my wife's nerves. Where/how do you store your soap to cure?

I store mine on closet shelves to cure.

 

[shunt2011]

I store mine on shelving units. Before I had the shelving I would line them up on paper towels inside the raspberry boxes from Costco. They let air circulate and are stackable. I still use them once they are cured and waiting to be packaged and labeled.

 

[Susie]

When I had a lot of soap curing all at once, I had it all over the bed and furniture in a spare bedroom. I am down to the top of a chest of drawers right now, but I have a shelving unit that is going up in another room soon. My hubby will survive having soap in his man cave.

 

[navigator9]

I made wooden frames and stapled window screening material over them. I re-purposed an old cabinet, made "ledges" for the frames to slide in and out on, and this allows for air flow all around the soap. I've been using them for many years. Adequate air flow is key when curing soap. And keep them away from direct sunlight.

 

[dixiedragon]

I go to Costco and get a bunch of cardboard flats. I try to get all they have of a particular type, because that way they fit together. It's easy to stack them 10 or more high.

 

[cmzaha]

I have two shelving units that I line with large sheets of grease resistant sandwich wrap. I use short side produce crates also, they are nice because they collapse when not in use and I can stack several together.
Dixiedragon what are the cardboard flats at Costco? They sound interesting

 

[dixiedragon]

I have two shelving units that I line with large sheets of grease resistant sandwich wrap. I use short side produce crates also, they are nice because they collapse when not in use and I can stack several together.
Dixiedragon what are the cardboard flats at Costco? They sound interesting

I may not be using the right word. The cardboard boxes the produce comes in. They have tabs and slots so the flats fit together and they stack well. They put them in big bins in the front before they throw them away, so you can load up and they're free. My current favorite are the blueberry flats. They comfortable hold 25 or so bars and are tall enough that I can stand the bars on the side.

 

[lenarenee]

It sounds like you're trying to find room to cure; is there space under a bed? However, I'd recommend a small fan running on low to circulate the air.

Or do you have room to add a narrow but tall bookshelf some where in your house?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FLZ7U8Y/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Guspuppy]

Mine are on a table in the basement, but I don't have an excessive amount of soap to cure at any given time.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I often cure in our office, unless it's a scent that The Admirable Lady adores, in which case they cure in the bedroom. I cure in shoe boxes, more often boot boxes as they are bigger, with the lid off. When the bars are cured, the lid goes on for storage

 

[Bigun]

I often cure in our office, unless it's a scent that The Admirable Lady adores, in which case they cure in the bedroom. I cure in shoe boxes, more often boot boxes as they are bigger, with the lid off. When the bars are cured, the lid goes on for storage

How do you acquire excessive amounts of shoeboxes?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I used to live above a shoe shop - it's amazing how many they throw away. I would go a couple of local ones and ask them to keep some for you, they might well be willing to do that.

ETA - how many batches do you need to be curing at any one time, anyway?

 

[Bigun]

At least 5 or 6.

 

[dixiedragon]

I've asked at shoe stores and they don't usually have any, usually people take them home with them. Probably for their own storage purposes!

 

[earlene]

I started out using cut-down grocery store cardboard boxes, like some here mentioned. The ones they sit on the shelf with canned goods sitting in them are easy to get at the local grocery store, as are many others of varying sizes. I pick up a few every chance I get. The sturdier, the better but beggers can't always be choosers, so I take what I can get. I line them with a bit of paper towel on the bottom, then add some plastic mesh material to lift the soap a bit and add a bit to the air below the soap. These stack easily in alternating directions.

I also have some of those 'legs' that restaurants use to put food trays on when the wait staff bring you your order, and I have some of those large trays they use, too. I set one of those at the foot of the bed and directly under the ceiling fan in a spare room. That's where the most recently cut soaps sit. They are moved to the 'stacks' on the bed (a cardboard layer protects the bedspread) in the same room. I also have a desk in that room with a rubber/plastic coated wire rack (with 3 or 4 shelves) that sits inside a cardboard cut-down box (to collect soap debris) where I also have some soap curing.

When they are cured sufficiently and I start labeling them, I move them to another room (granddaugher's bedroom, actually, but she doesn't visit often, so it's not used much) where I have a similar set-up for stacking wrapped and labeled soaps.

Just yesterday I bought two plastic Coca-Cola trays (black plastic trays made to hold cans of Coke) at the Goodwill for $1.98! They ice thing about them is they nest inside each other and have plenty of air holes built right in. I stacked the soaps I've made on this trip and can easily move them about until I get them home and integrate them into the curing set up I already have in place.

Periodically I make purchases of whatever I think will work, especially if it's in good condition, coated with rubber or plastic and priced as low as seems a bargain to me, especially when I can find them at Thrift Stores. Plastic Mesh used for needlework is good to lift soap up off a completely flat surface, and I just got a package of 16 for only $2 at a WalMart here in San Antonio last week. It was a real find, because they normally cost more. I also use rolls of plastic mesh that is used in restaurants and bars to sit drinking glasses, etc. on top of on shelves. I had a bunch of that stuff left over from when we had the restaurant, but have used it all inside of the cardboard 'trays', therefore continue to purchase more as needed.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I was gonna link, but this is short enough to just copy from a post I made last year.

I bought two 30" tall by 24" wide by 14" deep, 3-shelf units and used all six shelves on a single set of legs so I have five spaces, each about 5" tall and the top. The shelves are covered with 12 pieces of plastic canvas from the craft store to keep the soap off the metal racks. Total cost was $43 - $18 for each shelf (with veteran's discount) and $7 for the plastic canvas.

It will hold a ridiculous amount of soap, too. My typical loaf mold makes twelve one-inch thick, 3.75" long, and however tall the ingredients reach typically about 3". Each shelf will hold 3 batches without much crowding and I can fit 4 batches if I stand them carefully. Even if I reserve the top shelf for equipment, which seems likely, I'll have more capacity that I'll fill for a while.

It holds between 150 and 200 bars, depending on shape and how careful I am about stacking. I have yet to fill it to capacity.

 

[Chefmom]

After I cut my soap it sits on a paper towel on a tray, then is moved into a cardboard box with a silicone packet and dated/labeled and stored on shelves in my basement with a dehumidifier. I could never cure them open on a shelf, the fragrances would make me nuts and possibly ill.

 

[Buckscent]

I have several bread crates. Doesn't take much room and can stack on top of each other

 

[Susie]

After I cut my soap it sits on a paper towel on a tray, then is moved into a cardboard box with a silicone packet and dated/labeled and stored on shelves in my basement with a dehumidifier. I could never cure them open on a shelf, the fragrances would make me nuts and possibly ill.

I live in the deep south. We have humidity. Even in winter. Dehumidifier machines do not last long down here. I could never cure my soap in a closed box. Even with a silicone packet. It would grow mold. And it is very difficult for me to understand how a dehumidifier can pull moisture out of a closed box.