Speed up cure time??

[iindeo]

Is it possible to speed up CP cure time?

 

[zee]

Unfortunately no, but if it makes you feel better, the longer the soap does cure, the better it is, and it lasts a lot longer

 

[Tam]

I did a test this summer. This part of Texas was in a terrible drought and we've had like 90 days of 100+ temps...or something like that. Anyway, I took one bar and placed it in the full sun for a month and I kept the other bars inside. The ONLY difference was the bar that I let "bake" in the sun bleached out a bit, but as far as hardness...no difference. The soap was a CP with a 38 on the Hardness Scale.

 

[iindeo]

cure time

I did a test this summer. This part of Texas was in a terrible drought and we've had like 90 days of 100+ temps...or something like that. Anyway, I took one bar and placed it in the full sun for a month and I kept the other bars inside. The ONLY difference was the bar that I let "bake" in the sun bleached out a bit, but as far as hardness...no difference. The soap was a CP with a 38 on the Hardness Scale.

So then we should assume 30 days in the sun is no better than 30 days on a drying rack. How do you test for hardness and where does the number 38 come from?

 

[beachgurl]

I'd venture to guess that the 38 comes from Soap Calc. It's a great program as is Soap Maker, that allows you to run your recipe through and it then tells you what properties to expect on various dimensions like hardness of the bar, lather, moisture, etc.

 

[eargirly]

so I guess if i want soap to give away at the holidays, I better get fixin!

Is 30 days a good guess as to how long we need to let things set? Obviously, I am new at this....

 

[Becky]

4 weeks is the 'industry standard' cure time.

 

[earthsessencellc]

I have read you can speed up the cure time a little by, putting the entire batch of soap, mold and all, wrapped in a blanket and put in the oven, let it 'bake' at 250deg. for 4 hours, then shut off the stove and let the whole batch sit in the oven over night........ however you still have allow the bars to dry out over a couple of weeks, but this process is in some ways like 'HPing' a batch of soap. but it is suppose to 'mellow' while it is in the oven.....

Anyone else every heard of this process, I have used it before when I needed a batch to finish curing quickly.....

 

[zee]

earthsessencellc, what you are referring to is the CPOP or "cold process, oven process" method. Soap makers usually go this route if they would like to force gel faster. It really doesn't matter if you gel using the oven, or the traditional insulation methods with tons of towels and blankets . It does make the soap usable a little faster, but I have noticed that my soaps still need the 4 week cure to be really nice and mild. I gel all of my batches.

 

[MikeInPdx]

I gel all of my batches except for the ones with delicate EO's. I do CPOP, but I still give them the 4 weeks to cure whenever I can.

I tried baking some soap to dry it out.....ala Ann Bramson (Soap: Making It, Enjoying It). I put some in a 140 degree oven overnight in hopes to cure it out a little faster. Just made it ugly and dry looking and still needed the time to cure.

 

[IrishLass]

What Zee said. I do the same thing with just making sure all my batches gel, but they still need that 4 weeks to bring out the best in them.

IrishLass