Speed up drying/curing time of CP soap?

[Stacey]

"CPOP or ITMHP is the same thing. You make the soap, bring it to trace, pour into your mold, then put in a warm oven (170 degrees) for 1 hour. Turn the oven off and leave it there overnight. By the next morning, the soap should be ready to cut. If you followed a soap calc correctly, this should be safe to sell after one week.
You really should wait longer as more water evaporates, but if you can't it's ok after one week. " Soapbuddy


I learned to oven process like this: Turn the oven on to 170 degrees, place filled but uncovered soap molds in the oven. Let it sit with the oven on for TWO hours. Shut the oven off and let it sit in there until morning. Cut as usual.

Am I overkill?

This is how I learned from a tutorial from another site and it seems to work well but I haven't seen many other people cooking it longer than an hour.

And with OP I usually wait for 4 weeks. But based upon this quote, I could use it in a shorter amount of time. Interesting. Particulary since I'm cooking it longer...I'm probably even closer to hot processing it then cold processing it, huh?

Do you agree or disagree? Your thoughts?

 

[gunner]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of gelling/not gelling?
I've always just done what I read in the Susan Miller Cavitch book, cover for 24 hours; does that gel?

 

[honor435]

if you look up past posts, we talked about it, no advantages or dis, the look is different, if you covered, yes it usually gels. If you put in oven, you are forcing gel, if you fridgerate you get no gel, and it takes longer to cure. I always gel, I like the look, but its just a preference.

 

[LadyM]

I'm so curious about the cure time topic.
Of course we know that soap gets better with age, milder, harder, longer lasting etc.
But why is it that many people seem like they wouldn't even touch it for at least 4 weeks?

I make CP and I often use mine right away. Literally a couple of days after I take it out of the mold. And it's soft, but it's wonderful! I kinda prefer a softer bar.

I don't see why freshly made soap couldn't be given out as a sample with the understanding that it becomes harder/longer lasting as it cures ...

 

[soapbuddy]

I find freshly made soap very drying to my skin. Not so after 4 weeks.

 

[Woodi]

I agree with soapbuddy. Fresh soap almost takes a thin layer of skin off me, leaves it feeling super-dry.
I like a longer cure mostly to make sure that full saponification has taken place, even with cooked soap.

 

[Elly]

Sorry I came so late on this very interesting discussion but I just found it as I was looking for answers regarding gelling or not gelling. after reading this thread I was wondering if the CPOP method is the same as gelling and will it give out a darker soap as per HP? I usually try to avoid gelling if I want a lighter soap, gelling always causes uneven darker patches on my soaps, maybe I am not doing it right, still a rookie in soapmaking :?

 

[gunner]

Just a note; I did two batches CPOP 10 days ago and they came out of the mold so easily I think I'll do it that way from now on, but the soap is no closer to being useable than if I'd done regular CP. It's still pretty soft, especially in the middle. I thought it would be harder than a regualar CP bar by now. I didn't really plan on being able to use it any sooner, but the unmolding is so much easier!

 

[savondebilal]

bilal hito

hi there! I made a few batches with the 'low water' option - and I love it. I find that it really preserves any herbal additives from turning brown due to the lack of rapid oxidation

- bilal hito

 

[Rolandrichy]

Am making soap for the first time and I used CP, my soap is 2 weeks now and still bringing out water. From all I ve read here it's a process that will take 4 weeks.
I am really wondering if there is anything I can do to speed up this process. I was told to sun them everyday that it also helps.
Pls I need to confirm how true that is.
Need guidance pls!

Rolandrichy

 

[penelopejane]

Welcome to the forum.

Things in the soaping world have changed since 2007. Start a new thread and ask your question again so we can give you new up to date info and not rehash out of date info.

 

[DeeAnna]

Short answer -- No there is no way to speed up the process. Soap making will teach a person patience if it teaches nothing else.

And on an unrelated subject -- This thread is almost 7 years old and many of the participants are no longer around. If you want a variety of answers from current members, I recommend starting a new thread. Not everyone reads the old threads, even if new posts have been added.

 

[iwannasoap]

I use a 500ppt or a 476ppt in the water:lye ratio. That is found by (lye/(Lye +water))*1000 which roughly means I use the same amount of water as I do lye or maybe just a tad more water.
I can cut it in 8-9 hours and use it safely the next day because it is as hard as a rock.
Doing it this way, I might only lose as much as 7 grams. In a week and a half maybe as much as 2 weeks it stops losing weight and it is ready.
However, my castille soap I made, which has been curing for 4 months so far, has lost 17 grams which is a bit more then usual.
My wife used to hot process hers but after recording the weights of hers and mine they lost weight at the same rate no matter what.
She doesn't hot process any more although she likes to do it that way she will also make soap the easier way.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

"ready" is an objective term. Cure is a lot more than just water loss. Here's an example - take that two week old batch which is 'ready' and make another batch exactly the same in every detail. Then in two weeks it should also be 'ready' and the current batch is then 4 weeks old. Test them side by side and you'll see the difference those two extra weeks have made

 

[Susie]

^^^What Craig said!

And if you can't tell the difference, then we need to see your whole recipe in weights to figure out where you went wrong.

 

[DeeAnna]

"...500ppt or a 476ppt in the water:lye ratio. That is found by (lye/(Lye +water))*1000..."

Actually that's NaOH concentration, not water:lye ratio. Your water:lye ratio is 1 at 500 ppt (parts per thousand) and 1.1 at 476 ppt.

Be careful with "ppt" because the chemistry types lurking around here may read this as "parts per trillion" and most non-chemistry types won't have a clue. I suspect you may have read Kevin Dunn's book Scientific Soapmaking. His use of ppt to mean parts per thousand is fine, but this definition of ppt isn't universal in general chemistry.

Most of us here use percentages instead, so to translate, you're using 47.6% to 50% NaOH concentration.

Yes, your rate of water loss will stabilize more quickly by using NaOH at these higher concentrations. But stabilization of water loss doesn't mean the soap is fully cured and at its best within 2 weeks.

 

[jcandleattic]

I can cut it in 8-9 hours and use it safely the next day because it is as hard as a rock.

Being "rock hard" is not an indicator of safety. Once a bar is fully saponified and there is no free lye in the bar, that's when it's safe to use.
Most CP if made correctly, is fully saponified and safe to use within 18-72 hours. However, fully cured and mild with no harshness, comes with time, and nothing that I have found has sped that up.
Hot process bars take just as long to cure as CP soaps do because curing is more than water loss.
IF curing was nothing more than water loss, then yeah, soap curing could be sped up. But that's not all there is to it.


I absolutely can tell a bar that is 2 weeks old from a bar that is 6-8 weeks old.

 

[SherylG]

Wow! I never knew this either! I'm going to try that too. However, I think I will have to put a note on the oven knob that says, "Soap in oven. Remove before turning on!". Hubby bakes...

I have to try this! No problem with it rising out of the mold?

 

[DeeAnna]

Wow! I never knew this either! I'm going to try that too. However, I think I will have to put a note on the oven knob that says, "Soap in oven. Remove before turning on!". Hubby bakes...

I have to try this! No problem with it rising out of the mold?

You have to try what? I'm confused about what you're talking about, Sheryl. There have been quite a few things discussed in this thread -- could you clarify what has caught your eye?

 

[SherylG]

Sorry for the confusion. I'm talking about the ITMHP, aging the soap in the mold in the oven.

Question: Can I do ITMHP with a heavy cardboard box mold? Has anyone done this successfully?
I'm going to buy a silicone mold in wooden box at a later date but am using a cardboard box right now.