Sweating

[SmoothBodyByEden]

Good day,
Is there anyway to prevent sweating? Curious to know it ok, to put the soap in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. I live in Boston and it is very humid at this moment. I cut these soaps this morning. This one is a hp soap. Made 2 days ago. I will let it cure for about 2 weeks. Formula is there to see if need be.

 

[TheGecko]

First of all, whether your soap is made via CP or HP it's needs to cure for a bare minimum of four week, six weeks is better.

By no means an expert, but outside of Salt Soap, M&P and soap issues related to not mixing the batter correctly or the batter overheating during saponification, I've never heard of regular soap 'sweating'. I know from experience of curing my soap in my garage during the Fall/Winter, it takes almost twice as long for my soaps to cure in the cooler temps and I would logically assume it would be the same in the refrigerator.

While we don't get the same humidity levels that ya'll get east of the Rockies...I have an oscillating fan that I turn on when my garage reaches 80F. It help to dry and cool the air.

 

[AliOop]

Are you actually seeing sweat on your bars, or just worrying that it might happen? Because I didn’t see anything that looked like sweat on those bars. They look soft, but as @TheGecko said, they need to cure for 4-6 weeks. Putting them in the fridge will extend the cure time.

 

[DeeAnna]

"...I've never heard of regular soap 'sweating' ..."

Yeah, regular soap can sweat when the humidity is very high. Handcrafted soap contains roughly 8% glycerin by weight, and glycerin is a humectant, meaning it attracts water.

Obviously if you add salts and other hygroscopic or humectant ingredients, the problem can be worse.

In the northern parts of the US where high humidity is only an occasional problem, the solution is to increase air circulation and be patient for the weather to change. In climates that are routinely very humid, the soap may always sweat a little.

I can't see how refrigerating the soap will do a lot to solve this problem. When I have this problem, I use a tissue to pat away any droplets that might form and/or use a fan to increase air circulation and/or just wait. With time the problem will resolve itself. After the soap is well cured, this sweating problem doesn't seem to be as much of an issue, in my experience.

 

[penelopejane]

^^ I agree with DeeAnna.
You can also use a dehumidifier Which effectively removes sweat from soap and keeps it dry if you live in a humid area like me.

 

[Megan]

I have to use a dehumidifier in the spring and summer. I have problems with my CP being damp otherwise.

 

[SPowers]

I'm new at this with about 10 batches under my belt... I've only had one batch 'seep' or 'sweat' and it turned out to be a bad batch - I still don't know what I did wrong but after 3 weeks I could squish it between my fingers - it was that soft. Not saying that is the case with yours - just wait it out and see what happens after a few weeks or more.

 

[shunt2011]

My soap sweats at shows when it is hot and humid. I use shrinkwrap bands and then ends will sweat sometimes. They dry up when it cools down some.