Target humidity for the curing area

[Jorah]

Now that I have a dehumidifier, I'm amazed how much water I'm pulling out of the air in my basement. I thought the basement was dry, my wife swore she detected dampness. I set up the dehumidifier around 11 a.m. yesterday and checked it around 9 p.m. before bed, and had about 7 liters of water in the reservoir, so I'll likely be emptying it twice a day (during summer months, anyway).

I also got a hygrometer, so I can see what's going on in the basement. Looking at this screen capture, you can see about when I turned the machine on for the first time, on the far left. The hygrometer is on the shelves where my soap is curing, and the dehumidifier is a few feet away in the hallway. I ran the dehumidifier on 'maintenance' mode for the first 10 hours, then when I went to bed set it 'dehumidify' mode, and to turn off after 4 hours, not yet trusting the auto-shutoff feature. You can tell when it shut off in the early hours, as the curve starts going back toward ~50%. It will take me some time to figure out how to manage this new tool in the toolbox.



I was reading this thread on r/soapmaking on Reddit this morning, and one author hints that anything below 50% is fine for soap. The dehumidifier I bought can be set to a target humidity level; should I aim for 45% or something closer to 35%?

 

[Ford]

The reservoir level, float activated shutoff switch. Has never failed. On the one I have. Have it set to 50%. There are usually several ways to mount them. Mine has an option. For running a hose out the back. Running a analog hygrometer to reference.

 

[Jorah]

The reservoir level, float activated shutoff switch. Has never failed.

Thanks, Ford! And I suppose that if it does, I'll just have the water back on the carpet, which will dry out once I turn the rig back on! I'll try it on automatic for a few days to see how it goes. I'd love to use the hose for continuous draining, but it would have to be mounted somewhere in the cats' bathroom, and I haven't visualized how that could work.

I'll aim for 45% for now and see how that goes.

 

[Angie Gail]

I'm in central Texas and it's pretty humid here so I have been using a dehumidifier in my soap room for a little over a year. It really is amazing how much water it pulls out of the air. On a good day, I can get the humidity in the mid-30 to low 40% range.

 

[Jorah]

I'm in central Texas and it's pretty humid here so I have been using a dehumidifier in my soap room for a little over a year. It really is amazing how much water it pulls out of the air. On a good day, I can get the humidity in the mid-30 to low 40% range.

I'm hoping that once we're out of the Carolina humidity season in November that I can stop emptying this thing 2.5 times a day!

 

[Kaybrantley]

I live in North Carolina. Just got a new Dehumidifier for the basement and for some reason my soap is coming out softer than before. I have to wait 3 days before unmolding it. Recipe hasn’t changed. I was not expecting this.

 

[Zuleika]

I'm so envious of low humidity or being able to run a dehumidifier for a few hours a day. My soaps cure in my air conditioned office (AC on for 5 days a week) and the humidity is at 65%. My salt bars never stop sweating.

I used to cure soap at home but the rainy season led to some serious sweating. Now I only cure scrap ends at home but they always feel slightly tacky. Outside humidity ranges 75-90%.

 

[lsg]

I have room dehumidifiers in every room in our finished basement. It is amazing how much water is in the resevoirs.