Testing soap before complete cure

[namad]

I make my soaps in the morning and start my testing in the evening as soon as they are cut.

hahahaha what is it about soap that just brings out the animal in us all, I loose all sense of patience when it comes to soap - heck sometimes I can barely wait til gel is over before trying to take it out of the mold hahahahaha (seriously, I can't keep me hands off)

 

[Marilyna]

Well, I hope everyone has all their Christmas soaps done by now, then. LOL

 

[Stakie]

I let mine sit at least 4 weeks. I may check the lather right after but nothing else. The longer the cure time, the milder they get!

My skin peels if I use them too early. That doesn't mean I need a new recipe, it means the soap is not ready yet!

 

[Marilyna]

I let mine sit at least 4 weeks. I may check the lather right after but nothing else. The longer the cure time, the milder they get!

My skin peels if I use them too early. That doesn't mean I need a new recipe, it means the soap is not ready yet!

Are you sure? If mine did that to me, I'd surely think something was wrong with my soap! Never had a bar peel my skin, no matter how new it was. That's frightening.

 

[sistrum]

Depending on the amount even a lye heavy bar will become mild if it sits long enough.

 

[Crazy8]

Well, I hope everyone has all their Christmas soaps done by now, then. LOL

My wife threw me under the bus as soon as I started this hobby less than a month ago and started telling everyone "So guess what everyone is getting for Christmas?" after telling them I had started this whole thing.:-o Are you serious??? good thing is I now have an excuse to buy soap stuff "Well hunny, remember you told everyone I was making soap stuff for Christmas? Well, I need this, and that, oh and these things too.":razz:

On a side note, YES I do test my soaps once they harden. I also test them from week to week just to see how they are coming along. Its nice to have scraps around after you make a batch to do these kinds of things. I think its good practice though. It does let you see the performance of the soap as it ages. It lets you figure what you like or don't like up to the point of full cure. Such as maybe FO fades. Maybe it starts getting more crumbly. Things like that. I like keeping soap in the bathroom also. Not just because I use it but I get to see how it reacts in a humid environment and if the soaps starts melting. So far I have not suffered from my soaps becoming mush. I guess all in all, I would say do any test on your soap that you can think of, especially if you're looking to sell it. After all you want to know as much as you can about it before you go selling it right?

 

[Marilyna]

I do mine like you do Crazy8. Have 10 or 12 bars on my tub right now. But yesterday I decided to open up a bag of cured Lavender that I had only used scraps of shortly after I first made it. Oh, it was awesome. The smell! The lather!

Love your story about your wife and your excuse for buying soap stuff!!

 

[Crazy8]

I do mine like you do Crazy8. Have 10 or 12 bars on my tub right now. But yesterday I decided to open up a bag of cured Lavender that I had only used scraps of shortly after I first made it. Oh, it was awesome. The smell! The lather!

Love your story about your wife and your excuse for buying soap stuff!!

10 or 12 bars? Holy smokes. I suppose the only thing separating them from the others is their colors huh? lol As of now, I think I have 2 shampoo bars and maybe 3 or 4 other soaps right now. I could see myself having the same problem as you eventually.

 

[Marilyna]

Colors and scents. Some are MP and some are CP.

 

[neeners]

on my first batch, i couldn't wait, and tested it after it had hardened and cooled (i let it gel). it's been 4 weeks since that first bar, and a scrap of it has made it into the shower already. i noticed it a little drying, but it's been super humid and hot here, so the extra cleanse has been nice.

other bathes, I've left them. some are still really soft after 2-3 weeks, so...i'll just leave them to cure on its own.

good idea on starting with Christmas presents now. time to use up all that peppermint EO that's sitting around the house!

 

[Skatergirl46]

I have been doing HP so it's safe to test a little piece right away. I usually make a little ball with the side wall scrapings from my crock pot before I clean it, and try that on my hands. I usually wait a couple of weeks before trying it in the shower.

 

[Obsidian]

Are you sure? If mine did that to me, I'd surely think something was wrong with my soap! Never had a bar peel my skin, no matter how new it was. That's frightening.

My bars don't peel my skin but they do make it flaky if I try it too soon. I always super fat a 8% or more and none zap but they are still super harsh for me. Even HP needs a good cure before I can use it.

Its not just my soaps either, all handmade soap is equally harsh for me if not properly cured.

 

[cerelife]

I do agree with dagmar that my 3+ year old soap is far better than it ever was before, AND I agree that I would never ever want to sell a bar of soap that wasn't the very best I could make.
It took me three years of experimenting/tweaking/fine-tuning to formulate a recipe that actually feels much better after an 8 week cure time than my old soap does after a 3 year cure!
And yep, my salt bars need a much longer cure...at least 3 months!

 

[aab1]

With most batches I make a batch of 30 tiny sample soaps in silicone macaroon molds that I give out free with other non soap products I sell.

If I must try a soap early, I use one of the tiny samples. For larger bars I prefer to wait unless it's a new recipe I'm anxious to try and didn't make small samples of it, then I might try it as soon as a after a few days or 1-2 weeks.

That reminds me of something I've been wondering, does the size of the soap affect cure time? For example would my tiny 0.3 oz samples take less time to cure than a huge 7+ oz bar?

Thanks

 

[namad]

That reminds me of something I've been wondering, does the size of the soap affect cure time? For example would my tiny 0.3 oz samples take less time to cure than a huge 7+ oz bar?

Thanks

Yes, 0.3oz samples take less time to cure for sure!!

Do you think it makes a difference cure wise and use wise, gelled or non gelled soaps?

 

[judymoody]

Yes, 0.3oz samples take less time to cure for sure!!

Do you think it makes a difference cure wise and use wise, gelled or non gelled soaps?

Of course. If you suppress saponification by preventing gelling, it will take longer for the chemical reaction to be complete.

 

[namad]

Of course. If you suppress saponification by preventing gelling, it will take longer for the chemical reaction to be complete.

Ok, and also a thought I had, if a soap is ungelled - if there are any EO properties that exist, they probably would be more potent in ungelled soap as it does not go through the heat that gelled soap goes through, right?

 

[sistrum]

Nope.


Soap making manual a practical handbook on the raw materials, their manipulation, analysis and control the modern soap plant by E.G. Thomssen

MEDICINAL SOAPS.

Soap is often used for the conveyance of various medicants, antiseptics or other material presumably beneficial for treatment of skin diseases. While soap is an ideal medium for the carrying of such materials, it is an unfortunate condition that when incorporated with the soap, all but a very few of the numerous substances thus employed lose their medicinal properties and effectiveness for curing skin disorders, as well as any antiseptic value the substance may have. Soap is of such a nature chemically that many of the substances used for skin troubles are either entirely decomposed or altered to such an extent so as to impair their therapeutic value. Thus many of the claims made for various medicated soaps fall flat, and really have no more antiseptic or therapeutic merit than ordinary soap which in itself has certain germicidal and cleaning value.

 

[namad]

Nope.


Soap making manual a practical handbook on the raw materials, their manipulation, analysis and control the modern soap plant by E.G. Thomssen

MEDICINAL SOAPS.

Soap is often used for the conveyance of various medicants, antiseptics or other material presumably beneficial for treatment of skin diseases. While soap is an ideal medium for the carrying of such materials, it is an unfortunate condition that when incorporated with the soap, all but a very few of the numerous substances thus employed lose their medicinal properties and effectiveness for curing skin disorders, as well as any antiseptic value the substance may have. Soap is of such a nature chemically that many of the substances used for skin troubles are either entirely decomposed or altered to such an extent so as to impair their therapeutic value. Thus many of the claims made for various medicated soaps fall flat, and really have no more antiseptic or therapeutic merit than ordinary soap which in itself has certain germicidal and cleaning value.

Ok, I wondered about that. I would personally never make medicinal claims for my soaps but for my own curiosity, I wanted to know if the ungelled held more properties.

And for me personally, when I get a wiff of the scents in the soap, that is enough right there to soothe me - so there you go, it works!

 

[sistrum]

I agree, the scent alone is all you need. It adds magic to the soap.