Testing soap

[aselland]

How do you test soap? Do you just test the formula for the actual soap calculator (oils, water, lye) or do you test each time you use new fragrances oils, essential oils, additives, colors etc? How often do you test? After cure, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and at a year? At what are do you feel a recipe is good enough?

 

[Obsidian]

I generally only test the recipe and additives. I start out testing end scraps as soon as the soap is zap free then again in a couple weeks then after a 6 week cure. If I have soap that hangs around for months and months, I will periodically test them but then again, I have some that are getting quite old that I haven't tested yet. I will get to it sooner or later lol.

I consider a recipe good enough if the finished product is gentle enough for my dry skin, has good lather, leaves me feeling clean and is a well behaved recipe.

 

[PinkCupcake]

Once I have a formula I like, that I have tested over time, I just test new batches with different additives by using the scraps to wash my hands. If I make significant changes to the recipe, I test it (again, by washing my hands) every month until I'm sure it's good.

 

[TeresaT]

I test it washing my hands at the kitchen sink as soon as it stops zapping (and leave it there as the batch cures). After the batch is cured, I grab a bar and start using it in the shower. If I get a good lather, nice skin with no drying or weird stuff happening, after about a month, I bag it up and ship it off to my testers for their reviews. I started out with three testers. I now have 11. Well, 13, actually. My two bosses decided today they want soap.

 

[shunt2011]

I only test new recipes or tested recipes with new additives. I test them and then have family/friends test them for the seal of approval or thumbs down.

 

[aselland]

Okay, so none of you really test them a year out? I'm not sure why I read others have done that then.

 

[shunt2011]

Yes. When I first started, before I started selling I did test my recipes for a year. I still have bars from when I first started. I pull one out every once in awhile.

 

[coffeetime]

I keep a bar from every batch for 2years as a control. That way, if someone claims they have an issue I can pull out my bar from the same batch and figure out what's happening. Haven't had to do that yet, touch wood.

 

[aselland]

Thank you for all the advice! There are several recipes I want to try, and I wanted to make sure I tested them properly. I made soap last year for Christmas so my sisters eagerly volunteered to be my testers as well! :smile:

 

[PinkCupcake]

I keep a bar from every batch for 2years as a control. That way, if someone claims they have an issue I can pull out my bar from the same batch and figure out what's happening. Haven't had to do that yet, touch wood.

Exactly. I also keep a bar for at least a year, maybe more. I don't keep testing it, but I do like to go back & see how they are holding up in storage. I recently found a FO that caused DOS. No other soaps made from that formula had problems, so I'm pretty sure it was the FO that did it.

 

[TeresaT]

I have one soap from every batch in a bag labeled "control" that I look at every now and again. But mostly, I just ignore them. I'll probably try them out at six months then put them away again for six months; just do that until they disappear in a decade or so.

 

[Jstar]

I also have soaps that are 2+ years old..I check them every so often..I wanna know what they do over time since not all customers use the soaps they buy immediately.

I dont test my 'go to' recipes, except for zap. {or unless something just doesn't look or feel right}

Any new additives, or FO's def get tested at 2-3 days, 1 week, then 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks....at 4 weeks they are in the shower with me before they ever go out to anyone else.