the "oldest" hand-made soap you have kept/used?

[toyojiro]

I am new to the soap making, and want to know what is the best way to keep hand made soap for a long time as a memorial memento, and what recipe work better for that purpose.

I heard that soaps containing certain kind of oil are meant to be consumed sooner, like peanut oil and almond oil. Soaps mostly made by olive oil are supposed to last long, right?

specifically, I have made breast milk soaps by using different recipes and hoping to keep them for a long time. If my child is interested, I would give these soaps to her when she leaves us for college or other reasons. If not, I will just keep them for the rest of my life (going to grave with me).

If you have made breast milk soap and used it years after, what is that like? (still usable?) How many years have you kept them?

 

[toyojiro]

Additional note:
I selected oil/fat carefully for the above purpose. The following list is the combinations of oil/fat I have used so far (all of them are 5% discount, 38% water-50/50 milk and breast milk):

1) OOl 72%, Cocoa butter 28%
2) OO 70%, Cocoa butter 25% CO 5%
3) OO 70%, Avocado butter 25% CO 5%
4) OO 70%, Mango seed butter 25% CO 5%
5) RBO 65% Cocoa butter 25% CO 5%, Caster oil 5%
6) RBO 65% Avocado butter 25% CO 5%, Caster oil 5%
7) OO 70%, Cocoa butter 20% CO 5%, Caster oil 5%

I had to re-batch 6) because it got trace too quickly and later there was thick layer of oil on the top 4h later. I tried to mix them but it ended up ugly looking soap when unmolded. But the rest appeared fine after unmolding.

 

[Stinkydancer]

I still have some that I made (not breast milk though) from 4 years ago from when I opened my shop- it's kinda of like earning your first dollar from a restaurant when you sell your first bar of soap- so I kept a bar of that and it's great. I also have some soaps left from my all time favorite soap maker who sadly quit making soap 4 years ago. She gave her recipes to someone but the soap isn't the same to me. Anywho- the soaps are fine and still smell great maybe a stitch lighter.

I'm not sure how milk soaps keep or breast milk anyway. I have never heard of that. Just wondering why would someone make soap out of breast milk?:shock:

 

[toyojiro]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Stinkydancer

isn't it interesting that it can be hard to make the exact same soap even with the same recipe!

>Just wondering why would someone make soap out of breast milk?:shock:

people who make breast milk soaps usually do that as memento of living (or deceased) child. There was a long thread about breast milk soap, if you are interested. I have some frozen milk that no longer needed by my children, and I did not want to waste them as it took me a lot of time to express. Donating them is an option if it is from healthy body and the milk is not too old.

 

[savonierre]

I have some 5 year old soap, it gets better with age just like fine wine.

 

[judymoody]

3 years, it is basic palm/olive/coconut, 5% SF. Has not spoiled and lathers well but it has almost no scent left (I used lemongrass EO)

 

[lsg]

I have some that I found stuck in a drawer from several years ago. Some have one or two DOS but they are very hard and lather well.

 

[eleraine]

1 year and counting - no issues except it can be a bit slick (gylcerin oozing coz I'm in humid Malaysia) but my salt bars are pretty dry (weird).

 

[StarBrown]

I have a few bars that I made with my grandmother and they're about 20 years old. They have a white crumbly outer layer, but still smell like soap (but slightly "piggy"). They were made from rendered lard and used lard.

 

[Marilyna]

I have some 7 year old soap. Still looks and smells great. Stored in cello. However, it seems to depend on the FO or EO. Some kept long term will go rancid after a couple of years, like Lavadin EO.

 

[paillo]

I recently went through a box of soaps between 3 and 4 years old, and found I still have some good ones. One is a goat milk soap I scorched. It took a year for the burned smell to dissipate, but it did, the lavender EO still comes through some, and it's wonderfully hard soap that lathers well. I've hoarded it for kitchen soap just for me.

Another one that held up well is a tomato soap with EOs of rosemary and basil. I was surprised and pleased that the fresh tomato puree I used didn't go rancid, just a little pale.

On the other hand, I had some tobacco FO-scented soap that smelled rancid and went in the trash. Bleh!

 

[toyojiro]

wow, thank you for sharing everyone! I never used EO in my soap. 20year-old soap is impressive. it is good to know that some
additive won't seem to affect the quality.

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[Yooper]

I have just dug into a soap drawer that I forgot about, and the soaps in there are between 3 and 4 years old.

They are all just fine, and the only issue with one is that I used paprika for a color swirl in one and it's now a little scratchy. It would be a great exfoliating soap, but would be scratchy on the whole body.

 

[Stinkydancer]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Stinkydancer

isn't it interesting that it can be hard to make the exact same soap even with the same recipe!

>Just wondering why would someone make soap out of breast milk?:shock:

people who make breast milk soaps usually do that as memento of living (or deceased) child. There was a long thread about breast milk soap, if you are interested. I have some frozen milk that no longer needed by my children, and I did not want to waste them as it took me a lot of time to express. Donating them is an option if it is from healthy body and the milk is not too old.

Oh I see that makes sense now. We didn't keep ours way back when but now I wish I had. Thanks for explaining I'll check out the thread.

 

[renata]

specifically, I have made breast milk soaps by using different recipes and hoping to keep them for a long time. If my child is interested, I would give these soaps to her when she leaves us for college or other reasons. If not, I will just keep them for the rest of my life (going to grave with me).

I'm quite sure that soaps will not last that long. Even the most stable oil will go rancid after 18 years.
I believe you think it is a nice memento, but....I personally would not be happy to recieve my mom's breast milk soap when I was 18....

 

[dagmar88]

I'm quite sure that soaps will not last that long. Even the most stable oil will go rancid after 18 years.
I believe you think it is a nice memento, but....I personally would not be happy to recieve my mom's breast milk soap when I was 18....

Same here. I think it's sweet to make and use on your baby, but (especially at that age) I'd be totally weirded out and embarrassed.
Imagine having a roommate that asks about it

 

[eyeroll]

What Dagmar and Renata said.


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[dixiedragon]

I have some soap that's at least 7 (may be 10) years old that I got from a swap. It was an exotic tallow soap. They were actually stored in our damp basement for a while and are fine. I would go with a lard or tallow soap with no canola or soy. I'm thinking lard, cocoa butter, castor, coconut oil, olive oil. And a lower superfat. Maybe some of that rosemary extract that is supposed to slow oxidation?

 

[toyojiro]

Other soap maker told me that even after rancidification, it can function as soap and usable. Just smell bad. Not sure about DOS though.

Anyhow, I appreciate all the comments!
I do not care so much about scent as I havene't tried any.


So it looks like the oil that matters more, and how and where soaps are stored are not so relevant?


My plan is to rotate each and every soap I made so far and try every year. Each recipe produced 8-15 bars, so it should last for several years? (I do not use soap every day even during summer to avoid becoming too dry)


I came across this interesting blog and gives me pretty good idea.

http://curious-soapmaker.com/a-big-test-of-100-one-oil-soaps-after-15-months.html

love her experiments!!!!

 

[toyojiro]

dou you get DOS before or after rancid smell? or about the same time? just curious...

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