How to Cure Handmade Soap + Ideas For Storing It
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Tips on how to cure handmade soap and how best to store it until you use it. Curing is the process of allowing saponification to complete and for the soap to fully dry, and it takes about a month for both cold-process and hot-process soap. This piece covers ways to speed up the curing process and what happens during that time, including crystalline structure development.
So you’ve made a batch of handmade soap and now need to cure it. This is an important stage of making soap, but there are many misconceptions about what it means and how long it takes, which is why you’re here. The bottom line is that all cold process and hot process soap needs to cure before you use it. During this time, which varies in length, saponification completes, and the crystalline structure in soap develops. Also, the majority of the water you used to make the soap evaporates off. All good soap is cured before using it and it creates bars that are mild and gentle to use and lather like a dream.
This piece discusses the curing process, why it’s necessary, tips on how to cure your soap faster, and finally, how to store your soap when it’s fully cured. I hope that it answers all of your questions, but if you need further help, leave me a comment at the end. If you’re new to from-scratch soap making, you can also learn to make soap in my online soapmaking course.
Why the Need to Cure Handmade Soap?
Even though it looks good to go, there are three reasons why you need to cure freshly made soap. Firstly, it allows saponification in cold-process soap to complete. Saponification is the process where the oils in your recipe are broken apart by the lye and bond with it to create soap. In cold-process soap, this process is mainly completed in the first 48 hours after you make it, but the remaining 1-5% of lye needs up to a month. The majority of the water used to make handmade soap also needs time to evaporate. Otherwise, the soap won’t last very long once you start to use it. The third reason we cure handmade soap is to allow the crystalline structure in the soap to develop. More on what this means further below.
The Cure Time Dries your Soap Out
The main reason we cure soap for weeks is to let the water content evaporate from the bars and for them to dry. When making soap, you dissolve the powdered sodium hydroxide (lye) into distilled water and sometimes a different liquid that will have a water component. That water is still in your bars when you take them out of the mold. If you don’t allow them to cure and dry, then your bars will not last as long once you start using them. They can also have impaired lather.
The cure time will reduce the amount of water in your soap over a period of 4-6 weeks. By the end of that time, your bars can lose over half of the water they originally contained. One way to know that your soap has hit the minimum cure time is to weigh the bars each week and keep a record. Once they stop losing weight, they’re ready to be used.
Both cold-process and hot-process soap need to be cured to allow this excess water to evaporate. Because hot-process soap uses even more water than cold-process, it’s actually better to cure it longer. Though some water will evaporate out during the cook, it will usually contain more water on the pour than cold-process recipes.
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Crystalline Structure Development in Soap
Lastly, the longer that soap cures, the milder the soap and the better the lather will become. Part of that process involves the liquid film surrounding each soap molecule having a chance to develop fully. We refer to it as crystalline structure development in soap bars. It’s a complicated and chemistry-related discussion, and the process is fully explained over here. However, the time it takes this to happen has recently been re-evaluated.
In a recent YouTube interview, Dr. Kevin Dunn shared the revelation that this process of crystalline structure development is mainly complete in the first hours and days after making soap. That’s compared to the month we used to think it took! He took microscopic photos of the crystals developing over the first four hours after making soap and then for the weeks after. What he found is that during the curing process, the space between the crystals decreased as the water evaporated out. The crystals in themselves didn’t change much after the initial saponification. In fact, after a year, they had not changed at all.
So, what does this mean for the length of time we should let our soap cure? The rate of water evaporation is key. Soap cures faster in places with drier and warmer air and in recipes that use less water. Some soapmakers swear their soap is cured at two weeks while others wait the full six. You’ll need to conduct a weight test of your recipes to see when they stop losing water. However, soap’s lather, cleansing ability, and mildness still improves with age – especially in recipes like Castile soap. Something else seems at play, so it’s better to cure soap for at least a month before using it.
Do I Need to Cure Hot-Process Soap?
One of the biggest pieces of misinformation in the soapmaking world is that hot process soap does not need to be cured. This is incorrect for two reasons. In hot process soapmaking, it’s true that saponification is finished by the time you finish the cooking phase. However, there’s still a lot of water content in the bars. That means that hot-process soap needs to be cured for the same amount of time as cold-process soap.
Unmoulding & Cutting Handmade Soap
If you’ve made cold-process soap, I think it’s best to leave most recipes in the mold for 48 hours. This means that by the time you take it out, the vast majority of the lye has bonded with the oils. Up to 99% of saponification is complete at this time. After two days, it’s safer to handle and will be harder than it was the day before. Some recipes, such as coconut oil soap and solid dish soap, become very hard and brittle after just a few hours of making them. With those, you’ll need to be aware of cutting them into bars as soon as you can take them out of the mold as a solid loaf.
When cutting bars after two days, I’d advise wearing gloves. First, to keep fingerprints off the bars and second, to protect your skin. It’s unlikely that you’ll feel anything uncomfortable, but there could still be lye in the bars. Touching fresh soap that’s lye-heavy can cause skin dryness and irritation, especially if you have sensitive skin.
If you’ve used a loaf mold, slice your bars up. This increases the surface area for drying, and cutting fully cured loaves can be more difficult. The size you cut them is up to your personal preference. The soap I sell is about 1″ thick. As far as cure time is concerned, smaller bars may cure faster than larger ones due to the larger surface area in proportion to mass.
How to Cure Handmade Soap
Once your bars are un-molded and sliced, it’s time to cure them. There are many places where you can cure your soap, but the premise is all the same. It needs an airy place out of direct sunlight. You can use a bookshelf, metal racks, cardboard boxes, stacked milk crates, or even make towers of soap. Stacking soap during curing is perfectly fine, and if you live in a warm and arid place, you can even cure your soap outside. That’s how it’s been traditionally cured in the Mediterranean and middle east. I’ll pop a video below to show how they do it.
Even though your bars are firm at this time, they still contain moisture that can react with surfaces. That’s why we line them with greaseproof or baking paper to protect both your soap and the units you’re using to cure it on/in. Then space your bars out so that there is plenty of airflow around them. Again, feel free to stack them as long as there’s plenty of air to circulate around them.
Even if you’ve only made one batch of soap, it pays to label it. Mark the date you set them on the shelf and also which soap it is. It could be a batch number or simply the recipe name. If you have different batches, feel free to place them side by side, but keep them from touching. If you’ve used different scents, they can affect each other during that long cure time. Sometimes, even if they’re not touching, so keep that in mind. Also, the cure time begins not from the day you made the soap but from the time you set it on the shelf.
How Long to Cure Handmade Soap
The time you leave your soap to cure depends on the oils and water content of your recipe. The dryness of the room is also a factor. However, four to six weeks is a good enough time for most cold-process soap recipes. Err on the longer side if your bars contain a lot of olive oil (60%+ of a recipe). Castile soap (100% olive oil soap) is harder, milder, and much better quality if you give it at least six weeks to cure. Six months to a year is better, though. Another soap that needs a very long cure time is pure coconut oil soap. Without the cure time, the soap could be over-cleansing on your skin.
In hot-process soapmaking, some of the water in the recipe evaporates during the cooking process but not enough to reduce the curing time. In fact, it’s better to cure hot-process soap for longer than cold-process since it can contain more water.
What Happens if I Don’t Cure My Soap?
If you don’t allow your soap to cure, a few things can go wrong. First, it could still contain lye. Even though (cold-process) saponification is mainly complete in the first 48 hours, there’s still a chance that your bars will contain lye for up to a month. Lye-heavy soap can cause skin irritation, and I imagine that there’s a potential for damage if it gets in your eyes.
Curing evaporates the soap’s water content, leaving harder bars. Harder bars last longer once you begin using them. Soft, uncured soap can disintegrate quickly if you get it wet and have impaired lather.
Young soap bars that are a week or two old can technically be used—both cold-process and hot-process. However, they won’t lather, clean, be as gentle, or last as long as soap that is fully cured or older. The older your soap is, the better it will be. If you decide to package up uncured soap, it could spell disaster, too. The moisture can destroy your labels, create condensation under plastic, and otherwise ruin your product.
Ways to Cure Handmade Soap Faster
There are a few ways to shorten soap’s cure time. Thanks to Kevin Dunn’s recent explanation of curing, we now know that it has more to do with water evaporation from the bars than anything else. So, using less water when making soap can reduce the cure time. Using dehumidifiers and storing soap in an airy place can help, too.
Using less water in soapmaking is called water discounting. In a standard recipe, you use a 33% lye concentration. For example, if your recipe calls for 100g of lye, you’d make your lye solution with 200g of water (100g is 33% of the total weight of 300g). Making your lye solution stronger means less water and a shorter minimum curing time.
The absolute minimum amount of water you can use is equal to the amount of lye in your recipe (a 50% concentration), but this is only advised for advanced soap makers. Creating stronger lye concentrations speeds up how quickly your soap comes to trace and hardens. If you don’t work quickly, it can sometimes become unworkable. It can also affect how evenly your soap gels and cause other issues, including cracking.
Ways to Speed Up Water Shedding in Soap
Another way to cure handmade soap faster is to use a dehumidifier. I keep one going in my workroom when soaps are curing. The time it takes the soap to shed excess water will vary, but if you weigh a bar regularly and notice that it’s not losing weight, then it’s probably ready. You can also cure your soaps outdoors if it’s warm and very dry. Make sure to keep them out of the sun and that they have really good airflow. Dehumidifiers are also very useful for stopping dried botanicals on soap bars from molding in storage, especially if you live in a humid region.
An electric fan blowing on soap could also reduce your cure time. Again, weigh your soap at the beginning of the cure time and keep an eye on the weight regularly. If you use this method, it helps to know the weight of a fully cured soap bar. If you’re using the same batch and size as a previous batch, weigh one of those bars.
Storing Handmade Soap Bars
Once your soap has fully cured, you can use, gift, or even sell your bars (provided you have your business, insurance, and beauty documentation set up, of course). You can also wrap them in paper packaging. Wrapping them in plastic is a bad idea, though, for two reasons. First, single-use plastic is frowned upon these days. Customers will not want to buy it if there’s anything plastic about it.
Secondly, if even the tiniest amount of moisture is still in the bars, it won’t be able to escape. Excess moisture could cause your bars to get the Dreaded Orange Spots (DOS), literally orange spots on the bars. The spots can get icky and have an unpleasant odor and indicate that the soap has gone rancid.
Store Soap in the Open
The best place to store handmade soap is in the open air. One idea is to store them in a wooden box that also serves as a farmer’s market display. Simply leaving them on the curing rack until they’re needed is also common. Be aware that if you store handmade soap in sealed containers, such as Tupperware, then it can greatly reduce the shelf-life of your soap. That’s because the natural glycerin in soap attracts moisture to it. You could one day open that container of soap to find beads of moisture over the bars and signs that the soap has gone rancid.
Shelf-life of Handmade Soap
Are you wondering how long your soap will last after you make it? When should you say its best-by date? This can be easily calculated by looking at the labels of all the ingredients you used to make soap. The closest best-by date you see is the best-by date of your new batch of soap. Making soap doesn’t prolong the life of oil about to go off. Using old oil can also cause the Dreaded Orange Spot mentioned before.
Making soap with oils that have the longest natural shelf-life and that are well within that best-by date will pay off. It will ensure that your soap will not only last a long time but that you can cure soap for longer, creating better bars without the fear of them going rancid.
Thank you so much! This information is extremely helpful. I’ve been at it for a while using family members as guinea pigs, lol. I will turn it into a business very soon.
You’re most welcome!
Hello, I am new to CP soap and just made my first batch! I used olive oil, coconut oil and shea butter to keep it basic. It turned out great! After 24 hours I took it out of the mold and it cut up very nice in to 4oz bars. I have them on a bread cooling rack and set it on to of my refrigerator to be out of the way. I figure a little extra warmth and some moving air it is a great place to store for curing….?
Thank you,
Daryl
Hi Daryl and congrats on your first batch! Good airflow certainly helps and the top of the fridge will be fine for curing. I recommend that you loosely drape a sheet of grease-proof (waxed) paper over the bars to keep dust from settling on them. Other than that, leave them for 4-6 weeks and you’ll be good to go.
I wish to purchase you soapmaking ebook for $9.95, but I can’t get the purchase to go through.
Please help. Thankyou
Hi Melanie, there are two places that you can buy it, and hopefully one of them works! If you’re in the UK/British Isles, you can get the soapmaking ebook here. If you live anywhere else, you can get it here. Get in touch by email if you’re still having issues? :)
Hi I have a couple questions, first is it ok to store my soaps in cellophane sealed bags? Secondly how can I soften a loaf of cold process natural soap to cut up I have a couple loafs that have cured for a very long time and I want to cut them up but they keep breaking I did microwave a big piece for 7 seconds on each side and that worked better but it still cracked im thinking 10 seconds? And what about a full loaf? I don’t know if that will fit in my microwave to warm up. Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you!
Hi Gary, cold process soap should never be stored in sealed containers or wrappings. The reason being that the natural glycerin in the soap can rise to the surface to the bar and cause sweating and early oxidization. Basically, causing your soap to look and smell bad. As for softening cured soap in the microwave, I’m afraid that doesn’t really work with cold-process soap. I sense you either come from a melt-and-pour soap background or that it may be something you want to look into.
This is so useful, thank you. How often should I weigh my bars to ensure curing has completed? Is once a week ok? Also, as I’ll be making these in a hot country (25°C + average daily temp), will the faster curing time not crack my soap?
Hi Yolanda, warmth and dryness can affect how quickly the soap cures. However, it’s not a good idea to leave your soap to cure in such hot temperatures. The scent can fade more quickly and if the soap is in a bright place, it can fade. If your climate is hot and humid, then the soap will not dry out and the heat will probably not affect how long it takes to cure. It could also cause glycerin dew drops to form on your bars. As for weighing, many soapmakers who do this only do it once to a few times to gauge how long it takes soap to cure. Then, use that time as a figure for future batches. Weighing once a week is standard, but you could do every day if you want. Keep a written record and keep weighing until the soap stops losing weight.
Thank you for this helpful article! I’m very new to soapmaking. I have done two small batches of 100% coconut oil soap and my hubby loved it. I would like to make a coconut AND castor oil soap to use in the shower. I have tried, but haven’t found the recipe, of how many grams of coconut oil, castor oil, lye and water to use! I have also tried to figure out the soap calculator but it’s so hard and I’m still helpless! My goal is to make simple 1-2 ingredient soaps with minimal or no added colours or fragrances and I’ve read that castor oil is also very healthy for our skin. If anyone can help me with the recipe for that 2-ingredient soap, I would be so grateful! :)
Hi Mai, we don’t use castor oil at any more than 5-8% of a soap recipe. More than that and it will create soft, sludgy bars with poor lather. 5% is typical, since at that amount, castor oil can help give strength to the soap lather (so it doesn’t collapse) but doesn’t affect the bars adversely. If you wanted, you could use my coconut soap recipe as a starting point, put the entire recipe into an online soap calculator, and swap out 5% of the oils with castor oil. It will help you recalculate the amount of lye needed for a 20% superfat.
This is such an interesting article – thank you. I have made a couple of batches of cold press soap over the years and although I cure it I never really understood why! Thank you
You’re most welcome!
IM REAAALY NEED HELP .!!!!! SO I MADE OATMEAL SOAP ,LET IT SIT FOR ABOUT 4 DAYS WITH AIR & I HEAT WRAPPED IN PLASTIC SHOULD I LET SIT UN WRAPPED DURING THE CURING PROCESS ??
Blair, before I answer your question please know that using all capital letters online means that you are shouting and being rude. A lot of older people do it and no one tells them – just an FYI for the future. To answer your question, you must never shrink wrap cold process soap in plastic. You only do that for soap made with melt and pour soap bases which is a completely different type of soap making. You need to take your oatmeal soap out of the plastic and allow it to breathe and cure. After the curing process is up, you still need to let the soap breathe and not cover it in plastic. If you do, then the soap inside will get sweaty and may start to go rancid.
Thank you for your information. Do you have to make a fresh batch of lye solution for every batch of soap? Thank you.
Do you ever use freezer paper to line your moulds? Thank you.
Kim
Soapmakers who make a lot of soap and/or large batches of soap master batch lye. They pre-mix it in big containers and use it over time. However, it can be dangerous to keep master batched lye in your home and isn’t worthwhile when making small batches at a time. I never do it and instead make the lye solution fresh each time. As for freezer paper, I’ve only ever done that when using wooden moulds or repurposing boxes or takeaway containers as molds. I prefer using silicone molds, which do not need to be lined. Here is my guide to soap molds for further information.
what is the pH value you get in the cold processed soap making?
the ones i make have 9 – 10 pH . its not good for skin so im wondering how to get the pH to 8. i use coconut and palm oil at the moment.
i want to know will the pH value dicrese with the curing time?
Hi Mashi, all real soap has a pH of about 9-10 and that’s perfectly normal and not damaging to skin. You can’t make soap that has a pH that’s any less than this.
Thanks for your 👌class.
Hi, Tanya,
Thank you for your wonderful recipe.
But, I have a question:What is the “Mango butter”? I’ve never heard it. Is it something like cacao butter or Shea butter?
Hi Ayumi, yes, that’s right. It’s a creamy butter quite similar to shea butter in consistency.
Very informative and to the point. The curing process and time for hot processed soap is an eye opener as I was taught that it can be used in 2-3 days.
Thank you for such valuable insight and clear instructions, very much appreciated!
One of the first soapers I watched on YouTube put her bars of soap in boxes with plastic needlepoint canvas on the bottom for air circulation. When I finally started making soap I did this too; you can get nice boxes at Costco ;-) Pretty simple an inexpensive.
Hi Tanya
thank you for all your valuable information! I’m wondering if is possible to cure soap inside the glass jar?
thank you!
Nidia
Hi Nidia, and very sorry but no. One of the reasons that soap needs curing is to allow the excess water to evaporate from the bars. Air needs to carry that moisture away from them and cannot do that inside a closed container. If you attempt to cure soap in a closed container, condensation will form and it will cause the superfat oils in the soap to go rancid. Your soap will be ruined.
thanks for reply! even if is without lids? and how about putting the soap in the glass jar once it is cured?
thank you
Each bar of soap needs air all around it to cure properly. When it’s finished curing, it should also be kept in an airy place. If you close soap up in containers, even if it’s cured, then you’ll get a nasty case of DOS (dreaded orange spot) and lose your soap. Trust me, I’ve tried it before! In my early days of soapmaking I stored soap in plastic bins in an effort to keep the essential oil fragrance from evaporating away. Big mistake, and I lost soap that way.
Tanya!
thank you so much for clarifying my questions…now I totally understand how this process works.
All the best!
Glad to hear it :)
Very informational article, Thank you. I have just made my first batch of soap before finding this article. In the process I just washed my soap mixing pot outside on the ground to prevent splashing of soap/lye in the kitchen. Do I need to be worried about the washing location I used on the ground for any safety reasons? Would the lye stop the burn effect after drying in grass?
Hi Jessica, it’s best to keep your pots and pans in the kitchen when cleaning up. I believe that the lye residue will go inert quickly in the grass as it reacts with carbon dioxide in the air. It’s the essential oils and oil that aren’t great for your soil, lawn, and pets who might walk over it. Here’s more information on safely cleaning up after soapmaking.
What are your thoughts about putting the soap to cure in a room with a wood heater? The room fluctuates from 60 when we aren’t running it to 90 when we are. The room is extremely dry bc of the wood heat.
Hi Jenn, I think that the soap would cure fine, but the scent of the essential oils in the outer part of the soap will fade. They’re volatile oils, so any heat or excess warmth can cause them to evaporate.
Hi
I just made my 1st soap and i think it was successful.
Now, it’s drying out in the garage in a cardboard box.
Should it be i doors where its heated? Based on your article I’m guessing yes.
Thanks for your reply.
Brett W
Hi Brett, it’s best to keep soap at room temperature while curing since that can aid the evaporation of the soap’s water content. A lot of soapers also find that rodents nibble on handmade soap left in garages, especially in winter!
Thank you so much for all the great information.
I normally keep my soap to cure in a box with some small ventilation because I noticed that if I keep them open in the room the smell will decrease. I am wondering if there is another way to store it after out of the mold? Then is it ok to wrap it in butcher paper at least after 3 weeks or so? I just started to sell and I hate to wrap at the time the order needs to be prepared since this can take time.
Thank you,
Once completely cured and bone-dry it’s fine to wrap the soaps in paper or store them in cardboard soap boxes. The material just needs to be able to breathe (allow air to pass through). Also, though the scent on the outside of soap bars can decrease with time, and that’s totally normal, the scent inside the bars will stay stronger. Once you, or the customer, begin using the soap, the scent can happily reappear :)
Thanks for all your incredible content Tanya – it is so generous of you sharing so much :) I’ve just made 2 batches of the beginner’s herbal soap from your 4 part starter course and they’re curing as we speak, so I’m very excited to venture into more recipes, maybe with some of my home grown ingredients!!
Thanks once again, Jo x
P.S. I first saw you on Gardeners’ World with Frances and loved your allotment and everything you made – I’ve been following you ever since :)
Really lovely to hear from you Jo and so pleased that the batches turned out for you! Gosh, it’s been a while since that Gardeners World piece — thanks so much for sticking with me since then :)
Would storing fully cured soap in the freezer extend it’s shelf life?
I haven’t tried that but I suspect it would cause more problems than it would solve.
Hi Tanya, I’m about to start making organic soap for sale and I would like you to give me safety tips. Also I would like to know if one can cure soaps in a refrigerator?
Hi Blessing, and no, you do not cure soap in the refrigerator. Soaps should be in the open air so that it can help evaporate the excess water from the soap bars.
I am a beginner using goat milk for soap. I have tried several times and they are really sticky after a 8 week cure. Does the species of goat make a difference in the amount of fat in it? Would that make a difference? My cold process soap is fine, but I am getting frustrated with the sticky!
Hi Betsy, and it likely has to do with the recipe and the quantities called for. Have you tried making my goat milk soap recipe before?
I’m new to soap making — I want to my recipe as natural as possible. I see you use essential oils, but I’m worried the scent won’t be strong enough (cook off or evaporate too soon). How do you make the smell last?
and when storing soaps of different scents, how do you make it last / keep them from bleeding into each other?
Hi Cat, essential oils will fade in soap over time, but usually just on the surface. As you use older soap the scent that’s locked inside can reemerge. As for essential oils cooking off — it’s not an issue if you add the essential oils at emulsion/trace for cold-process or after the cook with hot process soap making. You have to use quite a lot of essential oil in soap to get a good scent, at about 3% of the soap recipe (excluding the water content), and at that rate, the soap smells great. I recommend reading more on using essential oil in soap. Also, the scents from different batches will not bleed together if they’re stored in the open and not touching.
Hello, I’m new to soap making and plan on doing cold press, sill in the research mode. Can I make my own melt and pour soap base? I live in Michigan and my “soap workshop” is going to be a garage that’s not heated so I’m not mixing lye in the house. But with winters being severely cold I’ll be limited to the warm months to make soap. My thoughts were if I made my own soap base in the summer then in the cold months I could use the melt and pour method and cure my different blends of soap in the house.
Thanks, Nikki
There is a way but it’s very complicated and I’ve never tried. Do keep in mind that melt and pour soap is mainly a mix of synthetic ingredients as well and not true soap. As for making CP in the house, you can do it all year round. Just mix your lye solution near an open window or outside. Your cold winters will make cooling the solution down a pretty quick affair!
I lived and made soap in Illinois growing up, do your lye solution outside and cure in the basement with a dehumidifier. Works great!
I was wondering if a basement would be an ok place for a workshop! We have a separate room in our basement that has a window which I thought would be perfect. But didn’t know it the dampness of the basement would affect the soap.
I am new to your site and enjoying reading everything I can about soap
making!
I have a small greenhouse (4ft by 3ft by 18 inches) in my basement I use for starting my seeds in the spring. Can I put my soap to dry in that and leave the doors open in the front? I was concerned about the temp only being about 68 degrees.
When I start my plants I use a heat mat for warmth.
And should I use a small fan for circulation?
Thanks for any info!
Hi Barbara, room temperature is perfectly fine for allowing soap to cure. It does not need to be warm during the curing weeks and you will not need a fan. They just need to be in a dry place out of direct sunlight :)
where do I store soap used in the shower? I read that it will melt if left on the soap dish while wet. BTW, loving your website!!
It doesn’t melt, per ce, but absorbs moisture and disintegrates. That means you need to store it so that it’s away from moisture and not sitting in water.
Hi Tanya!
I’m just about to begin making my first cold-process soap and are scouring the Internet for everything I can find on the subject. So excited! Found your site and absolutely love it. Even by just reading the post about curing the soap I found answers to several questions I had and I look forward to check out your other posts, both on soaps and gardening.
Just want to say Thank You for sharing! This site is a gem. ❤
Of course subscribed to the newsletter.
Have a nice day!
/Lisa from Sweden.
Such a lovely message…thank you Lisa and have fun making your first batches of soap :)
I’m new to soap making I wanted to know if you use Individual molds how long should you let them cure. I live up near Alaska
Hi Lane, the mold size and style don’t make a difference to the cure time — your climate doesn’t either. It’s a minimum of four weeks for both cold and hot process soap but six weeks is even better :)
First time in soap making
*Please can liquid soap base be used in bar soap making
*How many minutes does it take to melt
*Do I have to combine with lye in bar soap making?
No, liquid soap base cannot be used to make bar soap. For bar soap you either need to purchase a pre-made melt-and-pour base or make it from scratch using the cold-process method. Here are some recipes to get you started.
Is there an experiment to find out how much sodium hydroxide is in the soap after making soap?
After you make soap (from a good recipe) there is zero sodium hydroxide left in the soap. It reacts chemically with oils/fats and the result is its own compound — soap! And to answer your question — no, there is no way for us to test sodium hydroxide levels in soap. The only way that there could be any in it to begin with is if the person accidentally added too much, or they didn’t use a correctly formulated recipe.
I had a question Im new to soap making and made a melt and pour soap batch and when it was done hardening it was pretty greasy I used 4tsp of lavender oil to 450g of soap was that too much or will curing it make the oilyness go away?
Hi Priscilla — with m&p you usually get what you get after you unmold it. I also suspect you used lavender-infused carrier oil as opposed to lavender essential oil? Essential oil does not add greasiness but for a batch that size I’d only add 3tsp. Lavender flowers infused into a carrier oil (like sunflower oil) is sometimes marketed as lavender oil. Use only a very little at a time if you add it to m&p soap. One teaspoon maximum I’d say.
Hello,
I have just started to cure my first batches. It is so exciting.
Is it safe to cure them in the bedroom? My husband is worried about the lye which may evaporate into the air.
Also if I don’t want them to go under 80g what weight should they have when I cut them?
Thank you,
xx
Hi Edit, lye does not evaporate into the air so that’s not a concern. If you’ve used essential oils, then I’d say to keep them curing in a different room. The scent can be overpowering and too much for our systems if we’re in the same room for too long. Cold-process soap loses about half its water content after being cured so you’ll need to do your math :)
Hi, I always find your post really helpful.
Where I live is very humid and there are lots of dust in the air and the temperature is always above 85 F . So I it put the soap for cure close to a window, for air flow, even though is a window, there isn’t direct sun light. But Tom orden to prever the dust attach to the soap, (believe me the dust is really an issue here), I cover them with a fine mesh cloth, do you think that would be ok?
Thanks in advance.
I’m sure that it’s perfectly fine. Though I’d probably create a frame around the soap to drape the cloth over. The cloth might stick to the soap, depending on how moist the bars are after cutting.
I was making soap and I am at the curing phase. I put them into a plastic box to cure is this a good idea or do I need to bring them out in the open?
Keep them in the open — the water in the bars needs to evaporate out and away. Keeping them in a box will lead to condensation and potential spoiling.
Hello! In regards to storing the soap for the 4 week period whilst it is curing, is it ok to store it in a cupboard that is a bit dark? There is plenty of air, but not so much light! Thank you!
Dark is good, but the place needs to be open to the air. One of the points of curing is for water to evaporate out, and a closed cupboard is not ideal. It keeps moisture in adding to the cure time, and the moisture might collect in the wood inside the cupboard.
I made a CP this past Saturday that almost immediately started gel phase – so i added more water so that I could just get it into the mold. Now it is still too gummy to unmold. Is this savable? I would love to rebatch but it is a gelatenous mess right now.
If that happens again, don’t add extra water, just get it into the mold pronto! Your soap will eventually harden up but depending on how much extra water you added it may take weeks or months for it to evaporate out.
Hi! Thank you for your advices!
Is it okay to cure my CP soaps in an air-conditioned room 24/7 or in a closed closet with shelf?
Air-conditioned is fine! A closed closet is not ideal
Can I cure my soaps in a shed outside during the winter? The humidity level is generally 45% or less and temps range between mid 30s to single digits negative.
Personally, I’d keep them indoors rather than in a cold shed. The best place to cure soap is at a steady room temperature or maybe slightly warmer.
Hi there.
I made a batch following your recipe “eco-friendly” CP soap with molasses added to color it. The thing is.. olive oil (I used refined one) wasn’t enough so I mixed about 30g of extra virgin olive oil instead. Plus I added 1/6 of more lye solution hoping it would help trace.. Now the batch doesn’t seem to be hardening in a mold. Is this batch useless at this point? If not, how longer should I cure it since it’s hardening very slowly?
Hi Nat, it’s fine to use different types of olive oils for soap recipes but you shouldn’t have changed the lye amount. I suspect that your soap will be very harsh on your skin but you’ll need to run the exact recipe through the SoapCalc to know what the superfat is. As a beginner, please always follow soap recipes exactly to keep yourself and anyone who uses the soap safe.
As for hardness — this recipe is high in olive oil and can take time to firm in the molds. Especially when additives such as molasses are introduced.
Hello,
I bought some Castile soaps a week ago and they are cured but When I used it, it formed a gel outside. The soap melted in 3 days of use’. Do you think that if I let them dry osome more months like 2 -4 months – these olive oil soaps will be harder?
Melted? Did you leave the soap sitting in a wet soap dish? If any bars of soap are left sitting in water they will disintegrate.
Hi Tanya;
I have just started making soap, 7 batches so far. Two fails, but the rest are nice. My question is about putting soaps thru gel stage in the oven. I know that oven gelling keeps loaf soaps from having a center that is only partially gelled. Does gelling this way also help to shorten the drying time of our cold process soaps?
I have really enjoyed reading and learning from your site. The small batch recipes do help you learn the process by doing new batches more often. That cements the routine and gives us confidence to try new things. So thank you for your teaching methods!
Helen
You’re so welcome Helen :) I agree about the versatility of small 1-lb batches when starting out, or experimenting. It saves a lot of worry and money, and encourages creativity! As for oven-gelling (or oven-insulating) soap — it may or may not affect the cure time, but the best thing to do to figure that out for the recipe you’re using is to weight the soap on a weekly basis after you begin curing. Once it’s not losing water weight any longer, it’s cured. I often oven-insulate my soap but placing it in a warmed oven that I then turn off. This is usually enough warmth and insulation to push the soap into gel phase. There’s also a process called ‘Oven-processing’ where you cook your cold process soap in the oven at a relatively low heat for up to an hour. The soap is called CPOP and may have less water and less curing time, but curing time will vary based on the recipe and other factors too.
Can you cure/store your soap in the bottom of an airing cupboard?
Hi Glenys, I’d probably not use one for two reasons – they’re too warm and airing cupboards aren’t usually airy enough for soap. They tend to be closed cupboards that are set up next to water heaters and meant to keep linens and blankets warm and dry. They don’t tend to have vents to allow moisture to escape so there’s a chance that the moisture from soap could get trapped inside. There’s a lot more moisture in newly cut soap bars than you’d think!
Do you use the same amount of timeCuring for the melt and pour soap or is it last time because you’re not adding more water
Melt and pour soap does not need to cure at all and is ready as soon as it hardens. All it is is soap that’s been pre-made and pre-cured and mixed with a lot of additives (most not natural) that boost lather and make it meltable. You could use it as soap right out of the package it arrives in if you wish.
Hello Tanya, I read somewhere if you add Rosemary essential oil to your soap and preserve it is this true ? I would like to have my soap cold process bars last as long as possible . I make cold process soap.
You’ll have read that rosemary oleoresin (ROE) can extend the life of your soap. It’s not the same as rosemary essential oil and is used as an antioxidant. It can help slow the rancidification of free-floating oils but isn’t a preservative. In fact, preservatives aren’t necessary for soap because the microbes they’re meant to kill only grow in a more neutral pH with water. The best thing you can do to extend the life of your soap is to use ingredients that are well within their shelf-life — oils that have a year or more to go on their best-by date are the most important. If the olive oil you use to make your soap has a shelf-life of next week, then your soap will only be good until next week. Rancidification (going rancid) is what happens to oil and soap when they oxidize and this tends to happen when they are old.
Great article and beautiful page!
Hi Tanya, am from Nigeria, I just made my first bar soap ds for laundry use and when I was done mixing , the soap had a lot of lumps that is making d soap to have cracks rather than a smooth surface in the silicone mode I used. Please what do you think might be the problem?
To troubleshoot what went wrong, go through the recipe again, making sure it’s accurate, then make the recipe again, double-checking all the measurements, temperatures, and that you’re using the correct ingredients. If you make it again and have the same issue then it could possibly be the fragrance, if you used it. Some fragrance oils can cause a lumpy effect called ricing. I’m not sure that’s what’s going on with you but it’s possible.
Hi Tanya, thank you for your posts and all the useful information you share. I was wondering if you think it is possible to wrap the soaps with beeswax wrapping or do you think that would prevent moisture from escaping. Best wishes from North Carolina.
Hi Tanya,
Can i use fractionated coconut oil, or are using the more solid variety.? Also what does the grapefruit seed extract do? Is it to mainatin essential oil ?, could i make it without that? Also as i don’t have the castor oil and i saw on a saponification chart that it had the same number as shea butter could i just increase the amount of that?
Thanks in advance,! Kate.
Fractionated coconut oil doesn’t make the best soap, and it also has different saponification values so it would need a different amount of lye to convert it into soap. Stick with solid coconut oil for soap making, and get it from a soap making supplier if you can. The refined coconut oil is FAR cheaper than the pots of virgin coconut oil you find in shops.
Grapefruit seed oil is an antioxidant — it helps free-floating oils (the superfat) in your soap to not go rancid. It’s optional, but if the oil you use is within six months of its expiration date the GSE may help your bars to last longer.
Question on substitution of castor/shea oils — the short answer is no. Please read this to understand why, and how you can properly substitute: https://lovelygreens.com/change-customize-soap-recipe/
Hi Tanya! Thank you very much for this useful information, however I had a question to ask. Recently I have been collecting some handmade soaps that were made by local sellers. Due to it’s nice scent and very cute shapes, I become attracted to the soaps but I didn’t want to use it as I like to display them as a decor instead. How long do these handmade soaps lasts without actually using them? or can you share any additional tips for me to keep the handmade soaps nicely in storage? Thank you and have a good day
It depends on when they were made, how old the original oils were, and what oils (and other ingredients) were used to make them. Eventually, the scent will disappear in soap and you might begin to notice yellowy spots if the soap is high in oils that spoil/rancidify easily. I’d say an absolute maximum of two years but you’ll probably notice degradation within six months. My advice: use the soap and either buy more or learn to make them yourself. Leave bars that you’re not using out to look at but use them before they’re past their best. That way you can enjoy them without creating waste.
My cp soap has a bad odour, how could I infuse them with a good smell after the soap has been cut
If your soap smells bad, there’s something wrong and nothing you can do to disguise it. Besides, why would anyone want to clean themselves with something that’s unclean? Discard the batch and make it again with ingredients that are all within their best-by date.
I just started making soap (M&P) and see that I’m going to have to graduate to CP or HP sooner rather than later. I haven’t found anything other than plastic to gift M&P soaps (for my own use, I can store them in air-tight jars)–and it’s so frustrating because I spent so much time carefully researching sustainable ingredients for the bars themselves. If you happen to know of a good alternative for M&P packaging, I would be happy to hear about it.
Hi Tanya
Amazing informational website – thank you so much!
I have just made my first batch of olive oil castille soap (followed your recipe to the T) and taken it out of its bread mould. On cutting it was very flakey and broke rather than sliced?
Would you have any tips on how it could be a bit more “elastic”. Unless this is normal of course.
Yours greatfully
Erin
Definitely not normal Erin. Check all of your ingredients again first and make sure that the bottle of olive oil is 100% olive oil and not a blend. If there’s another oil in there then that could be the issue. Flaky and brittle soap can also be because of the soap being lye-heavy. Try making the soap again, double checking temperatures, ingredients, and weights, and you should succeed the next time :)
Hi Tanya, I’m new to soap making, in fact I’m still waiting for some of my equipment to arrive before I can make my first batch. I have been reading your website avidly. There is so much information packed in it, and I am really enjoying it. Today I have a question for you. It is regarding the article on storing your soap, where you mention “and beauty documentation set up”. What do you mean by this? Do I have to provide ingredients lists to customers if I decide to sell the soap? Thank you.
Depending on where you live, you’ll have to do a whole lot more than just provide an ingredients list. Consumer safety is a huge issue.
Very useful all the tips that you have left .. I live in a very humid geographical area, it is subtropical, and the truth is that the curing and storage is a headache .. Fan, air conditioning, dehumidifier, paper or plastic (the Vegetable paper is the best thing for me so far, I do not want to use plastic), once packaged, I do not know whether to keep it in a box or have it exposed since it has happened to me that they sweat and the paper wrinkles or stains …
I have thought if you could adapt a soap recipe to these types of climates. Taking advantage of your soap making experience, what oils and shortening you recommend me to use more in the recipe … I would open some fats that will withstand more heat and humidity? I mean, be more stable …
Your page seems amazing to me, I love it and I always consult it. Hug from the state of Entre Rios, Argentina
Thank you for the suggestion — I’ll have a think