Teach Soap

I follow a facebook page for CP soapers, and one lady has made a wall post saying that she uses a food dehydrator for curing soaps and cuts curing time down to 2 weeks. Immediately my warning bells went off as there are people reading this that are still learning and she's saying you can use your soaps after 2 weeks by this method.

CP soaping has been around for such a long time, that if this really was a way to cut curing time, surely I would have seen it mentioned in books, on web pages and alas, on this very forum?

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The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

Well, you can use soap the next day--it's saponified, and it won't hurt you. It just isn't as good and won't last as long.

The question is whether curing does something besides get water out of it. Lots of people seem to think there's an ongoing chemical reaction that improves soap. But does anyone have tests to back it up, or is it subjective?

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries

Coolah, if it's too good to be true it usually is. I tried it once and my CP soap almost remelted. If it worked well, all soapers would be doing it.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

Maybe some day her soaps will melt and she will give up on the idea.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

It seems to me that curing is more than just drying-out. Just to take an example, my vanilla oak soap gradually changed colour during curing, becoming darker and darker.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I have 2 food dehydrators and use them a lot. There is no way I would put soap in them to make it cure faster...they get way too hot. I would, however, put the soap in a room with a de-humidifier to help them cure if I lived in a humid area.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Seems like we want to speed up everything in this world. I love visiting my soaps as they cure in the basement. Maybe I am just a little old fashion and enjoy watching my garden grow. I do believe there are times when one cannot rush greatness.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

I love watching plants grow too! My family thinks its weird, but I disagree. Watching new life slowly burst out of a seed and grow into a beautiful plant is incredible!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

It has actually been proven that talking to plants makes them grow better!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

How about 'petting' them? I am always touching my herbs and I must say they grow great! About this time of the year I start dreaming about what to put in my gardens.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

I haven't read any research on plants and touch. But I know my african violet seems to perk up after I've "stroked" some of her leaves. I do it to remove dust and fur etc. We decided its a girl, and named her Flower hehe, the kids like the idea! I have to leave her behind when I move to NJ though, just hoping mom doesn't neglect her and kill her.

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist