Teach Soap

Why do people put a towel over the soap as it cures? I'm going to build a rack like a fridge but alot of shelving should i make it airtight or just keep the soap in a certain temperature range? What temperature range should it be when curing? Is air circulation needed?

Well, here's my take but I'm sure people a lot more knowledgeable than me will have good info for you too.

You cure the soap mainly to dry it so you need circulation. I think people put towels on their soap to keep the dust off. A lot of people use dowels to make their racks out of, I use a metal bakers rack and just let them sit in the open in a room with a ceiling fan. It needs to be out of direct sunlight to keep it from fading.

Not much to it really but I hope this helps. Good luck.

If it is right after the soap is poured in the mold, the towel is insulation to help promote the gel stage of saponification. You can prevent gel by putting in the freezer but saponification will take a bit longer (sometimes up to a week) to finish instead of a day or two. Ungelled can also take longer to be ready to cut. Gelled usually seems ready to cut, for me, within 24 hours or so of pouring into the mold, even my castile (I forced gel in my oven at 170F). Once my batches are reaching the end of their standard cure period, I box up in cardboard boxes and stash away.

CP is "usable" once it no longer zaps (saponification is complete). However, due to the water content, it greatly benefits from a 4 to 6 week cure time in an area with not a lot of light, decent air circulation and not too humid. HP soaps also benefit from a cure. Some people only cure their HP a week, others give it the same 4-6 week cure period. I've only made one batch of HP and it was still harsh after 2-3 days so I'm going to try again at 2 weeks and determine from there. The cure times let the excess water evaporate from your bars, making them last longer and the soap will be milder the longer it cures.

Soap definitely needs air circulation when curing, but the temperature doesn't matter too much. If it's really humid, you may need a de-humidifier. I let my soap cure on shelves that are covered with brown Kraft paper.

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

Could I make the shelves out of hardware cloth or should I make the shelves out of plywood with cloth ontop?

You can make them either way - as long as they are sturdy you shouldn't have a problem. my shelves are solid and I place the soap bars on their sides about 1/4 inch apart for air circulation.

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

Would putting small fans in the box for circulation help the curing process or is it not worth the effort?

Does it matter if the rack is made out of aluminum?

As long as the soaps aren't jammed together, you shouldn't need the fans. I keep a paddle fan on in my curing room and the only time I have a problem is when there's a lot of humidity in the air.

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

Well then I guess they are a must because where I live it's so humid when it gets hot you can't breathe

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