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What is the
actual "Shelf Life" of Natural Soap?
Shelf
life...when you are thinking about a natural product, this
is always a good question....natural cold process soap
generally stays good for quite some time. As time goes by,
it does lose a bit of it’s scent, so there is a time where
it certainly is in it’s “prime”.
Soap
starts out soft. Really soft, in fact! When I’m mixin’ up a
batch of soap, it starts out as a pot full’o vegetable oils
and a container full of lye-water solution (an alkali is
necessary to create soap) which I gently heat, then cool,
then mix, till it turns into a substance resembling
pudding….but whatever you do ~~~ DON’T EAT IT!!!!!
The
thing with soft is this: it practically melts away after
very few uses!
With time,
the soap goes through a curing process. Over the next 6 - 8
weeks, sometimes even longer, I leave the bars to cure on
the drying rack. Moisture slowly leaves the soap, the final
chemical reaction takes place, leaving a skin-luvvin'
moisturizing bar of all natural goodness!
Yep! It
basically takes two months to make a batch of luxurious,
soapy-sudsy wonder for your bathroom experience!
No wonder it’s
worth it!
Now, I
have some soap that is five years old that is just
F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C! The only thing that makes it different
from the soap I make now is that the scent is a bit faded,
and it lasts a long, long, long time.
In fact,
as soap ages, or cures, it gets harder. And harder soap
lasts longer. This is my gift to you. Instead of pumping out
soap as fast as I can cook up a batch, I set it out on the
drying rack for a good, long cure before I even think of
setting it out for sale….I know, it IS a labor of love….!
So, when
is soap in it's "prime" then? In my opinion, any Bonsai
Faery soap two months to eighteen months old is
perfectly fine!
So, don’t
worry about that bar of Bonsai Faery soap that you have not
gotten around to using yet, or are planning to give as a
gift, enjoy knowing that it’s totally awesome soap, aged to
perfection....
All in good, clean fun,
~ Marie
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