Cutting and curing soap

A week or more ago I made a fabulous batch of Milk, Honey and Oatmeal soap. The smell was amazing in the house! After making a batch of soap you need it to sit in the mold until it is ready to be removed. It takes at least 24 hours for the saponification process to happen, which is the chemical reaction and neutralization of the fats and acids.

One thing you look for is separation of the soap from the wall of the mold.

I then invert my mold and watch as it gently begins to separate, gently pressing down to allow it to release. Rushing the process can make the soap break so let it go gently and slow.

If all goes right, your soap will slide right out. I cover the counter with wax paper. This helps in clean up and makes less mess.

Here we are, a nicely cured block of soap ready to be cut.

When using any kind of large mold, measure the top, sides and bottom. Weigh your soap batch. This batch is 8 pounds. It is 15" by 10" in diameter and the height of my soap is approx. 2 inches give or take.

I cut it into 2" by 4" bars giving me 30 bars. You can calculate how much you spent on supplies to estimate what you can charge.

Not all your bars will be precise unless you have a soap cutting board. I prefer to cut it by eye. This batch netted me anywhere from close to 3 1/2 to 4 oz bars.

I placed them on a screen drying rack that I acquired a while back. I love to get cool things that are purposeful.

The bars were trimmed up and smoothed and will sit a few more weeks for additional drying and curing.

The bars are layered allowing air to get to them so they can dry nicely.

I place a couple towels over them to keep dust and anything else in this crazy house from them. As I write this, I have a batch in the kitchen underway with one of my favorite scents I invented, Citrus and Honeysuckle!!!