Do soaps go bad or expire? I only shave 2x/week and I already own 7 containers of soap. The soap addiction is hard to break. . I dont think I could empty a container even if it was the only soap I used all year! Is anyone using soap that is a few years old?
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Soap Expirations?
- Thread starter Mr Menthol
- Start date
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
I had a TOBS Sandalwood cream that lasted over 3 years before I finished it. It was a little less hydrated at the end, but still worked like a charm.
I imagine soaps have a shelf life of decades, at least the classics do. Hence the niche market of items like vintage Williams pucks.
I imagine soaps have a shelf life of decades, at least the classics do. Hence the niche market of items like vintage Williams pucks.
Soaps don't expire, but they can go bad..... but it's very rare. The only soap I've seen repeated reports of going bad is Cella. The key is proper storage. If they are kept too warm, some of the softer soaps can go rancid. Hard soaps, especially triple milled soaps I don't think could ever go bad.
Have you seen or read about some of our soaps collections? Many of us have well over 100 pucks/tubs of soap. We don't worry about them at all. My oldest tub of artisan soap is probably 7-8 years old. I also have vintage soap that is over 50 years old.
The biggest thing you have to worry about is soaps losing scent over time. Keeping the tubs well sealed when in storage is your best hedge against that.
Have you seen or read about some of our soaps collections? Many of us have well over 100 pucks/tubs of soap. We don't worry about them at all. My oldest tub of artisan soap is probably 7-8 years old. I also have vintage soap that is over 50 years old.
The biggest thing you have to worry about is soaps losing scent over time. Keeping the tubs well sealed when in storage is your best hedge against that.
Sharp's
0
Chris should weigh in on this but I have heard of Tallow based soaps going rancid. I have never experienced it.
Soaps tend to loose their scents over time. Why I stopped keeping so many soaps. Yeah when I was shaving two-three times a week it took me about 3.5 years to go through a triple milled Soap.
Soaps tend to loose their scents over time. Why I stopped keeping so many soaps. Yeah when I was shaving two-three times a week it took me about 3.5 years to go through a triple milled Soap.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
What KJ said ^^^^THIS^^^^
Sharp's
0
its an investment. Like gold and silver.
Well said KJ!
I'll add that If not using it for a while, then I would make sure it's completely dry before storing it. I have heard of guys saying there was a nasty dark mold growing underneath their puck of Mitchells Wool Fat inside the container.
Usually I like to grate hard pucks & then pack it all back in tightly into the container so no air or space is left for water to get into.
I'll add that If not using it for a while, then I would make sure it's completely dry before storing it. I have heard of guys saying there was a nasty dark mold growing underneath their puck of Mitchells Wool Fat inside the container.
Usually I like to grate hard pucks & then pack it all back in tightly into the container so no air or space is left for water to get into.
dkeester
"TSC's Master of Bourbon"
I have had one puck go bad on me in two years for wet shaving. It was a puck of Bain Amour Southern Gentleman. Their soap is a soft artisan soap made with local beer (which I suspect may have had a hand in it). I am not sure what was wrong with the puck, but it had shrunk in the tin and had a bunch of odd colored fuzz growing on top of it. I should have taken a picture of it before I binned the puck. I am not sure if it was mold, but I didn't feel like taking the chance. This puck was stored in a cool, dry place. So, things can happen. But, this shouldn't be a frequent occurrence.
I doubt I will ever see something like that again.
I doubt I will ever see something like that again.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Would have been soft fuzzy lather
A soap that had grown in own brush!
That's too bad about the Bain Amour Soap. Likely a bad puck or something. I have several pucks of Bain Amour and they definitely don't have this issue. I'll ask Theresa (owner of Bain Amour) the next time I see her. I'm sure there is a reason.
This brings me to a side note/question about rancidity of shave soaps. I know only a little bit about the soap making process so my ignorance may show here. I see two issues when we talk about a soap going bad. Rancidity and mold/bacterial growth. I guess we need Chris or Lisa or one of the other soap makers in the Cadre to help us out.
In order for you to have a soap there needs to be a fat that goes through the process of saponification to create a salt. So can a soap really go rancid? I can definitely see where soaps that are "super-fatted" or have oils and fats after saponification can run into issue.
I think what might happen when we talk about a soap going rancid is likely to actually be some kind of bacterial growth. Most of our artisan shave soaps contain a lot of moisture and do not have much in the way of preservatives. So it is quite possible for a soap of this nature to be affected by some kind of bacterial growth that can affect everything from smell, to looks, to texture.
Just some thoughts here. Believe me, I really have no idea what I am talking about...so like I said...we need a soap maker to actually step in and give us a definitive answer.
There are a few things that can/will lead to a soap going “bad” but most soaps are by their very nature unable to spoil. As KJ suggested, a triple milled soap is going to last forever while a fancy artisan soap could go bad in a relatively short time frame. The most likely thing to happen to any soap is the scent fading away, this is because the scent oils are volatile and will continuously off-gas or evaporate from whatever they are in. An artisan soap might also consume the fragrance oils in a way a triple milled soap would not. Keeping a soap dry and stored in an airtight container at a cool temp might be your only defense.
Why might artisan soaps be more prone to going rancid or “going bad”? Two reasons come to mind as the biggest culprits. Artisan shave soaps are made with more liquid and often made with liquids that have additional organic matter in them (beer, tea, milk etc) and those organic materials aren’t preserved by the saponification process. The second cause it the excess unsaponified oils (superfats). Unsaponified fat will be prone to going rancid. The more unsaponified fats the better the skin feel...and the more likely to turn under harsh storage conditions. My guess is as we start to see more and more “delux” type soaps the more we will start to see soaps turn, become rancid or break down in some way. There are natural preservatives that are common in soap, glycerine and propylene glycol serve a side benefit of sequestering extra water in the soap so it doesn’t allow as much breakdown or chance of rancidity. There are a number of natural ways to preserve a soap/cosmetic that actually adds to the feel, so we may see more artisans explore those in the future.
kj also mentioned the older vintage soaps that are part of our collections, they prove that a basic soap is capable of lasting for a very long time and performing very well...minus the scent. Don’t be afraid to hoard soaps (I hear CBL SOAPs are a popular item to hoard?)
Why might artisan soaps be more prone to going rancid or “going bad”? Two reasons come to mind as the biggest culprits. Artisan shave soaps are made with more liquid and often made with liquids that have additional organic matter in them (beer, tea, milk etc) and those organic materials aren’t preserved by the saponification process. The second cause it the excess unsaponified oils (superfats). Unsaponified fat will be prone to going rancid. The more unsaponified fats the better the skin feel...and the more likely to turn under harsh storage conditions. My guess is as we start to see more and more “delux” type soaps the more we will start to see soaps turn, become rancid or break down in some way. There are natural preservatives that are common in soap, glycerine and propylene glycol serve a side benefit of sequestering extra water in the soap so it doesn’t allow as much breakdown or chance of rancidity. There are a number of natural ways to preserve a soap/cosmetic that actually adds to the feel, so we may see more artisans explore those in the future.
kj also mentioned the older vintage soaps that are part of our collections, they prove that a basic soap is capable of lasting for a very long time and performing very well...minus the scent. Don’t be afraid to hoard soaps (I hear CBL SOAPs are a popular item to hoard?)
Thanks for the info. I will continue to hoard. I think one of the CBL ghost line soaps will be one of my next purchases
How does everyone dry their soaps? I usually leave it open without the lid on for either half or a full day, but I feel like this will make the scent fade quickly. Keeping it upside down perhaps?
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
I never did before but have started to leave open for a couple hours or so before putting away. As long as it appears the surface is dry for the most part I put it away. I should add I don't bloom my soaps. Not for any reason, just never have needed to.
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
+1 or if it’s a harder soap and I’m pressed for time, I might just put it away immediately. I’m not one to drown my soaps anyway.
I rinse off my soaps, then dump. Any remaining soap on the surface gets left as I seal them up, usually. My soap rotation is so huge, that I don’t use them very often. Even sealed, I believe the dry out a little over time. This counteracts that.
Thats my theory anyway.
Thats my theory anyway.
+1
Yup, this is what I do.
I leave no trace of proto lather as I wipe it out with my finger and add it to my brush. The soap surface would be just a little wet, which dries in an hour or two and then I put the lid on and pack it away.