After the soap has cooled for about 24 hours, the mold is unwrapped, turned upside down to rest on it’s top and shaken gently to release the soap. The paper lining is peeled away, and we get to see the pattern of the soap for the first time. Every batch is hand poured, and we never know quite how they’re going to look until the paper comes off! So there’s always a little suspense and excitement at this moment to see what the soap really looks like.
Our new Licorice soap, fresh from the mold before cutting
At this point, the bar is far from ready to use, but still warm and soft enough to hold a nice sharp edge when cut. Next the bloc is cut in strips depending on the size of the finished bars.
Warm soap that's just been turned out of the mold being cut into bars
Finally, after cutting the bars are moved to shelves where they’ll stand for eight weeks.
A new batch of Licorice is set out to cure for eight weeks
The length of time the soap is allowed to cure is extremely significant. Starting from about the time the soap reaches trace, the oils and lye are in process of a chemical reaction during which the lye and oil fat molecules break apart and rearrange themselves. Much of this reaction is said to take place during the first 24 – 48 hours after trace when the soap has been poured.
However, although the process of the chemical reaction slows, it does in fact take a full six to eight weeks to complete. Bars I’ve tested after five weeks of curing have still been drying to my skin, which otherwise become much milder after the remaining three weeks have passed. For this reason we leave our soap on the shelves to cure a full eight weeks.
During the curing process, exactly one quarter of the lye/oil mixture will be converted to glycerine, the rest will become soap.
For our recipes, we add an extra 5 to 7 percent of oils beyond the lye/oil mixture that will remain as moisturizing conditioners. This is known as superfatting, and together with the choice of oils in the bar and the time the soap is allowed to cure, it is the key to a mild but effective cleansing bar that offers superb skin conditioning.
If you’re excited to try this soap, look for bars to show up in our Etsy shop in mid to late April. Or email us
to order in advance. We’ll ship your order as soon as the soap has cured!