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(07-10-2021, 01:08 AM)Ramsay Wrote: Once opened, about how long should a shave soap last before degradation of scent, performance, etc? I’m talking about typical US artisan soaps with Oils, butters,etc. ThanksI've got some that are 5 years old and still have their fragrance, and produce a great lather. Just keep your soaps stored in a cool place.
Clayton
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Merchant
St. Louis, MO
(07-10-2021, 01:03 PM)SCShaver Wrote: I had some artisan soaps go bad and I’m not sure if it was them or me. However I stopped lathering on my soap and started scooping the soap into a bowl so I didn’t introduce water into them. Might be a good way to preserve the soap and it’s scent as I’ve seen other folks recommend this.As long as you weren't putting away wet, it was them.
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Shave Sharp, Look Sharp
Merchant
NY
(This post was last modified: 07-10-2021, 01:45 PM by Dragonsbeard.)
I could write a short story on this subject but I don’t have that kind of time.
A couple of simple things to do is to check all the individual ingredients your going to use in a formula for their shelf life. This information is always supplied by the supplier on their website in the data sheet. Example Avocado oil only has a shelf life of 6 months before it begins to go rancid so if that ingredient has the lowest shelf life of any ingredient in your formula that will give you an idea of when a formula can begin to change. Shelf can be extended by using a preservative and that also depends on what preservative used. Organic preservatives generally don’t last as long as synthetics do.
A simple test may be worth doing with a formula. One good one is to freeze a formula for 24 hrs and then leave it out for 24 hours and then repeat this for 12 days. If the formula stays together then in one aspect your good to go.
When the lye water and butters and oils are in at equal levels shelf life will be longer than a soap that’s got a higher percentage of butters and oils ( Superfat ) so that’s when you look at the oils and butters shelf life your using to help determine shelf life.
Most small artisans would not have the equipment nor be able to spend the money to send each one of their their products to an analytical lab for extensive testing where they run a series of tests.
I also have or had soaps that have lasted years and most of them have lost some of their scent strength ( synthetic fragrance oils last longer than essential oils as their more volatile ) A sign of aging is when the soap starts to pull away from the jar of the container. That doesn’t mean they don’t work.
I’ve also had soaps that in as little as 3 months have gotten orange spots which is usually a sign of micro bacterial action. In that case I’d recommend throwing that soap out if it happens in a short period of time after purchasing the product. I’d also recommend contacting the supplier or the artisan directly who made it and I’m sure they’d be happy to replace it and would probably like to know about it.
As a product developer for 27 yrs I’ve worked with large companies where products go through a series of tests which include not only a complete series of analytical tests but also running a series of pre production batches from bench top to pilot batches as energy plays a big part in having a finished product that you have confidence in putting out to market.
I’m lucky I work part time developing personal car products for a large CBD company and we are moving to a new facility they are having built by January/February and there will be a state of the art analytical lab in there that I’ll be able to use for my products. I’m pretty excited about that. As then I can determine shelf life more accurately.
So generally speaking big name brand name soaps will have longer shelf life than small artisan brands but the way I look at it is I want to use what I want to use and I tend to like small artisan brands better and I prefer to support them over big companies who make thousands of soaps with each batch as I don’t care if the shelf life isn’t as long. I want to enjoy what I use and when it reaches a point where maybe it’s not performing as well as it did when I got it or the scent has faded away as I’ve experienced multiple times over the 18 yrs I’ve been doing traditional wet shaving. I’ll either use it as bath soap or throw it away. Even the most expensive soaps are not what I’d call expensive in the scheme of things.
Again I could go on and in about this subject for a long time but then again I could be making soap right now Lol!
So hopefully my comments will contribute to this thread.
Great shaves all
A couple of simple things to do is to check all the individual ingredients your going to use in a formula for their shelf life. This information is always supplied by the supplier on their website in the data sheet. Example Avocado oil only has a shelf life of 6 months before it begins to go rancid so if that ingredient has the lowest shelf life of any ingredient in your formula that will give you an idea of when a formula can begin to change. Shelf can be extended by using a preservative and that also depends on what preservative used. Organic preservatives generally don’t last as long as synthetics do.
A simple test may be worth doing with a formula. One good one is to freeze a formula for 24 hrs and then leave it out for 24 hours and then repeat this for 12 days. If the formula stays together then in one aspect your good to go.
When the lye water and butters and oils are in at equal levels shelf life will be longer than a soap that’s got a higher percentage of butters and oils ( Superfat ) so that’s when you look at the oils and butters shelf life your using to help determine shelf life.
Most small artisans would not have the equipment nor be able to spend the money to send each one of their their products to an analytical lab for extensive testing where they run a series of tests.
I also have or had soaps that have lasted years and most of them have lost some of their scent strength ( synthetic fragrance oils last longer than essential oils as their more volatile ) A sign of aging is when the soap starts to pull away from the jar of the container. That doesn’t mean they don’t work.
I’ve also had soaps that in as little as 3 months have gotten orange spots which is usually a sign of micro bacterial action. In that case I’d recommend throwing that soap out if it happens in a short period of time after purchasing the product. I’d also recommend contacting the supplier or the artisan directly who made it and I’m sure they’d be happy to replace it and would probably like to know about it.
As a product developer for 27 yrs I’ve worked with large companies where products go through a series of tests which include not only a complete series of analytical tests but also running a series of pre production batches from bench top to pilot batches as energy plays a big part in having a finished product that you have confidence in putting out to market.
I’m lucky I work part time developing personal car products for a large CBD company and we are moving to a new facility they are having built by January/February and there will be a state of the art analytical lab in there that I’ll be able to use for my products. I’m pretty excited about that. As then I can determine shelf life more accurately.
So generally speaking big name brand name soaps will have longer shelf life than small artisan brands but the way I look at it is I want to use what I want to use and I tend to like small artisan brands better and I prefer to support them over big companies who make thousands of soaps with each batch as I don’t care if the shelf life isn’t as long. I want to enjoy what I use and when it reaches a point where maybe it’s not performing as well as it did when I got it or the scent has faded away as I’ve experienced multiple times over the 18 yrs I’ve been doing traditional wet shaving. I’ll either use it as bath soap or throw it away. Even the most expensive soaps are not what I’d call expensive in the scheme of things.
Again I could go on and in about this subject for a long time but then again I could be making soap right now Lol!
So hopefully my comments will contribute to this thread.
Great shaves all
Merchant
St. Louis, MO
I've left some of our soaps in my car for extended periods of time to see how they would do with hot, cold, etc. One of our older batches of Unscented was in the car for over 3 years. There was a little yellowing of the soap, but it worked like a champ when I remembered it was there and used it.
Shave Sharp, Look Sharp
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