Why Does Handmade Soap Have to Cure So Damn Long?

You saw me make it. You watched me cut it. It looked like soap. It smelled like soap.

So why can’t you have it yet?

Because now we wait.

4–6 weeks of waiting.

You think that's a long time? Try being me and having to stare at something you can't use and you can't sell. Ugh...I'm not a patient person either. I get it.

Soap has to go through a process called saponification. It's a lot of mumbo jumbo, but basically the important thing to know is: once lye, water, butters, and oils are combined (and yes, there's an exact science to it), they react and make soap.

But here's the part people don't realize: saponification and curing aren't the same thing.

The chemical reaction that makes soap happens in about 48 hours. The rest of that time? Your soap is just sitting there on the curing rack while water slowly evaporates and the structure of the bar continues to develop.

The result is a harder, longer-lasting bar that performs the way it's intended to.

Ever bought a handmade bar somewhere..at one of these mass produced stores.. taken it home, showered with it a few times...and suddenly it's soft? A little mushy? Disappearing way faster than you expected?

There can be a few reasons for that. The recipe matters. The fatty acid profile matters. How you store it matters.

And cure time matters. A lot.

So...we wait.

Even when I sell out of something.

Even when the replacement batch is literally sitting right there. 

I'm not trying to sell something that I wouldn't personally buy. If I'm putting Dirty Little Suds on the label, I'm giving every bar the time it needs to become the best of the best.

Could I sell it sooner?

Probably.

Am I going to? Nah.

So when you see me post a fresh cut and then tell you it'll be available in 4–6 weeks, now you know why.

It's not just sitting there.

It's getting its shit together.

And apparently, that takes time for all of us.