It has been SO damp here lately that it is affecting my soaps, especially my salt soaps. Surprisingly, the winters here (yes in southern Spain!) can get cold and damp. The word cold, when describing Spain, may sound strange coming from a Canadian... but the cold issue here is that it is cold INSIDE the houses.
About two weeks ago, the temperatures dropped suddenly. We had some mornings when it was almost down to 0º outside and as these houses are built to keep OUT the heat, it was pretty cold inside. Then the rain started as well. That is when my soaps started to dampen... and the salt soaps actually started to sweat...
If you touch the moisture coming off the salt soaps, it is not very nice smelling, although if you use the soap is still smells great.
So, I ask for any contributions from you experienced soap makers... what do you do for drying your soaps in different weather circumstances? My main concern is the damp now. I think I need an electric heater relatively near the soaps and also a de-humidifier. But, if I use a de-humidifier, will it draw the Essential Oils out of the soaps along with the moisture?
I am interested in hearing other experiences of how weather, climate, seasons, rain affects your soaps and what methods you use to combat it.
Happy Soaping!
Xoxo
Jen
10 comments:
Dehumidifier stopped my soap sweating problem immediately. Could you get your hands on one of those?
Hello Jen, I have friends who live in a very humid environment and they all use dehumidifiers to "babysit" their soaps, works wonderfully! They've never mentioned losing their EOs, so I guess it's worth a try.
Hola Jen, a mi me ha pasado lo mismo, como ha llovido tanto, hay mucha humedad.Tenía jabones empaquetados y se ha puesto a sudar y no son de sal.Les he tenido que quitar el papel que los envuelven , secarlos y volver a empaquetar.El deshumidificador quita la humedad del ambiente por lo que puedo leer . Besos.
I use a dehumidifier in the summer, along with an air conditioner in the basement where my soaps cure and hang out until they sell. We moved from a drier climate to a very humid one, and found out the hard way what humidity can do to soap.
I find that the excess humidity really affects the life span of the soaps, especially with fragile EOs. Never had an issue with the EOs evaporating out of the soap.
I have the same problem here, it is soooo humid! We have a large walk in robe and my soaps have pride of place on our top shelf, I use a few Damp Rid buckets and they work fine as long as the door is kept closed. But I had a real problem at the markets today as they are held outdoors, the humidity was dreadful, any ideas for what can be done outside?
oh its horrible; ive been having this lately too :s
The room where i keep my soaps, is pretty cold and the soaps dont breath well when they are still in molds :s
Jen, aquí en Galicia ya sabes como llueve, esta semana pasado llovio muchisimo y con el deshumificador voy solucionando, así que creo que sería una buena solución. Besos. Ana.
I have never had this problem. We heat our houses all year basically so even if outside is cold, inside is toasty. I've had mine in the garage at one point, but it is where the hot water somes into the house so itðs heated as well. Sorry, but no solutions from me.
Oh how I understand your point of the cold...I have livet 1 cold year in Madrid, 3 cold years in england and now 5 cooold years in Italy, and in none of the places the houses were built for the cold, nor heated too much. It was nice and warm in Finland instead...
As for the dehumidifier, it really does get rid of the humidity, we had one in Siena, producing 2 liters of water a day. I don't think it will effect much the EO:s in your soaps, although you never know for sure, as you would have to consider every component of the EO separately. (And here the chemist in me wakes up to ponder the various different things to take into consideration...)Some of the EOs are in fact extracted with boiling water, ie they make a mixture with water where they boil off together, asn as the water cools the EO separates from the mixture. I doubt that you are heating your house to 70C and above, so this most probably won't happen, at least not in great extent. As the dehumifier draws water from the air, the balance of the water in air/soap changes, and to reach the new balance, the soap dries to make the air more humid. This does not draw out the EOs, but they might evaporate on their own a bit.
So, long story short, I would go with the dehumidifier. It makes the house seem warmer as well! ;-)
Hi Jen, I hope you haven't already received this, but I'm forwarding you an Angel Award! Thank you for giving us such an inspiring and interesting blog to visit. Happy Holiday!
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