Nice hard soap, gets "soggy" at end of bar when in use

by Erin
(Bethel, VT)

I have this great recipe for soap, it makes wonderful hard soap that lathers beautifully. The main oils are coconut, olive and castor oil. But when I am using the soap, if I leave it wet it will get gelletiny and gooey and not very nice.

It still works wonderfully, but I would like to be able to sell my soap at some point and I don't want it to be unappealing in any of it's stages of use. What can I do with my recipe to help change this?

Answer:

All soaps will become soft and gelatinous if left sitting in water. The very nature of soap is to dissolve so it is actually doing what it is supposed to do.

The key to stopping the soggy stage is to inform your customers/friends/family that the soap must be stored in a self draining dish between washes. That way the soap will dry out.

Cathy