You did get an answer, you just didn't get one that you liked.

Have a read of this, email the author and ask how she stores hers for five years.

http://foodstorageinvernonia.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/how-to-store-soaps-and-lotions.html

 

I've used bath soap that's close to twenty years old that was stored in only its paper wrapper. Got it free from a hotel on my honeymoon then threw it in a drawer for a couple of decades after I got home. It was a little crumbly but it seemed to clean me just fine.

What's your concern about the soap that you feel it needs some special storage?

 

What's your concern about the soap that you feel it needs some special storage?

My concern is that the homemeade soaps will go bad if they are not stored properly.I know someone who makes soaps all the time and she tried storing normal basic soap bars in plastic bins and they got the d.o.s. (orange spots) after a year.

I dont want to make like 5 years worth of soap and then have to throw it out.

Considering your concerns about initial startup cost at $130, I'd just go to Sam's or Costco or similar and buy a bunch.

I dont want to buy any toxic soap from costco or some other place.Most soaps/shampoo you buy have Sodium laureth sulfath which is toxic and even worst for children,they can go blind if they get soap/shampoo with sls in there eyes.Other than that,your liver cannot metabolize SLS therefore it stays in your liver forever.Its yet another way to slow kill us all.

Homemeade soap is the best because you know whats in it since you made it.

what kind of "soap" .... bar soap for personal use , shampoo for hair, detergent for clothes? .... you don't indicate your location but I'm think OZland??? ..... just checking for that difference in "langauge" ....

im making regular soap for myself and the family,it can be made into detergent too but that's another thing.My location is Canada.

To answer the OP I suppose you could vacuum seal it or put it in a ammo cans, whatever floats your boat. But if your into making soap then, why couldn't you just keep making soap as needed? Instead of 5 year batches you could make some every few months or so and keep your skills sharp.

Well the reason i want to make a large batch for many years is because you never know when were SHTF happens ,it could be today ,tomorrow ,it could be anytime.When that happens,there wont be anymore cheap lard to make soap plus lard doesnt keep more than 2 years.

Frankly im not a fan of soap making at all,thats why i want to make a few large batches and get it over with.Soap making is a PITA for me just like any kind of work i dont like doing.

OP: oxygen won't hurt your home-made soap unless (possibly) you are adding a bunch of organic ingredients to it, then mold is a potential.
Simple, basic home-made soap will last decades without any particular care- just keep it away from moisture or excessive dryness.

But since you make your own soap,why not just...make it when you need it, post SHTF?
Unless by "making soap" you don't mean adding lye to fat, but meant instead- going to the craft store and buying the glycerine and fragrances and other expensive foo-foo?

I wont be adding any organic ingredients only fats(lard and oils) and lye

Well like i said earlier there no guarantee that there will be any fat/oils left post shtf or maybe well need them only for food.Id rather be prepared now then stress about making soap when there no electricity.

 

I had a package of 3 boxes of Irish Spring Sport that my husband had accidently packed a few years ago. I found them when I opened the box last year. A total of 7 years just in the boxes they came in and was just fine. No need to pack it any special way.

 

The problem with most home made soaps is the ingredients. I have made soap with goats milk as an ingredient and it grew mold in less than a year. It was stored in a plastic tote after curing for 6 months.

Now I vacuum seal four bars per bag after they cure out. No problems. We prefer our soap to any commercial soaps on the market and while it is expensive to make now, it could be a valuable commodity if the stores all close for an extended period.

 

I have a couple boxes of 20-bar Dial Soap put away. I never did anything special to them.

Soap's soap. In fact, if it dries out just a little bit, it'll last even longer when you use it.

Considering your concerns about initial startup cost at $130, I'd just go to Sam's or Costco or similar and buy a bunch.

When i was doing the soap storage thing, I did a little assessment to determine how long a bar of soap lasts in my house. We'd get a month out of a bar of soap in the shower, two people a day using it.

I figured another bar per month to wash hands, two bars a month, 24 bars a year. YMMV.

I checked Sam's online and a 20-pack of 4-oz bars of Dial Soap costs from $6.58-8.58. Divided into $130 and you've got...at least 15 of those 20-packs. 300 bars. Should be enough.....

 

I know that showering five days a week, a bar of soap lasts me three weeks. I figure I've got enough soap stocked away to last me 2-3 years. If TSHTF and it starts going bad, I've got information on how to make more.

 

what kind of "soap" .... bar soap for personal use , shampoo for hair, detergent for clothes? .... you don't indicate your location but I'm think OZland??? ..... just checking for that difference in "langauge" ....

for the most part, any of the solid types of cleaning soaps or detergents, solid bar or powdered form will last forever if protected from the elements and pests .... the liquids will lose their form and go solid from the water evaporating .... it could be rejuvenated by adding back the water .... you'll most likely lose the fragrance from the soaps - that's just perfume that also evaps ....

 

To answer the OP I suppose you could vacuum seal it or put it in a ammo cans, whatever floats your boat. But if your into making soap then, why couldn't you just keep making soap as needed? Instead of 5 year batches you could make some every few months or so and keep your skills sharp.

 

I started a thread a while back about caching.

One of the many things in my cache was a bar of Coast soap.
After eleven years underground, the soap was just fine and worked like it was brand new. (So was the Chinese SKS in the cache)

I'd say that if you keep it dry, it would probably last for ever.

 

That's it right there. Just like salt, it doesn't need any special preservation. It just needs to be kept dry.

 

OP: oxygen won't hurt your home-made soap unless (possibly) you are adding a bunch of organic ingredients to it, then mold is a potential.
Simple, basic home-made soap will last decades without any particular care- just keep it away from moisture or excessive dryness.

But since you make your own soap,why not just...make it when you need it, post SHTF?
Unless by "making soap" you don't mean adding lye to fat, but meant instead- going to the craft store and buying the glycerine and fragrances and other expensive foo-foo?

 

There will be people making soap in the PAW. Many people know how. I know how, have helped do it, and have the references to refresh my memory if I ever have to make some myself. But since I have found that simple bar soaps keep at least 20 years per my experience, and it is relatively cheap at the moment, and is compact, and requires only cool, dry storage, I have stocked up on three kinds. Ivory body bars, Lava pumice soap bars, and Fels-Naptha laundry bar soap.

Specialty soaps with lots of special ingredients, especially fragrances, from what I've seen other people do, have not lasted as long, and would recommend the raw ingredients be kept, and these kinds of soaps made as needed.

Just my opinion.

 

I found a large supply of soap in a box of stuff i bought at an auction. The previous owner was there and said it was over 10 years old. Well, I don't waste anything so naturally I used the heck out of it.

If you are making soap, let it cure and put it in 5 gallon buckets with lids. JMO!

 

Don't save soap for prepping - it'll make you stand out from the unwashed hoards
Use that space and money for more cans of spam.
Its almost as bad as having your lights on at night when the rest of the neigborhood is dark.

 

I buy and sell antiques and have come across a lot of Avon soaps older than I am and they look brand new and smell as awful as the day the were made. Chances are I will expire before my soap does.

 

I just have my soap stashed in a drawer. I'm currently using the batch I made right before we moved here, and we'll be here 6 years in January. No problems. It's actually better now because it's so well cured and dry it lasts a long time. But I don't use frilly things like goat's milk, just fat and lye.

 

Plain old Ivory soap contains no SLS

 

I just go to the $1 store and load up on bar soap. In a pinch I can use it for bathing, hair and even clothes. If shtf who cares what kind of soap you use.

 

Agreed, but there are those who still think that, despite the SHTF, they will still be able to easily maintain their demand for an all-natural, no additives, preservative-free lifestyle. Realistically, I think showers will be infrequent but good hygiene with a basic soap will prevent much morbidity and mortality. Those basic soaps store indefinitely if kept dry and some even have antibacterial ingredients; all part of a KISS strategy IMHO.

 

In a move, I once found some hotel soap from a trip I had taken 15 years previously. It still worked great and was very nice oatmeal soap. I have kept store-bought bar soap on a shelf for at least 10 years with no wrapping at all. Keeping it dry is all that's necessary.

The only way I would make soap would be to sell it at a good profit and there's not enough money in that for me to bother. Otherwise, it's time consuming and not cost effective at this point.

A couple years ago, I stocked up on a soap I had never seen before--Rosa Venus--a Mexican soap that's kind of oily. It smells and feels nice but I have no idea how long it will keep. I took off the wrappers and stacked it in the closet. I paid 38 cents per bar for it and it works in laundry soap as well as for bathing. Dollar Tree has many different brand names of soap for $1 and I can occasionally find soap for 50 cents a bar in unexpected places on sale.

 

I make my own soap because I have never found a store bought soap that doesn't dry my skin out and make me break out. My soap has no dyes, no perfumes, nothing but fat and lye. Since I've gone to using it exclusively I haven't had a single episode of dry, itchy skin even during the winter when the indoors is very dry from being heated. Cheap soap is no bargain for me.

 

I purchased zillions of bars of soap in 1999. I individually wrapped every one in a little piece of plastic wrap like Saran Wrap. Don't even know if I needed to do that. They all look just fine.

 

As mentioned previously, bar soap left in a cool dry place will just cure and eventually last longer. I like to put unwrapped bars on the shelf of the linen closet to give the linens a little fragrance. HOWEVER, you can't store GLYCERIN soap this way; it will just evaporate over time.
As for the harm done by commercial soaps, well, the three old women in my family (83, 85, and 91) have used it all their lives. If they have any ill effects, it would be very surprising.

 

Just imagine how long they could live if they switched to a healthy lifestyle. :thumb:

 

Soap with orange spots is usually caused by too much 'soft' oils or oils that are rancid, or from not mixing the soap well before pouring, exposure to humidity, or a combination of all these.

But soap with orange spots doens't have to be thrown away. The spots can be cut out and the soap grated up and re-batched.

 

I store at least two years worth of bar soap, laundry soap, and dish soap based on what my family uses. After the SHTF, there may not be as much time available for doing things such as making your own soap, so I chose to stock up now while it's relatively cheap and readily available. Also, even though it's only soap, I do rotate through it. It's all personal preference as to what makes you feel secure with what you have prepped.

 

even the non soap body bars will last over 5 years. I have some caress sitting under my bathroom sink now that were stored in my daughter's garage for 3 years then put in my bathroom m0re than 2 years ago, I know its at least 5 years old because you can't buy it here any more, When I run out, I'm gonna have to go looking because I'm allergic to real soap.

 

Use vacuum sealed bags with a couple bars in each bag. That will keep moisture and air out. Plus you can stash easily with no worry of soap getting on anything.