Thread: Do soaps have a shelf life?

Without use, will soaps go bad or become less effective?

Justin

The scent might fade especially EO's but the soap should last a extremely long time

Originally Posted by Taz

The scent might fade especially EO's but the soap should last a extremely long time

Second that. The scent will go away. They also may dry out and begin to flake and crack OR begin to absorb excess moisture and start to soften and break down.... it all depends on how humid your environment is. If you are going to go long periods without using a soap, it may be best to put it in a tightly sealed container.

The other way to look at this is, how many soaps can one person use in a rotation to ensure that he is having fun with the variety, but won't lose the pleasure by the end of the respective pucks. The easy answer is just to buy new pucks three to five years from now.

I had a cake of Taylor of Old Bond Street soap that lost its (sandalwood) scent after about six months. When it was about a year old and about 3/4 used up its lather rather abruptly degraded - one day it was thin and dried quickly regardless of what I tried with it in my mug, and it stayed that way. Finally I threw it out. I have other soaps just as old, which I stored in the same room under the same conditions, that are still fine and which I still use. So I guess that sometimes they can go bad just from age.

Regards,

Steve B

They will lose their fragrance if not covered and the water will continue to evaporate from soaps, but I think that they just get better with age... best thing to do is keep them covered if you want them to retain fragrance and water.