I first off apoligize if this is a stupid question so with that said, I am beginning to aquire several soaps and creams and am curious if there is some type of shelf life for them, what I've been doing is using one for a day or so and then switch to another but at the rate I am going wearing these soaps down which is hardly at all is going to take a long time and I really load a brush so once one starts using is there a time it has to be used within ?
Soap Longevity
- Thread starter Jnatcat
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I'm not sure about the creams but the soaps should be ok for years with no ill effects except for some loss of fragrance.
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Well I like the fragrance so maybe I should hold off getting to many, that big puck of Tabac I just picked up looks like it will last me a long time.
I've had some of my soaps for almost a year and they still smell exactly the same as the day I got them. I wouldn't worry about it too much.
In 2006, I spent several weeks in London, England attending a course and became almost a regular at Taylor of Old Bond Street (TOBS), which is actually located on Jermyn St. around the corner from Piccadilly Circus.
I bought a sizable supply of creams and soaps at that time and still use the little that's left of it today.
The creams came in screw top tubs with inner plastic lid that did a good job of trapping moisture and scent inside, by comparison the soaps lost some of their moisture and scent, but were still useable till a few months ago, when I finished the last shaving soap from that stash.
Strangely as it may sound, the creams fared slightly better.
I bought a sizable supply of creams and soaps at that time and still use the little that's left of it today.
The creams came in screw top tubs with inner plastic lid that did a good job of trapping moisture and scent inside, by comparison the soaps lost some of their moisture and scent, but were still useable till a few months ago, when I finished the last shaving soap from that stash.
Strangely as it may sound, the creams fared slightly better.
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Interesting, thanks for passing along the experience Brutus.
I have a puck of Penhaligon's English Fern soap from the 80's (bought it from Bullgoose last year when he got a case of them in) that is every bit as fragrant as it was 30 years ago. I keep it in one of those Pyrex one-cup glass bowls with plastic lid.
The glass bowl/plastic lid (Anchor Hock makes them too) is a great long term storage solution, if you're stocking up or (ahem) just have an insanely large rotation. Stackable, too.
I have stuff I bought when Christ was a corporal & it's fine.
Creams can go off, but I have used hard soaps from the 40's and 50's that have worked great! The scent has kind of disappeared, but they still lather well.
EU regulations state that everything that has shelf life longer than 36 months does not require expiry date to be printed on the packaging. I haven't seen any creams or soaps with exp. date printed, which means that they are considered to last longer than 36 months. On most of them, there is no production date either. In any case, I consider hard soaps to be good for years if not decades. Creams are perhaps not as long-living considering their higher water content, but at least three years obviously.
You're certainly good inside of 2-3 years.
Scent life? Varies. Keep it dry and sealed airtight to maximize this.
Soap life? Depends on the residual fat. Most (but perhaps not all) commercial soaps will be low enough (and also often contain preservatives), that they are ideally good indefinitely. Artisans tend to be a lot higher in residual fat, but again it will vary. Some may last indefinitely. Others, you may be looking at as little as a year in a humid environment. The italian Croap freezing technique is probably a good idea if you have a lot of backups of artisan soaps.
I had a glycerin (col Conk) grow mold on the outside after less than a year unopened in my cabinet (clamshell case, not shrinkwrapped, so not airtight). Trimmed the mold off and the interior was fine.
The surface of the soap is what's at risk, so if you're regularly using a soap, you really needn't worry about an expiration date. It's when a soap sits in a warm and humid environment that it MAY (again depending on residual moisture and fat) start to go bad from the outside-in.
Soap life? Depends on the residual fat. Most (but perhaps not all) commercial soaps will be low enough (and also often contain preservatives), that they are ideally good indefinitely. Artisans tend to be a lot higher in residual fat, but again it will vary. Some may last indefinitely. Others, you may be looking at as little as a year in a humid environment. The italian Croap freezing technique is probably a good idea if you have a lot of backups of artisan soaps.
I had a glycerin (col Conk) grow mold on the outside after less than a year unopened in my cabinet (clamshell case, not shrinkwrapped, so not airtight). Trimmed the mold off and the interior was fine.
The surface of the soap is what's at risk, so if you're regularly using a soap, you really needn't worry about an expiration date. It's when a soap sits in a warm and humid environment that it MAY (again depending on residual moisture and fat) start to go bad from the outside-in.
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