Puck Shelf Life

I've been on a tear recently, purchasing some of my favorite soaps in puck form. Keeping a puck in its sealed state and safely stored, what can I expect in terms of shelf life. Any reduction in performance and/or scent if a puck sits for a long time?

Last year I used a puck of Colgate from the 1950's and it was fantastic.

It will likely dry out, but if you put some hot water on it while you are taking your shower or soaking your brush I would think that it should lather up just fine. If it gets too old, the color and scent may be affected, though. The color might change, and the scent may weaken and/or change.

The scent usually fades over time but several members have use soaps that are very very old. The oldest soap I used was probably from the 1920's.

If sealed, who knows? I've used some allegedly ancient pucks that seemed perfectly ok, but hard to tell really how old a bar of soap is. I do have a couple that I personally know that are 20 years plus old, that still work and smell like new. Hoping that they keep, purchased a bunch of some recent discontinuances like AOS tallow and Irisch Spring sticks

Recently, I purchased a puck of Colonel Conks Bay Rum from a local provision shop. It was my first bay rum soap and was excited to try it. When opened, it smelled putrid. I tried a palm lather which was satisfactory but the horrid scent remained and it ended up in the trash, soon after. My guess is that it had sat in that shop window for quite some time and this sucker got a dud. To the OP's question, it seems that the soap's fragrance would be affected before it's 'soapy' properties.

I have some 50 years old soap that work great.

I bought a keg of Cella three years ago and it still is great. I have some other soaps that I bought ten years ago that still work.

probably be there to feed the roaches when we are all gone.

Store it in a dry place and it should be fine. Scent will go away over time. If you want to preserve it, I believe that using a sous-vide is the only way.

If you are going to vac bag the pucks use a Mylar bag, the poly one degrade over time and leak.

Jim said:

If you are going to vac bag the pucks use a Mylar bag, the poly one degrade over time and leak.

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Good to know, thanks Jim!

As others have noted, shelf life should be pretty much indefinite.

Thanks guys....great information from seasoned veterans! I'm definitely okay. I'm sure my current inventory of six 4.5oz pucks will be fine over the next year or so.

I should have avoided this thread. It was my assumption that soaps would expire like creams that kept me from stockpiling more.

I would say up to 5 years is no problem at all. As others have commented, the scent will dissipate over time, and in the longer term, the soap will dry out. I have some discontinued soaps sealed in mylar bags to preserve them for hopefully decades to come. I'll be the first to admit its a tad "excessive" but I'm ok with that.

frstplce said:

I should have avoided this thread. It was my assumption that soaps would expire like creams that kept me from stockpiling more.

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Open the floodgates!

BSAGuy said:

As others have noted, shelf life should be pretty much indefinite.

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Due to the unpublicized added ingredient of Uranium 238

cdrross said:

Due to the unpublicized added ingredient of Uranium 238

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Could make head shaving easier too. Just lather up and wait for the hair to fall out.

This soap is probably about 90 years old. Not much scent left, but it still lathers extremely well.