Teach Soap

After I lost 190 pounds of ugly fat, I relocated to an area with much colder temperatures. Upon moving, I placed all of my fats, oils, and lye supplies in airtight containers and had them stored in a out-building with no heat or AC. Winter temps here in the mountains routinely reach -15 in the winter and 85+ in the summers. I uncovered them about 2 weeks ago and found that the 5 gallon buckets of coconut oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil and olive oil still seemed ok with no foul odors. Even had a 3 gallon bucket of lard with the supplies that seemed no different than the day it was opened.

I'd like opinions from the gallery about the shelf life of said supplies. I had already used all of them to make small test batches. Just would like to know what you all think about supplies that have been laying stagnant for 3+ years.

Thanks.

3 years is a long time, especially with the changes in temperatures. Here is a list I posted some time ago. What you do is ultimately up to you.

Here are some soapmaking oils and their shelf life.

Apricot Kernel 6 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Avocado approx 1 year, keep in cool place
Calendula 6 months to 1 year. According to what oil is used for the infusion
Canola 6 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Castor approx 1 year, keep in cool place
Cocoa Butter 1 year +, keep in cool place
Coconut 1 year +, keep in cool place
Corn 6 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Emu 1 year room temp, 3+ frozen
Evening Primrose 6 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Flaxseed Oil 3 to 6 months refrigerated
Grape seed 3 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Hempseed 3 months refrigerated, 9months frozen
Jojoba Indefinite. Jojoba is not an oil, but a liquid wax.
Mango Butter 1 year, longer if refrigerated
Neem approx 1 year, keep in cool place
Olive 2 years, keep in cool place
Palm approx 1 year, keep in cool place
Peanut 6 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Safflower approx 1 year, keep in cool place
Sesame 6 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Shea Butter 1 year, longer if refrigerated
Soybean 3 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Sunflower 3 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Sweet Almond 6 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Walnut approx 3 months, keep in cool place
Wheatgerm Oil approx 6 months, keep in cool place

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Everything was in airtight containers and kept dry & cool which prevented bacteria intrusion. I really couldn't tell the difference in the castor oil, palm, coconut, palm kernel or even the lard. The only things that seems to have broken down in the hemp oil. The color turned to a dark brown and the smell was putrid. I've since purchased all new supplies but couldn't resist making 3 small batches 1.5 pounds each from the old ingredients. They're still curing but appear to have the same good consistency, appearance and smell as if the supplies were new. Don't plan on distributing these to anyone and they're just for home use. But it may help answer some age-old questions about the validity of using old supplies that were kept airtight. More of a science project than anything else. Even the lye was over 3 years old.

Thanks for the shelf life info soapbuddy. I'll report back in after I try one of the bars to let you know if I notice any difference from soap made wtih new supplies.

I got out of soaping for several years, and most of my supplies were okay. The mango butter had gone rancid, but it was fine in soap at 5%. And a few FOs had gone "plasticy". IMO, if it smells okay, it should be fine.