Why Is My Soap Sweating?
(Don't Panic...It's Not Nervous.)
Have you ever walked into the bathroom, looked at your beautiful handmade soap, and thought...
"Why is it...wet?"
Or perhaps...
"Is my soap crying?"
Maybe you blamed your spouse.
Maybe you blamed the weather.
Maybe you wondered if you'd somehow purchased the world's most emotionally fragile bar of soap.
Good news.
Your soap is fine.
It's just being dramatic.
Actually...it's being scientific.
Your Soap Isn't Melting.
It Isn't Leaking.
It Isn't Plotting Against You.
It's sweating because handmade soap naturally contains glycerin.
Glycerin is an incredible little ingredient that helps attract moisture to the skin.
That's one of the reasons handmade soap feels so lovely compared to many commercial detergent bars.
Unfortunately...
Glycerin is also a tiny moisture magnet.
When the air gets humid, glycerin happily says,
"Oh look! Water! I'll take some!"
That moisture collects on the surface of the soap.
Those little beads?
That's called glycerin dew.
Fancy name.
Completely harmless.
Wait...
Isn't Glycerin Supposed to Stay IN the Soap?
It does.
The glycerin isn't leaking out.
It's pulling humidity from the air onto the surface.
Think of it like your iced coffee on a July afternoon.
The coffee isn't leaking.
The air is just ridiculously humid.
Your soap is basically doing the same thing...
...except without the caffeine.
Why Handmade Soap Sweats More Than Store Soap
Here's a little behind-the-scenes secret.
Many commercial soap manufacturers remove much of the naturally occurring glycerin.
Why?
Because glycerin is valuable.
It gets sold separately to make lotions, creams, and countless other skincare products.
Handmade soapmakers usually leave that glycerin right where nature intended.
Which means your skin benefits...
...but your soap occasionally gets a little dewy during humid weather.
It's a small price to pay for keeping the good stuff.
Can Sweating Hurt My Soap?
Nope.
Your soap hasn't gone bad.
It hasn't spoiled.
It hasn't lost its cleaning power.
It's just absorbed a little moisture from the air.
If it dries back out, it'll keep working exactly as it should.
Soap is surprisingly resilient.
(Unlike me when someone microwaves fish in the office.)
How to Keep Handmade Soap From Sweating
You can't control the weather.
Trust me, I've tried.
But you can make your soap happier.
✔ Keep it somewhere with good airflow.
✔ Use a soap dish that lets water drain away.
✔ Avoid storing unused bars in a steamy bathroom.
✔ If you're stocking up, keep extra bars somewhere cool and dry until you're ready to use them.
If your soap gets a little dewy?
Simply let it dry.
No drama required.
The Bigger Picture
Ironically...
The thing that makes handmade soap sweat is also part of what makes it feel so wonderful on your skin.
That naturally occurring glycerin helps attract moisture, leaving your skin feeling softer instead of stripped and squeaky.
So while your soap may occasionally look like it just finished hot yoga...
...it's really just doing what good handmade soap does.
Karen's Soapbox 🧼
Every summer I get at least one message that goes something like:
"Karen...my soap is sweating."
The first time I heard that, I pictured tiny soap armpits.
Now I smile because I know exactly what's happening.
Humidity and handmade soap have a complicated relationship.
Kind of like me and New England summers.
We tolerate each other.
Barely.
One More Rabbit Hole...
Soap has a funny way of leading to more questions.
If today's Soap Chat answered one of yours, here are a few more you might enjoy.
