Greetings Museum-L members,

I am looking for any personal experience that anybody may have of old lye soap in a collection.  We have recently had an offer for donation and a part of that offer was an old bar of lye soap.  

Here are my thoughts thus far:

Seeing as it (the bar of soap) is already old and does not seem to have disintegrated much, it may be fairly stable. 

But! It is composed of mostly (all?) organic materials which are notorious for breaking down, and the last thing we need is a bar of soap wasting away in storage or on display.

I have no idea how the ingredients in the soap will react with any other surfaces or environments.  We are located in what is normally a very dry climate - currently our RH is at 29% which is probably the highest we will see (It is finally Spring!), not regarding a day long spike from a snowstorm or rainstorm.

We have not accessioned this soap yet, and it has been tabled until we know a little more.

I have always had great feedback to the questions I have posed here and I appreciate any help.

Regards,
Sylvia B.

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