Teach Soap

Hello. I am new to soapmaking and have been reading a lot on this forum. Thank you to everyone on here who has already been so nice to help me out. I have another question that I'm hoping someone could help me out with.. I have been reading a lot of posts on here where people are discussing ' gelling' their soaps. I am kind of confused as to what exactly this is. As I understand it from reading various posts, some people leave their soap out in room temperature while others put their soap in the fridge(preventing gel). Is that part correct? What exactly is the difference between gelling and not gelling?? What happens to the soap in the gel stage or by avoiding gel stage?
I have only made a small handful of soap batches and all but one of those times I left the soap out in room temperature. What would change in my soap if I put it in the refrigerator? The one time that I did put the soap in the fridge, I did so because I thought that my soap may have been overheating due to a wine soap experiment that I should not have been trying. That is another question in itself actually. I made a simple shea butter and cocunut oil recipe and then added 2 TBSP of boiled and cooled blush wine. I was attempting to turn the soap a pink color. Instead when I poured it into the mold within 15 minutes a large dark brown circle developed and a couple small cracks appeared. I then put it in the fridge.( i thought maybe it was overheating ) It looks okay now but it is orange, not pink. Any thoughts?
Sorry for rambling on so long...I am good at that...lol...thanks for any help everyone...

Gelling or not gelling is a personal thing. When your soap gels it will start to look like it's wet and the color temporarily looks darker.
I prefer not to gel. My fragrances morph less and the colors are lighter.

Wine has sugar in it. It sounds like it overheated. Color from wine will not stay. You need soap safe colors for that.

If you need more info or recipes, take a look at Miller's site: http://www.millersoap.com/#Soap%20Contents

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

thank you...so if you don't mind....when you say that you do not gel, does that mean that when you pour your soap you put it in the refrigerator? Is that how you keep it from gelling? Also, what happens to soap that overheats? Is that just an appearance issue?
thanks for the website link ...that is a helpful site. I did find some information on there about gelling but I couldnt find any information on how "not" to gel or similar information. Great source of information though...thank you so much

I soap cool. Depending on which fragrance or essential oil I use, I either leave it uncovered on the counter, put it in the fridge or stick it in the freezer.

When soap overheats it can separate, volcano out of your mold or develop cracks at the top.

I have researched which fragrances do this as I keep pretty good notes. That way I know when I make the same soap again.

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