Teach Soap

I'm planning on trying my first butterfly swirl (can't wait) and I've heard the best way to do this is to soap at low temperatures. Is there any way to do this and still get my soaps to gel? Can I "force" the soap to gel if I put the mold on a seedling mat or heating pad for a while, even if I start with my oils around 90 degrees?

I know gelling is not required, and I can achieve a similar hardness with sodium lactate, but I like the shininess and translucence of gelled soap. Just curious. Thanks!

Sure. You can gel once all the soap is in the mold.

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

I soap low then put on a low heating pad for 30 minutes

Thank you all! That's what I was hoping to hear. Love this group!

You can just wrap it in a blanket. I put my molds in the oven with just a pilot light on and that's usually warm enough to do the trick.

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Logansama aka Belinda
Nor Cal

I think it was SB told me she didn't let hers gel and usually puts them in the freezer for a couple hours. I thought she was crazy. I put my loafs in blankets too at the time. But I finally tried not using the blankets and not gelling it and it comes out really nice and smooth. I still haven't tried putting it in the freezer but SB gave me good tip once to not gel'em and it works out great doing it in a cold room right under a fan. Thanks SB for the good tip btw.

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