Teach Soap

Hello all - Attempting my second batch tonight (a hemp soap - so excited!) and I am thinking I will try wrapping my mold with a towel after pouring this time. With my first batch I followed the instructions of the book I have been referring to that instructs only to lay a loose layer of plastic wrap over the mold and let it be. My soap came out fine but has a lighter edge around the outside and on the top (like a cheese rind). I'm guessing this is fine but was hoping to avoid it this time. Did the "rind" occur b/c the sides and edges cooled more quickly? Will insulating the mold help this problem? Would love some opinions! Thanks so much!
Jess

Hi, Jess. Sounds like you got a partial gel. Gel phase starts in the center of the soap and moves outward toward the edges. Sounds like the middle of the soap got hot enough to gel, but the edges didn't. Partial gel is harmless and the soap is still fine to use.

I usually gel my soaps and I insulate with a towel or two unless my soap contains something like beer, milk, honey, or other ingredients that can cause overheating. Some soapers put their soap into the oven at a low setting to push it into gel phase. (I've never tried that, but I'm sure some folks on this forum can give you some great advice on how to do that.) Or you could try to avoid gel phase altogether by popping your soap into the fridge or freezer after pouring into the mold. Ungelled soaps may zap for a few days longer than gelled soaps because the saponification process is slowed, so keep that in mind when you test them.

Hope that helps - good luck on your hemp soap!

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- Jenny -
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Thank you! I did just what you recommended and it looks like the soap gelled all the way to the edges this time...I love that the color is darker too! So now that it has gelled should I take the towels off or keep them on for the full 24(ish) hours?

Yay, so glad that your soap turned out well and gelled completely this time! I usually just leave the towels on for 24 hours unless the soap is overheating.

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- Jenny -
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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

So here are my results (hope this picture shows up): Both soaps from same batch...Top soap was uninsulated in the mold and never gelled. The wood mold was wrapped with towels for 12 hours or so and gelled to the edges. What a difference in color!

Looks good JGLMom!

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

Nice, Jess! The heart is beautiful, and I like the colors of both of the soaps.

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- Jenny -
My soapy blog:
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Thanks! I am ridiculously excited about this!!

JGL, I think you have caught the soaping bug

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

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

Is there any advantage to insulating to help gel over refrigerating to stop it? Other than getting zapped for a couple extra days? Hoping to never get zapped LOL =P Not sure which way I should go when I try my first CP batch next week!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

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

What is the actual difference (beside the zap (scared of the zap!)) between a gelled soap and a non-gelled soap? Does one work better than the other? Last longer? Or is it just a case of a different 'feel'/consistency to the finished product?

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The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!