Teach Soap

Does anyone gel their gm soap (on purpose)? I am finding that I much prefer gelled soap and I really dislike the whole putting the soap in the freezer thing, waiting 2 days to cut, soft crumbly zappy soap, etc. Ready to risk overheating to try avoiding all that...

I don't and my soap isn't crumbly.

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

I have, but it is always iffy. Very dependant on the fragrance that I am using... so spice and florals I will not do a forced gel in the oven (learnt this the hard way). I have just lightly covered them on the counter and watched. I have used a heating pad with layers of towels, blankets and had that work out just fine. I think I am the queen of the partial gel though - happens to me alot, sometimes even if I force gel in the oven!

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

Irena - how long do you let your ungelled soap sit before cutting? I'm thinking that even though i wait longer than with gelled soap, it may still be too soon. And when i say crumbly I don't mean dry crumbly...I mean soft, tacky, sticky...makes for uneven cutting and little bits of soap on edges and on cut surfaces...this is due to the softness/stickiness of my soap. As it cures, my ungelled soap has a nice texture. A lot more work up front though than my smooth cuts and silky texture of my gelled soap.

Susie - thanks I will try lightly insulating and watching next time!

Jess

After I take the soap out of the freezer, I wait only long enough so the wires from my Tank cutter will go through the soap loaf without breaking. My soaps get hard pretty fast, so they're not really sticky. It depends on your recipe.

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

I gel all my soap. Most of the time I'll put it in a warm oven, but if it has milk or a spicy FO I won't do that. I won't even insulate some of them because they'll overheat. Susie, I learned the hard way, too! I'd rather have a partial gel than an overheated mess!

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

I made a pumpkin soap last evening and had a gelling question too. I did not use GM in it though. The recipe was one from A-M from the Soap Queen blog. I added the pumpkin at thin trace and added the Pumpkin Spice FO at thicker trace. I wanted to try one gelled and one in the freezer.

First I noticed that when I added the FO it seemed to thin out the trace a bit.
Second I turned my back to check the recipe and when I turned back around it was "gellin" right before my eyes. Putting it in the freezer wasn't an option at that point. Both were very hot so I just moved them to the table and let them go. Will unmold today

Are these things normal??

Rhonda

Yep! Those spice oils can speed up the process and take the soap thru gel as quick as a floral could. Any batches that have overheated and separated on me have been from spice scents.

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

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

If your house is warm you can place a fan on it to keep the air moving. The FO that went overboard for me were dragons blood and a roasted chestnut. I use alot of arabian spice from BB and amazingly that one has behaved very well for me.

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