Teach Soap

New to the world of soap making. Made my first batch of CP soap in a silicone mold. ( I also added 1% SL).
Insulted the soap for 24 hrs. But when I went to cut the soap, the bars kept sticking to the cutter. My next soap I had left for nearly 36hrs and had similar experience. Should I have waited a few more hours? not insulate the soap ?( living in the south..hot! hot! hot!)
Or do I need to mix the lye and oils below 120?
Any feedback would be greatly appreicated.

Ooops. Why would I insult soap? I meant insulate.

The temp you soaped at shouldn't matter with unmolding I wouldn't think, though you might want to try soaping at around 100 to see if you like it better.

I always use silicone loaf molds for my soaps. I would recommend, along with the 1% sodium lactate, that you use a water discount of at least 10-15%, a good amount of hard oils (at least 50 or 60% of your recipe), and definitely gel your soaps (makes a world of difference in the hardness). If your soap is still soft and sticking to the cutter you might not have gotten a full gel. I have been using a heating pad under my soap molds (and then covered by a cardboard box and towel) just recently because with the weather so hot and trying to keep my house cool with A/C, my soaps hadn't been gelling at all.

Hope that helps!

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Laura<3

Smaller silicone molds don't retain heat as well. It's possible that your soap didn't gel. If that's the case soap can be softer or sticky longer then gelled soap.

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

Thanks for helpful tips.
I'll try the 10% water discount on my next batch.
Gel phase, hmmm, need to insulate the soap better, I guess . I had placed the mold on a towel with a box covering over, as to not mess up my peak tops, and then another towel ontop. I'm starting to learn that's it's practice, practice, practice.
Any other suggestions would be great.

Heating pad! It might just be my increased A/C usage, but I noticed as soon as I started fluffing up my soap tops so that they were too tall to be covered with cling wrap I never got a gel anymore. (except coconut milk soaps lol!)

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Laura<3

To all whom had given me excellent advise on silicone molds, I thankyou.
Made a batch yesterday, and today..squeeeaaallll!!!! It came out of the beautifully, cut like firm cheese. I'm very elated.
I soaped with a water discount of 10%, heavily insulated and successfully went through gelled phase.
Once again, thankyou to all of you.

Yay! I love happy endings!

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

Woot!!

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Laura<3

Hooray! Congratulations, Sudsalot!

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

Great job, sudsalot! It feels AWESOME to have soap turn out the way we want it to, doesn't it??!!!

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Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

I have always used wooden molds, but am getting ready to place my first order for some silicone molds. Do you line the silicone molds same as the wooden molds, or is it not necessary to line them?

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Sudawn
Better to be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own.

No, you don't need to line them.

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Laura<3

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

Cool! Can't wait for my order now!

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Sudawn
Better to be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own.