Teach Soap

Hi Everyone -

I'm not so sure if I need a new knife cutter or not, but I noticed that when I cut my soap (i love using the loaf mold) my layers sometimes separate.
Now my boyfriend being the ever so helpful helper decided to cut the loaf sideways and the cuts came out much cleaner -
I was wondering if using a mitre box to cut the soap would help me better with the cutting.

Has anyone tried doing this or am I making this way too hard?

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How long are you leaving the soap before cutting? Are you spritzing between layers? Demoulding too soon or not enough spritz could be the cause. Oh also are you putting it in the fridge or freezer? That can make layers seperate.

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Hi, MissRhosie,

Don't know if your soap cutter is the problem or not, but Honey is right, forgetting to spritz with rubbing alcohol between layers and hurrying the hardening along by sticking the soap in the fridge could cause the layers to separate.

Something else that popped into my mind was that waiting too long between layer pours could also be the problem. You want to pour the next layer (make sure it's not too hot!) when the previous layer of soap is still warm, but has a thick enough skin to support a new layer. This usually takes about 20-30 minutes, give or take a few depending on how thick your layers are. Check to see if the layer is hard enough by blowing on it gently. If you see ripples, it's not hardened enough.

Don't know if any of this applies to you, but these things can cause layer separation.

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- Jenny -
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Hi Ladies -

Thanks for the replies! After my first failed attempt (i did stick in the freezer) I took my time with the second attempt. I spritzed between layers and did not placed it in the freezer this time
As for the wait time between layers I'm thinking that could be a possibility since sometimes I do walk away for awhile and then come back..I guess I'm letting the layer harden completely -
Now the 3rd attempt was with the geometric design that Anne-Marie did on one of the Soap-Queen TV videos and this time I watched until only a skin formed and that came out perfect!

Practice makes perfect I see!

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Glad to see it worked out... remember to post pics in the Show Off thread!!!

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