Teach Soap

I have some 4" ID PVC pipe that I want to use for soap loaves. I have a miter box and saw to make sure that I get level cuts when I set them up as molds, but when I fill them with the soap is where my question lay.

1. M&P soap: For a 4" ID x 12" PVC pipe how far from the top should I fill the mold to allow for any expansion during set-up (drying) if expansion should occur? Will the soap expand or contract during the set-up (drying) phase?

2. CP soap: Same question as above.

I'm still a bit green on this and so far I've been using flexible brownie pans for my molds. I've noticed that with the brownie pans that there is no noticeable expansion or contraction of the M&P soap during the time it sets up for mold release. For the PVC pipe I have thought about using either wax paper or spraying the inside of the pipes with Pam cooking spray or a light coating of vaseline, and the soap I would probably cut into 1 inch thick segments and then allow to cure for about 6 weeks for CP soaps.

Pam seems to work on smaller or shallow molds, but if it is a no-go on PVC cylindrical molds let me know.

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

Yup. I sprayed one, didn't spray another last week and the result was the same....a short stint in the freezer and both came out fairly easy. With CP

I used to make MP this way. No expansion that I noticed. I used mineral oil (very thin coat) and a stopper/plunger type handle thingy to get it out of the tube.

[quote="The Cleaner"]I have some 4" ID PVC pipe that I want to use for soap loaves. I have a miter box and saw to make sure that I get level cuts when I set them up as molds, but when I fill them with the soap is where my question lay.

1. M&P soap: For a 4" ID x 12" PVC pipe how far from the top should I fill the mold to allow for any expansion during set-up (drying) if expansion should occur? Will the soap expand or contract during the set-up (drying) phase?

2. CP soap: Same question as above.

I'm still a bit green on this and so far I've been using flexible brownie pans for my molds. I've noticed that with the brownie pans that there is no noticeable expansion or contraction of the M&P soap during the time it sets up for mold release. For the PVC pipe I have thought about using either wax paper or spraying the inside of the pipes with Pam cooking spray or a light coating of vaseline, and the soap I would probably cut into 1 inch thick segments and then allow to cure for about 6 weeks for CP soaps.

Pam seems to work on smaller or shallow molds, but if it is a no-go on PVC cylindrical molds let me know.[/quote]
I have used 2 1/2 pvc with a cap on on end,filled it with B/B white M/P let in set up over night and pushed it out with a large wood dowl [coat closet dowl].