Teach Soap

Hello

This might be a dumb question, one that I haven't really thought about before, but.....if I am using room temperature oils, and its quite cool here at the moment, does that mean the soap might not gel? I have been putting them in a box wrapped with blankets assuming they do gel, but how do I know, unless I touch it during the process?
Should I put in some sugar to heat it up, or do certain fragrances make the batter hotter?
Do I put it in the oven and if so what temp - or do you just heat the oven up, turn it off and leave the soap in there?
What are the advantages of gelling soap? Better colour? smoother texture? or doesn't it really matter?

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Diane

Soap does not need to gel in order for it to becomes soap. Some fragrances do heat up the batch. I prefer not to gel. The color comes out lighter, the soap is smoother and I can use less fragrance. It's a personal preference.

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

Okay thanks Irena, I wont worry if it does it does if it doesn't it doesn't!!

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Diane

Just let it do its thing.

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

I have not tried SB's freezer soap, but I have noticed that of my two loafs the larger one gells hotter and the soap comes out darker. The loaf that never gels hotter than 102 or so comes out looking much prettier.

But it is maybe good to know how to force a gel and to be able to control that gel. I think the best way is to wrap it in two flannel blankets and check on it every hour until you observe a temperature increase, no matter how slight. If you leave it wrapped in blankets overnight it will gel completely to 130+, become jellified, and cook all the color and scent out of your soap. But so long as it does not volcano you will still have great soap. Here's a tip: don't ever put cold processed soap that is gelling in the oven bc it might volcano and then u will have a bad time. The only reason to do that is to make it get and if u have 2 flannel blankets and know how to use them them the oven is unnecessary and dangerous.

Usually I take the cling wrap off and put it under a fan after it has gelled to from 98 to 105-110, but I am going to lower that to 102-105 bc I am starting to suspect the wisdom of SB's advice. After removing the cling wrap the temp will lower to mid-90s for the rest of the day as it continues to gel.

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Olivia :)

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

Thanks, soapbuddy!

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Olivia :)

There are some of my soaps that I like to go through gel and some that I like to prevent it. It depends on the colors I am using for that particular batch. The bright neon like colors look really nice when gelled and sometimes you want a nice soft color do don't gel. Personal preference.

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Haven