Teach Soap

This is harder than making soap! Please help experienced soapers! My problem is getting my bars to weigh mostly the same. I bought one of those etsy cutters made with guitar strings and nuts that look like the same nuts on guitars to tighten the strings. I did not like it because the strings never stayed tight, you had to keep tightening them again and again and all my bars came out a different weight some with as much as a half ounce difference. so, some 4 oz and some even 4.55oz. This was "Buds" cutter. Many other forums recommended it, so that's why I gave it a try. However, I sent it back and bought a "professional" cutter by Soap Equipment http://soapequipment.com/ and I have having the same issues! as much as half an ounce still only it cost me $480 rather than $180. grrr. And honestly its so hard to tighten the wires it would almost not be worth it even if the bars were weighing the same. Are my expectations way out of line to expect bars to be somewhat close in weight when using a fairly decent cutter? I would have gotten "The Tank" but they are 8 weeks out on back order. Does anyone struggle with this issue too? I cut the soap about 24 hours later. As they come off the cutter I put them on the scale right away. I know when they cure they will be lighter but still different weights! I'm trying to have a single price at a weight that is within a reasonable range. Should I just wait the 8 weeks for the tank and hand cut for now? Shipping back all these cutters with a restocking fee is breaking the bank. Thanks!

Wait and order the Tank! Best investment I made. I bought mine about 8 years ago and it goes through heavy use. I haven't adjusted the strings yet nor have I broken one.

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

Thanks Irena, I think you are right. What can I do in the mean time to cut my bars? I don't mind hand cutting each bar temporarily but what would be the best method to sort of get roughly the same weighted bar? I've seen some soapers cutting with a cheese cutter. I have a soap cutter that is used in culinary, its a singe knife blade that you use with a miter box but that got poor results. I did talk to the owner of the tank yesterday and she said she advises people to tighten their strings each and every time they cut, so that suggests that the strings don't stay tight. Do you have to adjust each time?

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

Hi terrywaldron,

Sorry to ask obvious questions but if you are having the same issue with 2 reputable cutters it seems necessary.

Have you measured the dimensions of your cut soaps? If the cutters are faulty then the soaps would have significantly different sizes. Depending on your mould, the tops will probably be the only part of your soap bars with a variation if they are textured.

Are you doing much in the way of colouring, swirling, additives etc.? I've never checked this but it seems probable that, if you are swirling, splitting the batter etc., there might be a different density in each element that could account for some variation between bars depending on how much of each is in an individual bar.

My Scottish blood runs cold at the thought of you spending more money to fix the wrong problem.

Cheers, Grant.

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Cheers,

Grant

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose. [Jim Elliott]

I just did some quick calculations. For the variation in weight to be purely down to a variation in width (which is what I'll call the dimension that the soap cutter is responsible for) the variation in width would have to be in the order of 13%. This assumes a perfectly flat top.

This means that for a 1" (25.4mm) width bar it would have to go as big as a little over 1 ⅛ " (29mm). Even to the human eye that would be noticeable and would certainly be measurable.

Worth checking?

Cheers, Grant

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Cheers,

Grant

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose. [Jim Elliott]

Hi Grant, I just measured and some are wider as much as a 1/16 but is that enough to throw off my weight? This was cut on the Soap Equipment cutter. (and by the way, if anyone wants to know what I thought of that cutter let me know. Personally I would not recommend it) For sure I do separate my trace to add colorants such as clay but the last batch I had not, though I did add clay to the whole batch. And yes there was a swirl on top but not a deep swirl, just ever so lightly swirled. I know this will change my weights for sure. I'm beginning to feel that this way madness lies. I ordered the tank and I'll get that in July. Bud is resending me a 1" cutter and I'll have that as a backup. I think I just need to do a big enough batch to compensate for getting no less than a 4.5 oz bar and call it good! Thanks for helping me problem solve.

It is indeed a mystery. Perhaps it is possible that the perfect storm of different densities, slightly different widths and slightly wavy tops all could combine to cause such a variation. I like to watch soap making videos and I see a lot of people who sell their soaps making sure the tops are flat. Perhaps this is why?

I guess the other approach is to advertise the soaps as "no less than 4oz" and taking the hit and being generous. Of course, postage might be an issue if it is calculated by weight. No-one said it was going to be easy.

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Cheers,

Grant

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose. [Jim Elliott]

What I have discovered with the issue of weights is that everything affects it. Water discount, when i weigh it, how high I pile up my soap in the mold...i.e. how thick my trace was when I swirl the top. You go on and on. Best thing is to make sure you compare apple to apple. Make each batch as close to identical as you can. Recipe, how high into the mold you shape your top. If you use a wire cutter, most of them are built so that wires are cutting one inch apart. Essential depot has a popular wire cutter. But if you cut one loaf that has a dome top that stands 3 inches high....then you cut a loaf that is completely flat on top, those bars will weigh very differently enev though they are both exactly one inch thick. Also if you weigh right after cutting and then weigh after a month's cure the weight changes due to the drying of the bar. I drove myself nuts until i figured out it was the shape of my loaf.